We did it!!
It feels like it took forever, in reality it wasn’t that long, but we’re impatient over here. But the ORO House Seed Saving Site at the Las Milpitas Community Farm is officially open. The inception of this project was funded by the “Thriving Communities" grant funded through the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. The goal of this space and the overall project is two fold. 1. Education. We want to support the community as they explore gardening, and help them learn how easy it can be to start saving seeds. We also want people to learn about the potential their plants hold as food, medicine, and more. And 2. Community. Our goal allow the Tucson seed saving and gardening community to grow together. Our most specific focus is the African diaspora (including immigrants, transplants, and Black folks, especially those who had enslaved ancestors), Mexican/ Sonoran, and native/ indigenous plants to the area. These communities reflect our own family and the plants we’ve connected with and focus on in our growing. And we want to spread the education we receive to those who will also benefit from it. Our programming is for any and everyone, but will always be taught through the Black and Mexican lens. It’s a practice of reclamation, reconnection, and empowerment. We’re working to relearn the things our ancestors weren’t allowed to practice due to colonization and oppression.
After months and months of preparation and planning we finally opened the site on September 16th. And to do so we had our first free workshop, Intro to Seed Saving. We were so excited with the turn out, because we had no idea how many people would be able to show up, on top of it being our first event. But the turn out was amazing. (If you were unable to make it to this one, we will definitely have another, we’re considering quarterly or biannually. If you have a preference, let us know in the comments.)
Here’s a breakdown of the event.
We started off with chit chat, refreshments (there will always be some sort of refreshments/ meal), and an introduction to who we at ORO House are.
Followed by a tour of our garden plot at Las Milpitas, and then around the rest of Las Milpiltas with a bit of info on how the garden works.
(Please excuse the weeds, they get a little over zealous after the rains.)
Once we got back we discussed the why’s and how’s of seed saving. Followed by an introduction of the seed saving site, how it’ll work, and how to use it. We also showed the various things we use to process seeds ourselves.
Adia discussed how to cover plants with tulle to keep them from spreading while waiting for them to mature.
Ernesto explained how to use the soil sifters as seed sifters and how they help separate debris from seeds.
Ernesto also emphasized how to use household items, here he showed how he uses egg cartons to help separate seeds.
At the end we had a giveaway, where one lucky winner went home with their own kit to start their seed saving journey. (We will have giveaways at each event.) It was a great start to our programming and we’re so excited to continue this journey. If you’d like more info about our next event, go here.
Some more information about the seed saving site:
Each locker (20 in total) will be equipped with a hanging dryer, a sifter, and a cookie sheet to help dry and process seeds for future use. And the upper level lockers will all have stools to make it easier to reach them, because they’re pretty tall. They’ll be accessible by individual key, and during normal working hours for Las Milpitas. Every third Saturday we will have seed saving meetups where you can come and process seeds, or read from our seed and garden library, or just hang out and meet some folx from the community. If you need additional support from ORO House we’ll be there nearly every Thursday and Saturday, and occassionally other days as well, but appointments or questions can be made via email.
While preparing for and debriefing after our first event we decided to try to build an on site library. In there we’ll fill it with books on seed saving, gardening in the southwest, sonoran plants, African plants, native plants, children’s books, and more. Everything will be directly related to supporting the BIPOC Tucson community in their gardening and seed saving journey. As we’re just starting out, the books will only be for in garden use, but as it grows, we’ll have a system in place for checkouts. If you’d like to support our library, you can either donate books in person at the garden or via our wishlist.
Anyway, we’re so excited to be on this journey and to be connecting with the community and the earth here. If you haven’t already, consider signing up for the newsletter so that you can stay in the loop for future events.
