The Quiet Seed was formed as the seed of an idea, long before my husband Stuart and I moved from the suburbs to the rural area of Glen Gardner, Lebanon Township, New Jersey in Hunterdon County. The idea for “The Quiet Seed” emerged over a two year period of introspection from 2020-2022. The name “The Quiet Seed” was born from the ways in which seeds are a metaphor for survival, rebirth and creativity. They are fragile, yet resilient. They hold a great deal of latent power, have the capacity to change, evolve and recreate from long periods of dormancy. They do so with quiet patience, silent stillness, and are paused in time until the right conditions of light, water, earth and air breathe life into them. They are hope made visible again in a difficult world.
Seeds carry the signature of their ancestral plants, holding all the wisdom and healing in a tiny quiet seed. They are indistinguishable from the strength and resilience in the human spirit, with its capacity to grow and evolve over time.
In my work as a trauma therapist over the last 24 years I have been deeply moved by the strength and resilience of my clients, as they work to find meaning and purpose in their lives, despite challenges, traumas and losses, that continually recreate their sense of Self. During those two decades, I used hobby gardening as a meditation to ground myself, composting what energy I could that accumulated from my work. To create beauty and hope with every seed planted. It has been the best way to remain optimistic and create meaning and purpose in my life, having witnessed so much trauma and suffering in the world.
Our logo is a Poppy, which has long had a great deal of meaning for me. As a child when I spent summers with my Ukrainian grandmother, giant red Poppies were grown in the garden. They adorned the embroidered fabrics she used on the tables she set, as well as the “Vyshyvanka”, embroidered shirts we wore for special holidays and feasts. Red Poppies are a symbol of Joy, Love and Beauty for the Ukrainian people, as well as memories for those who have fallen in war. Both my parents and grandparents had to immigrate to the United States after World War II. They all suffered loss of family, land, culture and they had to recreate themselves from fallow ground. When we bought this land in the fall, I had no idea that gorgeous Red Poppies would emerge in the spring near the house. A neighbor said they had been planted in the 1980’s and they keep returning year after year. That is when I knew that Red Poppy should be the symbol and container for The Quiet Seed.
The intention and wish to bring more beauty into the world with flowers began to grow and evolve. We are beginning our journey by starting our flower farm on an 1/8 acre, on 5 acres we are living and stewarding. We are utilizing no-till regenerative farming practices on raised beds to combat the grove of Black Walnut trees, wild brambles and olive shrubs that want to keep reclaiming this old farm land.
We thank you for your support and helping us continue writing our story.
