Seed conference preps for return

The fourth edition of Kahnawake’s annual Seed Conference is coming to town this month, with a schedule chock-full of speakers in the process of being finalized.

“It’s to educate people,” said Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chief Stephen McComber, who has been co-organizing the event with Kahnawake Collective Impact (KCI).

McComber said that a range of speakers will be coming to the Knights of Columbus from February 21-23, with the conference operating on a drop-in basis, meaning no registration is required for participants.

This year, there will also be free breakfast and lunch for participants, catered by Messy Kitchen. KCI’s facilitator of food security, Takariwaienhne McComber, said she’s excited to see the conference grow - the first conference only had around 30 participants, whereas last year’s event had between 100 and 150 attendees.

“It’s a lot of passionate people all interested in the same thing, all coming to the same building,” Takariwaienhne said. “It’s so nice to see everybody talking and sharing, and elders share stories about gardening back in the old days and how everyone used to have a garden. It’s really great to hear all the stories.”

Speakers will include Janice Brant, a traditional seed keeper and grower from Tyendinaga, agricultural expert Heron Breen, who has worked at Fedco Seeds, a company that often donates seeds to Akwesasne, and Kanehsata’kehró:non Valerie Gabriel, who is a farmer and co-founder of Dearhouse Farms.

There will also be representatives from companies that work on initiatives like modular greenhouses, as well as local organizations like the Kahnawake Environment Protection Office (KEPO), and the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Program (KSDPP).

Gabriel, who founded Dearhouse Farms with Chuck Barnett, will be presenting on mushrooms and garlic. Her work began in Kanesatake, and now she operates in Kahnawake too, often working with students from the community.

She said she’s looking forward to sharing her love of farming with attendees at the conference, noting that garlic and mushrooms are both exciting crops to grow.

“I mean, I totally hated mushrooms as a child, but as you grow older you start to hear about the medicinal properties,” she said.

When Gabriel was a teen, she tried a mushroom that she thought was a piece of steak. From that day on she’s been passionate about spreading the good word on mushrooms, which is exactly what she plans to do at the conference.

“Mushrooms are such a beautiful specimen in the forest, they’re elderly and they carry so much knowledge and wisdom and healing properties,” she said.

Gabriel added that she’s particularly excited to hear others speak.

“I’m really looking forward to being able to learn. Usually when you share stories, you also learn,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to being able to interact with people who are really interested in food from nature, whether it’s from the forest or the land.”

Takariwaienhne McComber said that KCI will be inviting participants to share their details after the conference to create a food security network going forward, with the goal of having meetings to discuss projects in the spring.

“I’m hoping a lot of people show up and that we get them interested and we get that energy so we can do more in the future,” Takariwaienhne said.

Stephen said that he’s also looking forward to engaging local youth with themes of farming and sustainability - most recently, his connections with the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company in the United States has resulted in the organization donating a large quantity of seeds that he intends to donate to schools in the community.

“It’s all part of trying to encourage the youth to connect back to the land,” Stephen said.

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