Food is a basic need, and healthy local food should be a fundamental right. At the heart of the food system is the seed.  Our current food system is so broken – in most all ways.

Join Backbone for two events, this Friday and next Wednesday. We will talk about the effects of racism and colonization on our food system and how those oppressive systems relate to growing a garden and saving your seeds.

Scroll down for detailed info on each virtual event and to register.

1. Backbone is honored and grateful to host a conversation with Farmers Lawrence Jenkins and Aleta Haskins, of The Circle of Life Gardens: Friday, June 26th, 11:30am (Pacific).

2. Following on our Conversation is a Virtual Workshop on Seed Saving: Wednesday, July 1st, 4pm (Pacific).

The Workshop is free, but a donation to the Free Lawrence to Feed Folks Fundraiser is requested.

If you are able to contribute, you can help Lawrence get legal representation for a resentencing hearing, so he can get out of prison.

(In Washington State, the legislature recently passed SB 6164, which gives prosecutors leave to accept ‘corrections’ of their initial sentencing/conviction decisions.)  Listen to a May interview by Susan McCabe, RealTalk Host at Voice of Vashon with Lawrence and Aleta and the impact of SB 6164 on Lawrence’s chance to be released from prison and to grow food in community HERE.

• RSVP to join the Conversation on Food Security and Racial Justice with Lawrence Jenkins and Aleta Haskins, this Friday at 11:30 (Pacific).

• RSVP to enroll in the Seed Saving Workshop with Jen Williams and Martha Enson, next Wednesday at 4pm (Pacific).

• All Welcome to Join. Make your free will donation HERE.

MORE INFO ABOUT THESE TWO PROGRAMS:

Conversation with Lawrence and Aleta on Racial Justice and Food Security:

Friends on Vashon Island, including those active in Vashon Showing Up for Racial Justice (Vashon – SURJ) and the Food Access Partnership, have organized a fundraiser to support Lawrence Curtis Jenkins and his petition for early release from incarceration.  Funds raised will pay for legal representation at a resentencing hearing.

Incarcerated for eight years so far, Lawrence Jenkins has transformed himself from a deeply depressed, angry young person to a master gardener, farmer, husband, and community leader. He has turned prison property into acres of fresh produce, with over 100,000 pounds of vegetables donated to local food banks to help his neighbors-on-the-outside who face food insecurity.

With his wife Aleta Haskins, he formed and runs the Circle of Life Gardens, and in January 2020, they produced The Circle of Life Gardens and Farms Healthy Living Community Summit, at Tacoma Community College.

We will speak with Lawrence and his wife Aleta Haskins about their work growing food.  Susan McCabe will facilitate the discussion, and there will be time for questions. RSVP to get the call in info.

Webinar on Seed Saving with Vashon Growers:

Save your own seeds, distribute them to your community and beyond, and be part of the movement for Food and Seed sovereignty across the Earth. Saving seed and growing food are fundamental to the new, abundant, regenerative world we want to live in.

In a conversation with gardener extraordinaire Martha Enson and farmer Jen Williams, we will cover the very basics of seed saving, starting with the Top Five easiest seeds to save from your garden this year: Lettuce, Peas, Beans, Tomatoes,  Herbs (like cilantro and arugua), as well as Flowers.

We will discuss open pollinated vs. hybrid varieties, the basic botany of pollination and fertilization, and a bit about seed harvesting and storage. There will be time for Q&A at the end.

Many resources and links will be shared, where you can learn more about seed saving, plant breeding, and social justice in our food system.

RSVP to get the Zoom webinar log on.

Thanks for joining us for an important Conversation and a Workshop, this Friday and next Wednesday.

For a Just and Resilient Future,

– Team Backbone