What can be more powerful than a seed? The energy force is undeniable. Watching a tiny basil seed, for example, give forth that bouquet of sturdy stems with fragrant leaves, seems almost like a magic trick. But Kristyn Leach is interested in seeds with other superpowers through her work at Gohyang Farm in Sebastopol, California. Through her organization Second Generation Seeds, she's showing that seeds can preserve culture, connect generations and build community.
Kristyn Leach stands in a field of perilla in Sebastopol, California. Photo by Eugene Kan.
Second Generation Seeds is a network of farmers, all of whom belong to either Asian or Arab communities, working together to restore their respective relationships with different culturally significant crops. All while really thinking about what those crops need to survive living outside of these ancestral lands.
Leach grows perilla, known in Korean as kkaennip, which is in the mint family. One of the highest sources of omegas outside of fish oil, perilla is highly aromatic and its oil is often used like linseed to finish woods. Its leaves are eaten throughout Korea as a raw accompaniment to foods.