ON SOLTICE AND SEEDS
DECEMBER 2025
Our family has made a tradition of bringing in the light on the Solstice: starting a fire in our small fire pit after the sun sets on the darkest day of the year, and from that fire, lighting a single candle that is carefully brought into the dark house to pass its flame on to an array of candles that share and amplify the light. The symbolism of this small act reminds us every year anew that keeping the light in the darkest of times is no idle act; it takes great care and intentionality, and is ever in a cycle of renewal. To say that this metaphor is apropos for the times we find ourselves in is a dramatic understatement. Rather, I would offer that it is the metaphor of our time—how we cultivate, steward, and safeguard one another and the whole sphere of life in such times intimates what possibilities exist for those who come after us. And this process is never complete; it requires constant attention and care.
It is in this spirit that we at Freed Seed Federation endeavor to share in the gifts and teachings of seeds. To plant a seed is to nurture possibility; it is to believe in a future. As a friend recently shared from the teachings of one of our seed elders, Ira Wallace, saving seeds is “an every day act of revolution.” From this simple act, we honor the innumerable hands who have come before us, those who have remained diligent to this original pact with our plant kin, and those who have brought us everything we grow and eat today.
Amidst a year of tumult and heartbreak, Freed Seed Federation experienced our biggest organizational growth year to date. We have grown more seed this year than any season prior. Our community has shown up and supported, on all fronts, in unprecedented ways. In the wake of the chaos of federal freezes and grant termination notices, individual contributions both large and small—with pledges of ongoing support—have allowed us to imagine a future where our work is rooted deeply enough to withstand the proverbial and literal storms. In addition, the mycelia of coalition-building is stronger than ever. 2026 is slated to be our biggest event and educational year to date, in partnership with our friends and allies regionally and nationally while still remaining true to our core mission of growing, caring for, and sharing seeds with our communities in the Northeast and beyond.
A few of this year’s many highlights include:
An increase in the stewardship of rare and sensitive culturally-relevant seeds: holding space and multiplying seeds in diaspora, nearly lost to war, genocide, and efforts of cultural erasure
The trialing and release, via regional seed companies, of several novel farmer-original varieties co-created by us (and the plants!) through our in-house breeding, in partnership with a network of participating growers
The donation of over a thousand pounds of produce to neighbors, community members, and local food banks: a “by-product” of our on-farm trialing and breeding
Over a dozen tours of our seed farm operation, bringing community in more deeply as we continue to settle into our new home at Eva’s Garden; visitors including children’s summer camp, RISD students, farmers, and neighbors and community members (more to come in 2026 if you missed out this year!)
Participation in the creation of a Northeast Seed Hub: a broadening of cross-coalition efforts to teach and support a wide diversity of seed growers in the Northeast, and establish regional “hubs” for community seed processing and seed exchange
Completion of our “seed vault”: a climate-controlled local seed bank, both for housing ever-increasing seeds in our care and custody, and also made available as a shared resource for our allies and the broader seed community to safely store seeds long term
The recording and digitizing of our Seed School courses, now available for free via our website (with more content coming in 2026)
Regional and national collaboration for the planning of seed education and grower support through a dozen plus workshops, conferences, and convenings in 2026
After such a milestone year, our work feels more fortified than ever before, and so too is there the utmost urgency to grow more seed and seed community. One poignant example in discussion over the last few months, is the situation of the USDA-GRIN system. For those unfamiliar, a portion of taxpayer dollars has supported a network of governmental seed and gene banks throughout the country, housing over 600,000 accessions of seeds and plants. Already historically under-funded and under-staffed, the few remaining federal stewards of this system are watching in horror as seeds are being increasingly extracted out of the commons and into the private sector permanently, and/or simply dying on the shelf due to insufficient hands and resources. In so many cases, such agri-biodiversity is irreplaceable. It is a stark reminder of the myriad ways we walk the knife’s edge in our current epoch.
