Details
Facilitated by
Katie Chase
Date/Time
Saturday, August 29, 9:00am-12:00pm
Cost
$29 for Members | $49 for Non-Members
Location
The Hive: A Center for Contemplation, Art, and Action | In Person
1628 Hoffner St Cincinnati, OH 45223
About the Class
Domains
Description
The seeds have so many stories to tell. They invite us to listen, and reflect, and consider how their stories are intertwined with our own.
This workshop will engage both the mind and the heart. As the ecologist and indigenous wisdom keeper Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us, there is so much to learn about plants and also so much to learn from plants. There will be technical and hands-on learning about the core principles of seed saving, great for any home gardener or plant lover. And we’ll also allow these topics of seed saving to lead us to a place of deeper self reflection and communal sharing.
What does cross pollination teach us about the joys and challenges of living in community? How does the fermentation process for seed saving remind us of our own need to metabolize the past in order to ready ourselves for a future transformation? Why are plants given a latin name, and what does that reveal about the power of naming both to uplift and to oppress?
This is Part 1 of a two part series. Part 1 will focus on summer crops including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, and a variety of flowers such as sunflowers and zinnias. Part 2 will focus on crops that are ready to harvest for seed in the Fall such as squash, corn, beans, okra, and chard. These classes can be taken on their own or together. While the core principles of seed saving will be discussed in each class, the focus on different types of plants will lead each group into new themes of conversation and reflection.
Participants are welcome to bring any abundance from their home gardens to share with one another and/or to learn from Katie how to save the seeds from those veggies or flowers. Seeds, produce, a bite to eat, anything you may want to share with others is welcome! At the end of the class, we’ll enjoy a light vegetarian meal prepared by Katie that features some of the plants we’ve learned about. During the class we’ll clean and process seeds which folks are warmly invited to take home with them to use in the garden or to share with others.
This Is for You If…
You love plants, gardening, or seed saving and want to deepen both your technical skills and your relationship with the living world.
You’re curious about what seeds can teach—about community, transformation, naming, and the stories we inherit and pass on.
You’re drawn to learning that engages both mind and heart, blending hands‑on practice with reflection and shared conversation.
You want to explore how ecological processes like cross‑pollination and fermentation mirror our own inner and communal growth.
You value gathering with others to share abundance, stories, food, and the wisdom held in the seeds themselves.
Intention of the Hive
When you join a Hive experience, you're invited into our intention to create a group experience that's inclusive, rooted in mindfulness, and dynamically relational. We aspire for each Hive experience to model these intentions, and even to refine them as we continue to learn how to gather in a way that's transformative! The embodiment of these intentions by Hive facilitators, Members, and class participants is what makes the Hive the unique and healing social container that many experience it to be. To view our Hive Intentions for gathering, click here.
More About the Facilitators
Katie Chase
is a farmer, seed saver, and chef. Her love of plants and people has led her on a journey across the local foodshed of Cincinnati and abroad to farms and kitchens in Morocco, Martinique, and the south of France. She is passionate about helping people connect deeply with the natural world and believes the humble acts of saving a seed or cooking a meal have the power to heal, transform, and reconnect us to our shared humanity.