Our Someone 2 Know this week is more of a movement than a person.
Soulful Seeds started as a modest community garden to feed the homeless by teaching them how to grow their food.
Some seven years later, that kernel of an idea now fills acres and feeds thousands.
The non-profit was recently awarded a grant from the USDA to help continue its work.
We met up with the team behind Soulful Seeds at their garden/farm in Reno.
Wielding the hose and watering the garden is Earstin Whitten.
Earstin, along with his wife Dee, first created Soulful Seeds Community Garden in 2017.
"The objective is to help people learn how to grow their food and learn how to cook it," explains Whitten.
That seed of an idea has grown from one garden bed to an urban farm that houses 32 raised beds, 5,400 square feet of covered growing space, an orchard and a one-acre crop field.
The garden manager for Soulful Seeds, Sage Tomita, says it takes a lot of foresight. "Decisions that I make now are gonna affect how things are going three, five, ten years from now,” shares Tomita, “And I have to focus a lot on soil health now to make sure things will be able to grow here for a long time.”
It also takes a lot of hard work, much of it accomplished by volunteers.
Whitten and Tomita say the land they are farming near the corner of Galetti Way and Glendale Avenue in Reno, is more dirt than soil, so composting is vital. “Most of the reason I compost is to increase microbiology and to hold water," affirms Tomita
The garden is shared with the residents of the nearby "Our Place" shelter for women and families, who participate in a variety of programs including seed planting and harvesting.
Cara Montoya, the program coordinator for Soulful Seeds who runs a variety of programs, including a popular cooking class says, "The women get to come down, pick the food and then we take it back to their kitchens and we teach them how to use ingredients that we've grown, that they've helped us grow, really.”
Whitten explains why this is life-changing for the participants. “We are literally in a food desert and there aren't many stores near where they live and many of them don't have transportation and therefore can't get to it very readily.” Earstin remembers meeting a woman who experienced picking an apple from a tree for the first time, at age 40, and how thrilled she was.
All of what is grown is shared with "Our Place" residents and various food banks in Washoe County, at no charge.
Being a non-profit, Soulful Seeds must raise the money to cover the significant costs of running the farm.
"It's really where most of our funding comes from,” shares Montoya, “Our different grants and community members who want to help us further our mission." And the mission is just picking up steam.
Tomita adds, “The next big things for the farm are finishing the irrigation plan on about half of it.”
Montoya says, "Two different programs that we're launching, one is an arborist apprenticeship for workforce development and then the other one is same-day work and pay."
Whitten also says, "We stay focused on the purpose and that purpose is going to be accomplished with the input from the community."
The grant awarded to Soulful Seeds by the USDA is for $1 million in reimbursements over the next five years.
If you would like to help with donations or with your time, there is a public volunteer day on Saturday, June 15, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
If you should miss this opportunity to help there are more to come, they happen often.
Soulful Seeds Gardens is located off Glendale Avenue between Galletti Way and 21st Street in Reno
For more information, you can view the following links:
Soulful Seeds homepage: https://www.soulfulseedsnevada.org/
Soulful Seeds volunteer page: https://www.soulfulseedsnevada.org/volunteer