Seed is the heart and soul of how we grow food, and will be central to the story of how we survive the world to come. To those of you who have supported our work this year, in all the ways you have shown up and participated: thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. This work would not be possible without you. To those of you wondering how to support us, or get involved—reach out, plan a visit, or donate through the website. A tax-deductible donation, however large or small, is a seed planted for a more abundant future.
We wish you peace, love, and solidarity in the New Year! Greet your neighbors, hug your loved ones, and tend the light.
A YEAR OF GROWTH / LOOKING AHEAD
DECEMBER 2024
We are living in a time of great transition. No matter who you are, where you are, what you believe, who you voted for, we are all affected - because we are all connected. In this time, we heed once again the wisdom of seeds. Vessels of hope, cared for and carried on despite all uncertainties. Messengers of latent futures; blueprints for abundance. Seeds, and our relationships to plant kin and to all life, are a mirror - not only refracting darkness, but illuminating what is possible through cooperation.
Our work with Freed Seed Federation is built upon such cooperation. We are humbled and honored to be a small patch in the global quilt of efforts to re-center and regenerate our sustenance and our relationship to life on Earth, of which we are inextricably a part. From the capsule of one small seed coat bursts forth a revolution. We see it with every cotyledon springing forth anew, and with every plant who gifts us the next generation by the hundreds or thousands.
How seeds are cared for and shared, and by whom, will determine how future generations eat. This is no overstatement. Seeds thrive when embedded in the communities they nourish. Who controls seeds, and who can (or cannot) grow them, as well as how they are grown, determines how effectively - or ineffectively - we repay the debt borrowed from future generations.
There will continue to be those who insist that a path which further severs us from our essential interconnectivity is the only way to feed a growing population in a changing world. This line of thinking relegates seeds to commodities, to property, to mere inputs. We who are deeply engaged in this work know it to be otherwise. Healthy soils and healthy seeds beget abundance - beget healthy communities. We need only to hold a handful of seeds in our palms to jog epigenetic memory. With right relation at the helm, we will chart the course through turbulent waters.
Freed Seed Federation has had a busy year. The demand for our work continues to grow exponentially; the concentric circles springing forth from the ripples of each growing season. Below are just a few of the highlights of 2024:
The construction of a seed vault to house the seeds we co-evolve with, and to which we are entrusted; to round out the seed cleaning infrastructure of our regional seedhub
The first novel varieties from our in-house breeding work making their way into the world via seed company partners
Ongoing rematriation of Indigenous seeds to their tribes of origin; as we continue to care for and hold space for seeds’ journeys home
Teaching and sharing seeds with incarcerated gardeners in the greater Boston area, via our friends at The New Garden Society
Expanding the accessibility of our free annual seed school course hosted by the Westport Grange #181 via a hybrid model of online/in-person attendance; with recordings to be made available in 2025
A new round of funding for regional, participatory tomato breeding with farmers in the Northeast, via a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant
We have tremendous momentum coming into 2025. Among the most exciting things in store for the new year is the opportunity to transition Eva’s Garden—the legendary farm of pioneering organic farmer Eva Sommaripa—into a full-capacity seed research and production farm. But to do this, we need your help. We are a very lean team doing a lot with a little, and well-overdue to expand our organizational capacity. To meet the great demand for this work, we seek to increase our operating budget with sustaining contributions from individuals like you, committed to a just and healthier world from the ground up. We are excited to announce our first matching opportunity to date: a generous donor has pledged to match up to $15,000 in year-end contributions to help us grow! This time of year sees inboxes flooded with such requests; but we hope you’ll consider the impact a contribution to Freed Seed Federation can make to ensure this work, like the seeds themselves, continues to grow and thrive. The proof is tangible—and delicious.
From the bottom of our hearts, and on behalf of the seeds, we thank you tremendously for all your support in making this work possible. Here’s to what the returning light can bring.