Printing Second Chance Seed Co.'s First Edition

Second Chance Seed Co. distributes lightly expired genetic content.

So reads the larger seed packet surrounding our first collaborative project at Hammer & Hemlock. 

Inspiration

Second Chance Seed Co. began out of my experimentation with alternative zine formats. After years of teaching the classic 8-page zine, I wanted to try something a little different, and came upon an alternate format in Making Handmade Books by Alisa Golden. The pockets excited me--what could I possibly tuck inside? 

Turns out I had a lot of expired seeds from gardening years past. A LOT. And so did many of our friends. (Thanks, Ether and Caitlin!)

Second Chance, then, became a way to find a use and a home for expired seeds. We hope that our customers will plant them, use them for crafts or birdseed, gift to friends, or simply enjoy the book as an art object. 

Process

I began by creating a template for tiny seed packets--one that would fit within the confines of the zine's eight pockets. I have experience doing illustrations for a farm, and so it was fun to draw carrots, squash, nasturtium, and all the other yummies inside. The zine itself is entirely collaged--from magazines, seed catalogues, and reused seed packets. I think the two different art styles offer visual relief and offer a nice complement to each other. 

Once the art was ready, we rented time on the Risograph machine at Reclaim Clay Collective in CID (where I will soon be teaching classes!). 

Printing done, we moved onto construction. Since the seed packets--both exterior and interior--are rounded, we precisely sliced all seed packets by hand, then folded and assembled them. With the help of some volunteers (read: generous partners), seed packets were filled with their contents: gently expired seeds acquired through our collective gardens and donations from friends.

Final assembly: After trimming and folding the zine, we carefully nestled seed packets inside before wrapping the outer packet around them and sealing with a little bee in bronze wax. Each zine is labeled with the edition number out of the 50 that we printed for this first edition. 

What we learned

1. People love seeds! We sold a handful of our first run at the very first market I went to after printing--mostly to people who have gardener friends or who were farmers. 
2. Rounded seed packets are definitely a choice that we made that makes the whole project very difficult to mass-produce. (They were all trimmed by hand--with scissors! How old school.)
3. We. Love. Wax. Seals. They give the whole project a fancy vintage look. Expect more of the same in our future projects!

Get your copy of this limited-edition art project here.