Conversation with Morning Star Seed Co.
Soil, soul, and a link for Monday's live discussion
Check back here later for a recording of our conversation!
As part of my Book of Hours series this past summer, I was delighted to feature a giveaway1 provided by an inspiring friend: a liturgical wheel painted by Kelly Kraft, the farmer and artist behind and Morning Star Seed Company.
When I first found Kelly’s work, I couldn’t click fast enough to get to my email to reach out to her; Kelly’s mission, writing, art…all of it was so deeply resonant with the work to which I’m called, and it felt a bit like we had unknowingly been working side-by-side for years! Soon, I was on the phone with her - feeling as if we had picked up a conversation thread that we started long ago, even though we were just meeting for the first time.
“We are a narrative-based seed company based in Minnesota; we specialize in preserving the Church’s floral tradition of cultivating monastic Mary Gardens. Rooted in the heritage of the Middle Ages, we seek to pick up where history left off, rediscovering the beauty and liturgical symbolism of Her gardens that had shaped cultures and enriched homes, churches, and monasteries.
“Guided by St. Francis’ call to ‘rebuild My Church,’ our mission is to honor our Creator through stewardship of nature, providing the next generation with learning and education through an active exploration of our faith and creation.”
All that to say: I’m so excited for you to meet Kelly! She’s passionate about the way agriculture can reveal incarnational theology in tangible ways…about the wisdom we can glean from the symbolic language that was once so common to our faith ancestors. She treats gardening as a form of catechesis: a way to embody our stewardship calling, all the while honing our vision to see reminders of the life and salvific work of Jesus woven through our landscape and seasons.
For the Medieval Church, every plant, every creature was an emblematic reminder of God’s character and ways - intersections of theology and lived agrarian experience. Kelly looks back to this era in particular, asking how we can distill its emphasis on incarnational wisdom into our modern faith lives…not by pretending to live outside of our own time, but by re-invigorating our Christian imagination and recalling that prompts for prayer & devotion are everywhere, if we just rest long enough and cultivate holy attentiveness.
So, let’s gather to chat with Kelly about Marian gardens, sacramentality, the folklore of plants, incarnational theology, soil & soul…and so much more.
Kelly graduated from North Dakota State University in Agronomy. Soon after getting married, she was called to educate their three children at home for 20 years.
During that time of learning with her children, she began questioning the notion of the ‘Dark Ages.’ Intrigued by this shadowed time of the Middle Ages in Europe, she stumbled upon the forgotten art of Mary Gardens that was passed down from generations of the ‘unlettered’ people and monks of Catholic Christendom.In true homeschool style, she began seeking out-of-print books on Marian floral traditions.
She now combines her passion of her Catholic faith, all things plants and soil, along
with hand painting each unique packet cover with the legends and lore. All products are uniquely focused on preserving and celebrating our rich Christian history through Marian gardens. Kelly’s hope is to strengthen Faith formation with beauty and ecology to a new dawn of culture through Our Blessed Mother.