The first batch of Growing Resilience Garden Baskets went out today. Thank you Aleta Miller, who helped coordinate and deliver for the Eugene area Native elders and families in need. Each basket had garden and herb starts, mostly tomatoes, squash, sage, sweet grass, oregano, and some other veggies. Also included were cloth face masks, seeds, garden magazines, books and toys for the kids, and a sweetgrass braid and tobacco plant for the elders. Later this week Adrienne Crookes from the Siletz tribe is coming to help make up more baskets and container gardens to go to the Siletz elders who live in Eugene, on the coast and other tribal lands. Seeds and masks will be mailed to Siletz elders in care packages the tribe is putting together. Thank you Janet Russell, Penny Valadares, Domi Stauber, Charlene, and quite a few others who have donated to make this project happen. Also thanks to Tee Bird and family for helping earlier in the season getting the containers ready. Because I am still banned from Facebook (still waiting for a reason why) I am unable to properly thank donors as I used FB messenger to communicate with a lot of people. Enough masks were sent prior to me being banned for the local native elders and families, but there are still quite of few tribes out there that need help.

Growing food and medicine, as well as developing a relationship with plants is so important. Sometimes when you are stressed and broke, having a little bit of help with starts or container gardens can make all the difference, so thank you everyone who helped make the Zaniyan Growing Resilience project a reality.