Seed Saving Magic

Aolani Higgins straddles the bench of the picnic table and carefully sets her poi and lūʻau on the weather-worn surface before turning her attention to me. The beautiful turquoise-colored eyes are a stark contrast against her flushed, sunburnt skin.  Aolani’s enthusiastic energy is infectious as she describes her connection to the land at Hoʻoulu ʻĀina.

“Imagine the soil is a mother that you feed all the nutrients to. And then she feeds the plants. The plants then make the seeds. My mentor, Reggae McGowan, wanted me to understand that you're not feeding the plant,” she pauses with a far off look.  “You're feeding the soil.”

Aolani has been working at Hoʻoulu ʻĀina for nearly 10 years.  She co-leads the Mahi ʻĀina program, which grows and distributes organic food to the community.  Aolani is known as Hoʻoulu ʻĀina’s super seed saver.  She gathers seeds by hand, lovingly processes, and then packages them, which is eventually shared with the community.

“The more you save and plant, save and plant and plant over and over again,” she says sculpting every word as her hands dance in mid-air.  “You get the strong seed that you can just throw on the ground and that thing is gonna sprout. That’s the magic!”

It was big agribusiness and GMO companies that fueled Aolani’s desire to begin saving seed.  The large companies made it impossible for small seed shops or organic seed saving farmers to survive.  “Yah it kind of like pissed me off – enough to make seed saving a passion of mine,” she chuckles.  “I just needed a little help to hold my fire a bit steadier.”

And so Aolani Higgins is our ʻĀina Warrior of the Week.  Super seed saver.  Farmer extraordinaire.   Forester.  Healer.  Seed Curator.