*Entryway to the labryinth where the cotton seedlings would be in the company of garlic, herbs, and other beautiful plants at Mumbet’s Freedom Farm. (Photo by Maya M. S.)*

To say this past Saturday’s opening CURE: Connecting with Cotton session at Mumbet’s Freedom Farm was a blessed day, would be an understatement! It was that and so much more:

Soft.

Softness within hardness.

Journeys.

Comforting.

Warmth.

Reclamation.

Ubiquity.

These are some of the words that came up in the collective share back after folks had a moment to reflect and paint following a beautiful opening meditation led by Ashni. Ashni taught us about the properties and intentions of flower essences and then shared the process of working with cotton flowers last year to make the essence we would engage with that afternoon. Folks were then led into a meditation and given prompts to reflect on where they’re coming from especially in relation to the cotton plant.

Ashni also shared some of the farm’s origins and connection to the self-liberated nurse, midwife, and herbalist Elizabeth Freeman, also known as Mumbet, whom the farm is named after.

Before transitioning into lunch, Maya shared a poem from Southern Culture’s Queer South issue by poet Honora Ankong called “Something Trans Happened to My Body When I Crossed the Atlantic”, and then invited folks to check out the cotton bolls and select ones that they felt called to hang out and play with.

We had a super nourishing lunch (and dessert!!) prepared by Char and delivered by Zien of Beloved Kitchen, and then transitioned to Maya sharing about cotton’s botanical origins and agricultural stories as well as a whirlwind timeline of cotton’s exploitation due to European colonization beginning in the 1600s. We also uplifted the many resistance efforts of African and Indigenous diasporas in resisting the exploitation of people and cotton throughout the Americas and Caribbean.

Ashni then invited us to consider “cotton as a portal” and shared some of cotton’s spiritual traditions throughout the African diaspora. With particular focus on traditions in Southern U.S. and spoke on it’s medicinal properties and various modes of offering protection and autonomy.

Ashni and Maya then led the group over to medicine circle area of the farm where we would be placing our sea island brown cotton seedlings into their new home. Prior to the workshop, around the Spring Solstice, the two land stewards had sown sea island brown cotton seeds together at East New York Farms, and Maya would later step up the seedlings and bring them up to Mumbet’s for the event. Before getting into the soil, they shared their experiences cultivating cotton and their journeys growing with the plant in different settings (urban, semi-tropical area versus rural, colder New England area) as well as with a myriad of different things going on in their lives that impact the plants.

After a brief transplanting demo and discussion folks began getting the seedlings into the ground and once everything was watered in we closed with folks sharing reflections (and soooo much gratitude) from the day.

Big thanks to Ashni and the Mumbet’s Freedom Farm for welcoming everyone into the space, as well as infusing the land with so much love, care and tenderness. Also big thanks to Beloved Kitchen for feeding us so much goodness.

We’re super excited for our closing session of CURE: Connecting with Cotton in Brooklyn, NY, on September 27th (10am-12pm). So stay tuned to our UPCOMING EVENTs page (or sign up for our newsletter here) for when registration opens up in August.

*Workshop area ready for participants’ arrival! (Photo by Maya M. S.)*

*Cotton flower essences made by Ashni and the Mumbet’s Freedom Farm crew, ready for participants to engage with during the session. (Photo by Maya M. S.)*

Cotton seedlings Ashni and Maya sowed in Brooklyn in March 2025, Maya stepped up/potted up in May, and we would be transplanting into the soil at Mumbet’s Freedom Farm during the session. *(Photo by Maya M. S.)*

Sweet cotton seedlings sown by Ashni up at Mumbet’s and slowly awakening to the warmth, we would also be lovingly transplanting these babies into the soil alongside their big siblings! Later in the session we would discuss the differences and sensitivities of the cotton plants between our urban and rural growing environments. (Photo by Maya M. S.)

*Ashni grounding the group into the space with a cotton essence meditation and journaling/painting prompt. (Photo by Maya M. S.)*

*Participants and Mumbet’s Freedom Farm crew members selecting their cotton flower essence and listening in. (Photo by Maya M. S.)*

*Participants and Mumbet’s Freedom Farm reflecting. (Photo by Maya M. S.)*

*Maya, Ashni, participants and Mumbet’s Freedom Farm crew members reflecting and sharing. (Photo by Grace).*

*A snapshot of some of the cotton meditation paintings. (Photo by Maya M. S.)*

*Maya reading a poem before we transition to lunch. (Photo by Grace).*

*Participants listening to the poem. (Photo by Grace).*

*Participants engaging with various types of cotton bolls and materials as we transition to lunch. (Photo by Maya Marie S.)*

Maya offering some context about different cotton species’ botanical origins and journeys as well as mistreatment during the early stages of European colonization, forced removal, and exploitation of people, land and peoples across Black and Indigenous diasporas. (Photo by Grace [possibly]).

Below are photos of the second half of the session when Ashni and Maya went into cultivating cotton and their journeys with growing cotton in different settings as well as with a myriad of different things going on in their life. After a brief transplanting demo and discussion folks began getting the seedlings into the ground.

(Some photos by Grace and Maya with many of the remaining photos taken by various participants, thanks to everyone for capturing snippets of this day!)

Easing into Cotton Connections @ Mumbet’s Freedom Farm

Remembering Juneteenth @ Phoenix Community Garden