The seed remembers, an adage coined by Carl ‘White Eagle’ Barnes to encompass the profundity of our spiritual and ancestral connections to seed.

In this SeedCLOUD episode seedsman Greg Schoen discusses his work and friendship with corn mentor Carl Barnes, a heroic figure of Cherokee and Irish descent who generously bestowed his poignant philosophies and precious collection of Corn to Greg.

 

In light of today’s industrial and agricultural paradigm of monocropping, GMO’s and seed patenting, Greg reflects on the bounty of genetic diversity our ancestral farmers and gardeners created, shared and handed down across generations. Through the narration of his journey, Greg invites us to contemplate the cultural and spiritual value of this inheritance, and to consider the human thread that transcends scientific or genetic significance.
 

While referencing the multi-coloured splendour of Glass Gem Corn in stark contrast to the monocultural norms of yellow and white corn, Greg Schoen poetically proposes that to truly embrace biodiversity we must embrace the ‘full spectrum of the rainbow’.