I suggested to our small rural library that we begin a Seed Story Library. A wee bit different from a seed bank of local seeds, it includes the story of the seeds. I shared with them the story of old grandmother pecan trees that grow near the century old farmhouse.

To help the library share the Seed Story concept with other library locations in the county and gauge support from residents, I collected pecans and filled a couple jars of seeds to bring them along with a printed copy of the Pecan Seed Story .
 
Space is at a premium at small rural libraries and i distributing them to the community out of planting season could lead to the seeds ending up in a drawer somewhere and be forgotten when planting season rolls around. I suggested that it may work better if the seeds are only available during the best time to plant them. For pecans that time is fall, when the squirrels are planting them. This will limit the amount of space the library needs for to display the seeds if they're only sharing a few seed stories at one time. the stories are also more likely to be read. These are Seed Stories after all, not a seed saving program.
 
Once the seeds have all been taken into the community the story remains. I gave the library an old binder  to store old seed stories. Perhaps one day it will be a collection of Randolph County Seed Stories if they decide to do this in the long term.
 
You'll find the story, planting instructions and a recipe for Pecan Pesto below. Whether you have the Grandmother Seeds to plant or not, please carry this story with you to keep the Grandmother trees alive.

Pineywoods Cattle have a bio-diverse diet, it is one of the reasons why we chose to raise them. Ozark Akerz is a mix of pastures and forests and the combination of grasses, trees, and shrubs is the perfect combination for them. In fact we stopped rotational grazing, allowing them to eat what they want, when they want (food and medicine), just like their ancestors did.

What do the Pineywoods Cattle herd eat at Ozark Akerz Regenerative Farm?  The answer is, all sorts, from Brambles to Walnut. We'll share what we've seen them eat, how they sometimes eat similar to Giraffes, and how our bull Rocky competes with farmer Sue to see who can pull the tastiest kudzu vine out of the trees for the cows. We'll also reveal how their appetite helps us meet some of our regenerative farming goals.

Pineywoods Cattle are instrumental in conserving and maintaining Trees and vice versa.

The Pineywoods varied appetite - including kudzu, greenbrier, brambles, even poison ivy - has led to a healthier forest and increased biodiversity at Ozark Akerz. In return, forests help conserve the Pineywoods, allowing them to mimic the foraging behavior of their wild roaming ancestors, providing them with a variety of food and medicine.

This synergy between plants and animals allows the trees at Ozark Akerz to continue capturing over 800, 000 pounds of carbon every year.

Learn more about this partnership between Pineywoods and Trees and learn how we use the iNaturalist and iTree Canopy Apps to track biodiversity and carbon capture in this presentation originally given by farmer Mike at the Chatham Conservation Partnership.

Watch it all or scroll down to jump to the topic that interests you

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1:21 : Agenda

1:58 : Introduction to Ozark Akerz Regenerative Farm

5:27 : Meet the Heritage Breed Animals

7:36 : Pineywoods Cattle contributing to Forest Health and vice versa

11:11 : Measuring Carbon Capture with iTree Canopy App

13:45 :Increasing Biodiversity – Current Projects

15:38 : Measuring Biodiversity with iNaturalist App

18:21 : Resources

19:51 : Questions