THE FIRST THING MOST people learn when they begin gardening or farming, Jared Hagood laments, “is to open a catalog and order your seeds.” But it wasn’t always this way. People used to share their prized seeds with neighbors, relatives, and friends.
Thanks to Lineage Seeds, that tradition is making a comeback. The company encourages what Hagood calls a “symbiotic relationship” between plant and person. “We’re not just the domesticators of these plants,” he says. “We’re their useful monkey, spreading their genetic material.”
Hagood founded his seed-and-pot company in Colorado, but it flourished after he relocated to the Land of Enchantment six years ago. “New Mexico has a really amazing history of farming and substance gardening,” he says.
Lineage sells its organic seeds—which come in handmade terra-cotta pots with a paper scroll that reveals their history—online and at various local pop-up and farmers’ markets. Each unglazed pot contains a handful of amaranth, wheat, beans, squash, or pepper seeds that were either grown by Hagood on his Nambé farm or by like-minded farmers and friends.
The intention is to treat the mostly heirloom seeds as precious and encourage customers to do the same. “Once you’ve planted the seeds, you’re left with a beautiful, handmade object,” he adds.
While Hagood’s ethos is earthy and his mission practical, he also feels a spiritual connection to this work. “What is worthwhile to do with our little 80 years here?” he muses while standing in his muddy field. “Seed, to me, is the most tangible thing. It will be valuable no matter what else happens in the world.”
Buy Lineage Seeds online at lineageseeds.com and follow on Instagram @lineageseeds.