Crack Flowers #9 🪷
Unexpected stories to Rewild our Minds, Hearts & Cultures
I always tried to use my time purposefully and in ways that create impact. Over the last couple of years, I have increasingly felt lost. So many initiatives and movements that gave me hope turned out, when (un)learning more, to be falsely believing in a silver bullet, ignoring the unintended consequences of their solutions, still upholding the business-as-usual system or remaining imperial or colonial. It’s been a rollercoaster of getting my hopes up only to come crashing back down, feeling purposeful and full of autonomy, to being left lost, confused and at desperate times almost nihilistic. I am aware that I stepped on a lifelong rollercoaster of intense emotions and (un)learning. A lifelong journey of deep love and deep disappointment. My question isn’t how do I get off this insane ride and onto the calm stream of the blissfully ignorant. No, what I am seeking are ways to remain resilient, lose my hope, but to always find it back. Ways to re-energise my head, hands and heart so I can continue living this very necessary rollercoaster. As we all know where diving headfirst into numbness has gotten us. Luckily, two experiences never fail to lift my spirits.
One: Meeting thriving Stubborn Beautiful Crack Flowers
Two: Listening to Crack Flower Stories
What stories have amazed, startled, rewilded, surprised and brightened your heart and spirit this season? I truly would love to hear them, and if you wish, share them with the world.
The Stories of Crack Flowers #9 🪷
# 1 A hyper hyper HYPER local Food Journey
#2 The Biggest Mini Food Forest
#3 The Big Benches
#1 A hyper hyper HYPER local Food Journey
Imagine yourself in the middle of a field of ancient grains. Without even stepping away from the field you are producing, cooking and eating pasta, together with friends and joined by the farmer who has sown, nurtured and harvested the grain. This food journey is so extremely hyperlocal that I never even dared to dream it. And yet, it’s possible. This summer at the Polder Parade in Flevoland, the farmer, the producer, the chef and the hungry local community all came together in one field of ancient grains to eat a delicious pasta so local it never even left the farm.
“Three days in a grain field confirmed what we've believed all along: people are hungry for connection — to their food, to the land that grows it, and to each other. The technology that enables biodiversity-driven food production isn't just about better pasta; it's about rebuilding the relationships that make communities resilient.”
From Field to Fork: Gabanna's Grain Adventure at Polder Parade
#2 Biggest Mini Forest
I can’t believe I haven’t shared one of my favourite Crack Flowers stories with you yet. I talk about this one all the time, but apparently, it slipped through the cracks of the written word. The Biggest Mini Food Forest is an initiative stewarded by Luís Afonso & Ana Laura Cruz to nurture food autonomy, enhance biodiversity and enrich the soil through planting an expansive web of Mini Forests.
So far, they, together with local communities and other projects, have planted 72 mini food forests at 20 different locations, counting 93 different species.
You don’t need vast hectares of land to start your food forest journey. All you need is just a few square meters. 3x3 meters to be precise. After participating in the planting of a Mini Food Forest at the Traditional Dream Factory in Portugal, I have been dreaming of planting more plots and expanding this beautiful, seemingly disconnected but deeply connected food forest.
“The Biggest Mini Forest is a simple way to create your own small, sustainable food forest that grows naturally without chemicals. It’s designed to be easy for anyone to start, using just a small 3x3 meter space that produces food for you and your community for years to come. You can start small and grow it at your own pace, adding more plots as you go. It’s all about empowering people to grow food and regenerate the planet, one Mini Forest at a time.
Mini forests can grow in schoolyards, urban backyards, farms, community spaces. Thanks to the way they’re created, mini forests can even transform degraded land into flourishing ecosystems. Small in size but huge in impact, they offer nature at its most resilient.”
Want to learn more about this initiative and join a training? Check out: Biggest Mini Forest (This is not an affiliation or paid promotion, I simply really love what Luís and Ana are doing!!)
What is the biggest mini forest? - Intro Video :)
#3 The Big Benches
An idea born in the hills of Piemonte, simple and yet so powerful. Over the last couple of decades, huge benches appeared, perched on top of hilltops overlooking medieval villages, vineyards, snowy mountains and hazelnut forests. The enormous size of the benches makes you feel small like a toddler, instantly evoking a childlike gaze and curiosity. It’s an invitation to remember how we as 4-year-olds looked at the world, when everything was still a spectacular, curious happening.
When climbing upon a bench, it proved impossible to just sit still and “appropriate” like a domesticated adult. Just like a child, I wiggled, shifted and started playing around. Looking at the rolling hills lying upside down, or gazing at the clouds passing by over my head.
The Big Bench Story started with just one bench, and people immediately fell in love with the simplicity of the invitation and the childlike perspective it invokes. Now the benches are scattered all over the hills of Piemonte, throughout Italy and even the rest of the world. Have you climbed onto one? What was your experience like?
Let’s amplify stories that rewild our minds and hearts together.
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🖋️ Articles holding the potential to
Shift Horizons
From Field to Fork: Gabanna's Grain Adventure at Polder Parade - Sean Patrick
Empire with a Humanitarian Accent - Anita Naidu
📚 Books I am Reading
This summer, I have been reading any book by Elif Shafak that I could get my hands on. I can’t get enough!
Plant intelligence and the imaginable realm - by Stephen Harrod Buhner
Breaking Together - Jem Bendell
I love all 3 of these heartlifting stories. Thanks, Minou, for sharing them! ❤️
Oh my, the big benches, how delightful!