Getting to know seeds is an important part of being in good relationship with land, and also can be an important tool of land education. Aside from learning about seeds as a means for the production of food, many Indigenous communities recognize seeds as living relations, connecting past generations to the present and the future. Thus, seeds are not inanimate tools for humans to exploit for profit, but powerful living beings that hold memory, story, and community connection. The activities in this section come from this place of understanding seeds and plants as relations, and, importantly, as teachers. The seed activities in this section were facilitated by the Tkaronto CIRCLE Lab to learn with and from seeds. 

What are the Benefits of Bringing Seeds into Your Land Education Program? 

Seeds, as an extension of the land, are a powerful tool in land education. They allow us to have a participatory relationship with the land and the spaces we take care of. In programming, we have found this participatory relationship building to bring about reflections which are helpful for our learning. Further, everyone has a daily relationship with seeds. The toast this morning for breakfast was once a wheat or rye seed, the greens in our salad for lunch were once spinach seeds, the burger we had for dinner was once nourished by grass and their seeds.

When done with intention, working with seeds and plants allows us to place-make in ways that challenge settler colonial land relations. Like humans, all seeds have migration and origin stories. Understanding where seeds come from, how they have changed, why they have changed or stayed the same, reifies Indigenous, Black and People of Colour stewardship, not only in the places we find ourselves in, but everywhere on earth. All seeds have been, and are cultivated by communities that have intimate knowledge and profound relations to land. Seeds hold this story. It is through their stories, and in collaboration with Indigenous communities, we can come to know places outside of settler colonialism, and support the lands we live on. 

Seeds keep giving. For many people, we have been disconnected from seeds and the process of growing food, flowers, and medicines due to settler colonialism. Growing seeds can be a powerful tool of reconnection that facilitates deep reflection, place understanding, and deepened land relations. 

A Note on Seed Selection 

Through our experience of bringing seeds into urban land education settings, there are important notes on seed relation, seed selection, and traditional knowledge we would like you as a facilitator to consider. 

Seeds, as an extension of Indigenous land and life, have been manipulated, stolen and appropriated by corporations to further settler colonialism. Many Indigenous communities are working to bring traditional seeds* back home. We ask that you be mindful of these connections and on-going efforts to rematriate traditional seeds. If a traditional seed has fallen into your hands, working with or planting traditional seeds should always be done in relation with their traditional stewards. If this relationship isn’t possible, the seeds need to be returned to their respective community. This is essential in understanding seeds as more-than-human relations – they too have homes and lands they belong to. 

Seeds are kept with the intention of planting them within a couple of years. If you are purchasing seeds or acquiring them through a seed library, they should be planted according to their preferences or returned. 

We encourage you to get to know the territories that the seeds you are working with are from. This includes choosing seeds that will support native more-than-human relations, such as insects, animals, and other native plants to thrive. Diasporic food and plant seeds are powerful tools of connection; we ask you take extra care in ensuring those plants are well suited for native biodiversity. Extra care should be taken when working with non-native seeds that are perennials (plants that return each year). Non-native plants should be harvested before they go to seed. 

Seeds and Responsibility 

As a whole, there should be a lot of time and intention when working with seeds and choosing to grow them. Coming into a relationship with seeds comes with responsibility. 

To summarize: 

• Seeds are our relations, not an item to purchase and forget about after your land education program is finished. If you are purchasing seeds or using a seed library, plant within a reasonable time frame (one to two years, or return the seed)

• We encourage you to pick seeds to plant that can facilitate good relations with other land relations, such as nearby native plants, insects and animals.

• We encourage you to be mindful of non-native plants and their effects on the land. Harvesting non-native plants before they go to seed is important.

• Seeds can bring a participatory element to your land education program with the land. 

• When done intentionally, seeds are powerful tools of connection to land and hold stories that challenge settler colonial land relations.

*Traditional Seeds: Seeds that have relations to specific lands and Indigenous peoples

Authored by Kaitlin Rizarri for the Tkaronto CIRCLE Lab, in conversation with on-going farming & earthwork in Tkaronto