The Problem
Our community is in a food desert and needs more opportunities for families and people to come together and build connections
Our Plan
. We are seed-saving, educating, and sharing plants and food. For our Roots and Shoots project, we would like to host a seed-saving education session and a plant and seed swap celebration in Spring 2024. We are a collective of 4 families with children ages 4+. We meet at a family farm in an underserved community of Sequatchie County, TN. The youth in our group love collecting seeds and sharing knowledge about pollinators and wildlife. At our Seed Swap Celebration, the youth want to welcome community members, curate activities, and provide entertainment and refreshments. In addition, the 9-year-old in our group wants to be in charge of making posters. The Seed Saving and Seed Swap Celebration will be an opportunity for us and our youth to share native pollinator seeds and plants with our community.
Themes Addressed
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Community
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Community Enhancement
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Food Choices
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Food Insecurity
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The Benefit
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People
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Animals
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Environment
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Here is how the project went:
In Feb of 2024 a group of 6 neighbors gathered together at our family farm and we designed plans for a seed and plant swap party for April 28. A wonderful 11 year old named Jette Coleman created our flyer art. With the help and input from our planning group, we added Jette's beautiful art to a complete informational flyer. Using funds from Roots and Shoots we printed about 60 flyers. Each member of our group put the flyer up at a variety of local businesses. Throughout late winter and spring we promoted our Roots and Shoots funded Seed and Plant Swap Party on our social media. Funds went to purchase seed envelopes, art supplies, compostable cups, plates, and a variety of healthy refreshment. On April 27, planning families came to the farm to help divide out pollinator plants. On April 28, the big Seed and Plant Swap Party day, planning members came and help set up for the swap. Folks came to share, learn, and connect from 11am-well after 4pm. Family members played bluegrass music during the festivities and the scene was truly magical. Over the course of the day more than 50 community members came and shared seeds, knowledge, and plants. Folks brought their children and they played in the field, watered the plants in the gardens, added compost to beds, packaged seeds, washed gourds, and made art. A sweet family brought buckets and buckets of Dahlia bulbs as a surprise. I was personally amazed at the abundance of seeds, plants, and care folks took labeling. Our group came together and our wonderful event happened because we had the support of Roots and Shoots and now we are a stronger community with an annual Seed and Plant Swap!
Through this project I/we learned:
My community has many talents and resources to share. I think having more events around sharing food, plants, and seeds would be good for people on many levels.
What I/we might change:
If we do this project again we might include more info about when and how to plant certain things.
My/our favorite part of this project was:
How are community came together! The amount of flowers that may be growing now as a result of the event is countless and because of that, I am sure more pollinators are buzzing and fluttering about.
Some tips, tricks or fun facts about the project:
Planning meetings with a group really help keep your group energized. Ask folks to share their talents and they will become allies. It is amazing how many people love and respect Jane Goodall. Having the Roots and Shoots logo on our flyer and speaking about the org in public is effective and gets people engaged and excited.
