b'While seed companies do provide a way for people to access the seed of this corn and other heritage seeds, and commerce is part of our lives today, some people made a lot of money on it and used it more for self-promotion, Schoen explains. On occasion in craft markets, I saw seed of this corn being sold that seemed compromised, with more yellows and dull colors. Yet I admit that many of the small catalogue seed sources did pre-sent it in a respectful way.I just want people to understand that this corn was originally intended to be freely shared. The ancestral seed of this and all corn has been traded and shared among Indigenous peoples for thousands of years and thats the way I favor. It becomes an unbroken lineage not tainted by the conditionality of the marketplace. Thats the sacredness of it.At this point, the corn is being grown in several countries and still being picked up by new seed firms. West Coast Seeds in Delta, British Columbia, for example, is offering Glass Gem in 2021 for the first time. However, Schoen remains in favor of the seed being grown and shared by the seed stewards of the world, growing it as a labor of love and sharing it with others as part of local culture. In 2012,This glass gem corn has been crossed with Pueblo corn to produce different color hues he and others established a seed collec- than the standard rainbow jewel colors. tion for this corn and other seeds with Grandmother Flordemayo in Estancia,program, in which individuals commit New Mexico, to preserve heritage seedsto preserving and sharing seed diver- WHERE and support and educate seed stewards.sity. There are currently over 300 SeedON THE WEBRecently, to help promote the free shar- Stewards, says McDorman. The seedFor more information on some of these organizations, ing of the Glass Gem seed, Schoen andcan also be purchased at Native Seeds/ make sure to check out their websites to find out more others have chosen to rename it.SEARCH. Collections Curator Sheryl Joyabout seed sharing and other heritage seeds like the When the seed was developing intoexplains that If consumers order this cornRainbow Jewel. corn.its full expression, Glass Gem was one offrom us, this supports us to expand theRocky Mountain Seed Alliance rockymountainseeds.orgthe many names I used for the differentamount of seed we give away through color patterns I was seeing, and when Iour Native American Seed RequestNative Seeds/SEARCH (Tucson, AZ)nativeseeds.org took some samples to Bill, thats a nameProgram and Community Seed Grants. he noticed on one of the photographs IWe grow most of the seed for ourSeed Broadcast (in NM) seedbroadcast.org also gave him, Schoen says. He started2,000 accessions but we are also expand- Seed Savers Exchange (Decatur, IA) seedsavers.orgusing that name and that worked for me.ing our network of farmers, she adds.But soon it became clear that Glass GemIts clear that the story of this beauti- Braiding the Sacredbraidingthesacred.org - completing a was its commercial name. For that reason,ful corn is far from over, and for his part,documentary about Carl BarnesI along with those at RMSA are now refer- Schoen says hes very glad to have been aThe Path (Estancia, NM)followthegoldenpath.orgring to this corn that is shared, rather thanpart of its journey. sold, as Rainbow Jewel. Im pleased that it has inspired so Those interested in growing this cornmany people to appreciate the beauty of can participate in RMSAs Seed Stewardnature and to get into seed saving.SW20/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2021'