It all began in the spring of 2021, when Julia approached Joseph
about creating a video course based on his new book, Landrace
Gardening. That course spawned a community of adaptation-minded
gardeners, who swapped stories and seeds in an online forum and
met monthly over Zoom. Anna was smitten with Joseph’s vision
for ‘the ultimate seed share,’ and facilitated the mixing of home-
grown seeds from around the United States into genetically diverse
packets.
We wanted to do more. We needed to organize. Our small group
of founders crafted a shared mission & values, and we set out
to do three things: strengthen our existing community, grow our
membership, and distribute genetically diverse seed. In December
2022, we signed on with fiscal sponsor, Empowerment Works. By
January 2023, we had launched our website and seed program,
making courses, seeds, and an online community available for free.
This report offers an overview of how we spent the rest of that
first year. In the face of extreme weather and turbulent global
geopolitics, the need for diverse, locally adapted, community-grown
food crops is urgent. At a time when society is more fractured than
ever, our emphasis on community offers neighbors a common goal
of delicious, nutritious, resilient food. We hope you’ll join us.
Going to Seed is a project of Empowerment Works, a social change organization advancing a
whole system approach to a sustainable world, and 501c3 not-for-profit.
FROM THE FOUNDERS
Lowell
McCampbell
Masha
Zager
Debbie
Ang
Anna
Mieritz
Joseph
Lofthouse
Julia
Dakin