Seeds of Knowledge

The following is a short essay written by HRVU Co-Founder, Alanna Facchin, which was published in The Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener.

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My daughter, Meadow, is fortunate enough to be an “Unschooler.” It’s not my preferred term for our form of homeschooling, but it is useful in that it quickly sums up the general philosophy: imagine self-directed, joy-based, and interest-led home education. What a beautiful way for us to take in the world. I have spent over ten years removing a grass lawn and replacing it with a sizable organic garden and a mini-meadow. Trees have sent their roots deep, squash plants have sent their vines high (and told me who’s boss), native flowers abound, and chard leaves are as tall as a 6 year old. Most of this sanctuary has been planted by seed. This is our classroom; it just happens to have no walls. Growing from seed is a labor of love, one we partake in year round. Take a look at those enticing little paper packets and you will notice seed starting is not reserved for the spring semester -- I mean season. Just as true learning doesn’t cease because of summer vacation. I begin planting in our little greenhouse during winter and my daughter plays alongside me amongst the dried brown stalks of last summer, unknowingly covering her little wool suit in clingy seed heads. When her curiosity is piqued, she comes close and asks (demands) to get involved and do it herself. In that moment, she has applied to Mother Nature Academy and registered for Seed Sowing 101. We tune into the needs of each plant, the birds, the insects, and the soil. We ask questions, make mistakes, get our hands dirty, and discover by doing. This path of exploration leads us to our local library and then to small nearby farms, searching for more. We become members of the organic CSA farm at the end of our road. We consider budgets, priorities, needs vs. wants. We weigh our harvests, make comparisons, and ask how far food has to travel before it reaches us. We research the history of the precious land we stand on and call home. Small, local, organic seed companies become the new “assignments.” Biodiversity, habitat, and herbalism are the new “class themes.” Weather and climate, water sources, geology and food justice are the new “study units.” We become the Earth’s students and we are willing to work hard for her, so we can become teaching assistants for the next generation. A seed of curiosity and wonder has been planted. Not only for our children, but for our community who can’t help but notice what we are up to. We reverently collect the garden’s seeds and package them for our free seed and plant stand every week. Because this knowledge and these seeds are worth sharing. The garden has yet to pull out a worksheet or a pop quiz. Every school “subject” lies within a solitary seed. All of life’s lessons are there. Let’s all show up, be present, and listen.