Last week, I removed a bed of unproductive green bean plants in order to sow some greens in the bed for fall harvesting. I’m always a softy when it comes to uprooting plants that still have a little life left in them. What makes a good gardener, though, is understanding when it’s time to let go of something old and start something new. 

What’s true for gardens is also true for life and logos! Earlier this year, the SeedMoney board and I decided that it was time to refresh our image to make it a more accurate representation of our values and priorities. In doing so, we decided to let go of the dollar sign symbol. We know that various people come to us with dollar signs in mind, but we know that money is a means to an end and not what’s really driving them. 

I would posit that what really draws people to our work and to gardening, in general, is love: 

• love of nature
• love of delicious and fresh foods
• love of healthy forms of exercise and recreation
• love for their children
• love for their local community
• and, ultimately, love for the fragile planet upon which all life depends.

I believe this because these loves are what led me to grow my own backyard garden and become involved in school and community gardening efforts in my town. If growing healthy food is truly about love, it only made sense for me to communicate this in SeedMoney’s new logo through a heart icon, the universal symbol of love and generosity. We gave our heart a garden twist by coloring it a vibrant green and having it sprout from a seed. I hope you like as much as we do here at SeedMoney HQ!

In terms of other new sprouting things, we have a new round of 370 garden grants up for grabs as part of our 8th Annual SeedMoney Challenge. If you applied on behalf of a project last year, I hope you’ll reconsider reapplying this year. If you’ve never applied before, but are crowdgrant-curious we maintain a list of frequently asked questions here: https://donate.seedmoney.org/faq