How Seeds Saved Us

Sep 6, 2025

3 min read

Through gardening, work and play, seeds are woven into our family’s everyday life. One day we started looking for seeds, and now we can’t help but see seeds everywhere.

They are common, yet far from commonplace in our hearts.

As gardeners our family relies on seeds to grow food, medicine and beauty. As humans we depend on seeds for nourishment.

The cycle of life was taught to me in grade school, but it wasn’t until I started gardening and homesteading as an adult that I really embodied the cycle, rather spiral of life.

Separations and distinctions start melting away when I see firsthand that my body is made of seeds and plants who grew out of soil. This body is a wonder of life.

What a miracle, what a blessing!

Ann and I commit to growing most of our garden plants from seed each season. We grow flowers, vegetables and herbs, even shrubs and trees from seed.

We tend young plants like they are children. We feel so much love for the green ones as they grow!

Sometimes we wonder if the plants are the ones growing us—nurturing us into more whole humans.

As our green babies grow up and flower for the first time we become elated. We regularly visit our green family, admiring their flowers and eventually watching seeds and fruits form and swell.

What an honor to receive seeds from the garden plants—to admire, harvest and hold seeds as the cycle of life continues to spiral forward. We are another season older. Another season nourished by the garden. Another season tending seeds.

I’ve challenged myself to grow some bulk staple seeds as a portion of our diet. Homesteaders do this you know, many of us choose to work on decommodifying ourselves and our food. It is a kind of heart healing, culture building work.

Seeds are at the center of a healthy culture.

Now several types of homegrown grains and legume seeds nourish our family’s bodies. We grow and process various herb seeds for added texture, flavors, trace minerals and food as medicine.

The benefits of saving our own seeds are many. Locally adapted plants become more resilient and vibrant with every season that we save and replant seeds from the best plants.

Vibrancy of our plants is impractical too—a resonance enjoyed as I bask in relationship with plants whose seeds I’ve saved and grown season after season. Green friends, green family—we are in community together in the garden.

We feel more reciprocal with the garden community each season. Just this week I’ve been watching little birds pecking lettuce seeds off the plants. I am nourished knowing that critters are eating seeds of all kinds out of our garden.

Modeling natural patterns of abundance, plants often produce more seeds than we need. We are are learning to share surplus seeds with community. We gift seeds to friends and family. We donate seeds to a local seed library.

These simple pleasures help me shift my mindset from scarcity to abundance.

Seeds and homesteading go hand in hand. By aligning and living with seeds we are weaving ourselves more fully into the cycle of life. Seeds are weaving us into a world of connection.

Seeds represent life, nourishment, beauty, joy, community and family.

Seed Saving for Abundance
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2 responses to “How Seeds Saved Us”

Terry Trantham
September 9, 2025
I’m grateful for everything that you guys do for seeds!
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1. Noel
  September 9, 2025
  Thank you so much Terry! It’s fun and rewarding to share our passion and knowledge… I’m sure you can relate :)
  Reply