Sowing Seeds was started after Covid-19 panic buying started when two friends and fellow community gardeners in Melbourne, Australia, Roger Sharp and Suse Scholem, organised a bulk purchase and started to organise a seed distribution network for their communities.
Roger and Suse used to work together on an urban farming project started in 2013 called 'Gnomes' Farming Cooperative, which ran officially until 2018. All the 'gnomes' were very passionate about permaculture, community gardening, and grass roots organising... with a focus on localised food production, building community resilience and connection. The sprouting shoots of Sowing Seeds came from these same roots . . .
Roger and Suse used to work together on an urban farming project started in 2013 called 'Gnomes' Farming Cooperative, which ran officially until 2018. All the 'gnomes' were very passionate about permaculture, community gardening, and grass roots organising... with a focus on localised food production, building community resilience and connection. The sprouting shoots of Sowing Seeds came from these same roots . . .
/. . . " a movement starts with the first follower. . ."
The project idea spread through their networks, permaculture connections, and beyond... with folks interested from Darebin's sustainability community, to those vulnerable under Covid-19, to intersections with the Permaculture Crisis Response Group. As Sowing Seeds developed, other past Gnomes, including Chamali and Eleanor, both came in to work on the project in its infancy. Suse and Chamali took on a brunt of the administration - yay for spreadsheets and finances and stationary. Though Chamali is no longer working on the project, we're grateful for her efforts to get the project rolling with Suse, particularly after Roger had to step back after his initial light-bulb to bulk-purchase seed and his many hours of sleepless nights contributing his diverse garden know-how into getting the project off the ground. Thanks Roger for helping start a movement !
Suse continues to operate Sowing Seeds HeadQuarters solo, spreading the seeds across Victoria. She's been collaborating with old Gnomes, such as Mel and Eleanor (who both distribute for Sowing Seeds as two of our core fantastic 'Nodes'), and inviting in new friends, such as Artemis (our resident permaculture wunderkind, whose brilliant growing knowledge is shared so warmly and delightfully!) and photographer Elena (whose stunning documentation served the seeds and those of us Sowing them). We've also received some amazing help and financial support from our wider communities - those who really want to see this good thing ' grow well ' ! Thank you! We want to thank you all so much!
There have been a bunch of people behind the scenes being a part of this project in lots of little and BIG ways... And below you'll see a list of these amazing people who have contributed and our growing relationships, collaborations, and mentors..... cause we want to acknowledge and express our whole hearted gratitudes to this great bunch of folks, cause we all just come together to support this amazing thing that we all believe in. Thank YOU for Sowing these Seeds together and helping the movement move! It's been a collective effort, despite the difficulty of being apart under Covid-19, and all that has come to challenge us in 2020. We have been brought together by our common values, a shared vision and a mutual drive to help make a better, more joyful and more ethical world.
OUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and APPRECIATION TO THIS AMAZING CREW :
Suse: Operational Manager, Project Development, Organisation and Administration, Systems Design and Tech, Art and Media, Finance, Representation and Community Communications, Seed Counting, Distribution, Research and Resource development,
Roger: Project Development, Research and Resource development, Representation, Distribution, Communications and Systems development, Garden know-how
Chamali: Project Development, Research and Resource development, Organisation and Administration, Systems Design and Tech, Communications,
Eleanor: Organisation and Administration, Community Communications, Seed Counting and Distribution, Systems Development
Artemis: Research and Resources development, Writer, Garden Know-How
Rudy: Systems Development, Design and Tech,
Jasmin: Research and Resources
Seed Distribution / Nodes: Suse, Eleanor, Bec, Mel, Katrina, Roger
Photography of Seeds : Elena Burger-Guimaraes
Suse: Operational Manager, Project Development, Organisation and Administration, Systems Design and Tech, Art and Media, Finance, Representation and Community Communications, Seed Counting, Distribution, Research and Resource development,
Roger: Project Development, Research and Resource development, Representation, Distribution, Communications and Systems development, Garden know-how
Chamali: Project Development, Research and Resource development, Organisation and Administration, Systems Design and Tech, Communications,
Eleanor: Organisation and Administration, Community Communications, Seed Counting and Distribution, Systems Development
Artemis: Research and Resources development, Writer, Garden Know-How
Rudy: Systems Development, Design and Tech,
Jasmin: Research and Resources
Seed Distribution / Nodes: Suse, Eleanor, Bec, Mel, Katrina, Roger
Photography of Seeds : Elena Burger-Guimaraes
OUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND MASSIVE THANKS
TO THE FOLLOWING FIRST SUPPORTERS OF SOWING SEEDS
Permaculture Crisis Response Group
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T O F C O U N T R Y
Sowing Seeds began on land that was never ceded, but instead was taken from its original Custodians - The Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. We want to acknowledge this travesty and the disrespect it was to Indigenous people and the land itself. We see the devastating oppression continuing to this day, which we acknowledge (as a group of mostly white settlers) that we have benefited from. We see the loss of culture and connection to land which has been wreaked for profit and privilege under Colonialism. We seek to stand in solidarity, as allies decolonising, to actively work to repair the damage done. Starting with our selves, our spaces, and the literal and metaphorical seeds that we sow. We work on these sacred and beautiful lands with respect and awareness of its history that came before us, and of Indigenous land practice. We invite any First Nations person who wishes to express anything to please contact us with their thoughts, needs or requests. S o w i n g S e e d s is committed to resourcing a more ethical and intersectional food production system. . . one that doesn't rely on the resource exploitation and labour of the oppressed people across the world.
We are currently seeking guidance from Indigenous Elders and others.
We are exploring the restoration of Indigenous vegetation, where ever possible.
We are encouraging and working to provide resources on rehabilitation of native edibles.
We are also offering Seed to all First Nations people at no cost to help Pay The Rent.
Our immense gratitudes and solemn respect to those that came before us.
a little about
GNOMES /Melbourne Urban Farmers . .
GNOMES /Melbourne Urban Farmers . .
'Gnomes' was not-for-profit community organisation which began in 2013, a group of gardeners dedicated to supporting and connecting community to grow vegetables and fruit in their urban spaces. The group was started in Darebin by local residents - aka people who then called themselves 'Gnomes' ... fyi, Gnomes traditionally means 'protector of the earth's treasures'. Started as a project to encourage and enable land sharing agreements, encouraging community connection around localised food production, Gnomes navigated relationships between land owners who didn't use their yards, and folks who wanted to garden but didn't own land, to create local opportunities for food-growing collaborations and specific projects. We started in Clifton Hill, at our 'Westgarth Site' near the Merri Creek, ripping up the grass on the street, building beds and community at the same time! Within one season, Gnomes were planting up 4 sites - verges, front yards and backyards - all with abundant veggies to share ! Over the next 5 years, we continued to build, working on 2 more sites, and ran community skill-shares and workshops on 'Pruning', 'Composting', 'Wicking Beds' and 'Homesteading' !
Gnomes ran from 2013-2018, before it ended un-officially, as most good things do..
A massive acknowledgement and appreciation to those who put in such love, time and effort into our collective baby, Gnomes,
and whose labour helped create the fertile soils for so many more seeds to be sown and sprouted !
Now, years after Gnomes final site, this grass-roots initiative - Sowing Seeds - was born of its essence, with the new momentum and community support to continue. We hope to create meaningful livelihoods for ourselves post-Covid-19, distributing seeds ongoing to anyone in need, with a strong focus on skill-sharing, environmental sustainability, land connection, community building and our collective wellbeing. |