The camaraderie we shared in the Sacred Seeds Pop-Up garden was delightful. The minute the Mosaic team climbed out of the van, the bantering and observations started. Some folks would immediately take to the garden paths, looking for ripening squash or rainbow corn silks that were drying. Others, joked with each other privately and were full of smiles and joy. Still others, would approach me and share their news. Kevin, here on the left, was one of those. Every week, he would tell me what he had done at home, with his family or what he was planning to do. He was usually so excited that he had a hard time not laughing and smiling as he spoke. Most of the team members were forthcoming with their news and only needed a moment of time and space to share and engage in conversation.

As we toured the garden and discussed work that needed to be done, each team member had certain tasks they enjoyed and volunteered for weekly. No one ever wanted to collect trash around the property with Bob, but we did that every week anyway.

Throughout our work time, team members would take water breaks as needed, find a space to rest in the shade or hang out on tailgate of a pickups. Our time together was low key and rarely did anyone need encouragement to pitch in and help. No one ever needed motivation to join in conversation, laugh along with a joke or play around with each other.

Until we left our Sacred Seeds Garden and walked to several of our partnering organizations to share our harvest with them. The Nature Conservancy, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art and Kanecko all received us warmly when we entered but I noticed a stark difference in the Mosaic team. They retreated emotionally and quickly found seats and avoided eye contact with anyone. Our partners were gracious and eager to connect with the Mosaic team but our folks kept their a safe distance, most often not responding to any direct interaction but keeping their eyes on the ground. On the first visit, I assumed that it was shyness and initial hesitancy to new surroundings and new people. As we finished our third stop at Bemis and headed back to the patio for lunch, I asked some of the team how they liked the harvest walk. Most shrugged or said okay but were quick to change the subject. The next week, I wondered if they even wanted to do the harvest walk but several members perked up and asked when we were going on our Harvest Walk. I thought there would be a bit more engagement on the second go-round, but it was the same as the first visit to each new space.

Holly loving on our team and our harvest!

Reticence, lack of eye contact and what felt like trying their best to melt into the walls. As I thought through this, I started to realize why. Our Mosaic team is used to being overlooked in public. They rarely have random public engagement that is meaningful. It is common to either ignore or be curious about someone you see who may appear different to you. We are all shaped by our experiences, our culture can be very antagonistic if we don’t walk fast enough, turn quickly enough, respond in the correct way or multiple of other reasons. I’ve only experienced a small amount of these situations, being with my Mosaic friends and with Gabriel. The response of the public is startling. So why would I expect the same type of conversation and engagement when we harvest walk compared to the personal safety and frivolity we experience after months of working together in the garden?

But there is a happy ending. After weeks of harvest walks, our team came to look forward to the times visiting Holly, Jill, Eliza, Shannon and Heather to drop off our produce. They would ask me, when do we get to give our watermelons away? So, it was an acclimation, time and space to be themselves and find how they and we all, fit in.