Calendario Relacional de la Milpa / Relational Milpa Calendar
On 6 May 2026, members of the community of Santo Domingo Tomaltepec, SeedsValues, and Cocina Colaboratorio came together at Parcela Don Isidro (Santo Domingo Tomaltepec, Central Valleys of Oaxaca) to co-create a Relational Milpa Calendar, building on the participatory workshops held over the previous months. Rather than documenting the agricultural year as a sequence of months involving a set of tasks, the activity invited participants to collectively map the relationships that sustain the milpa throughout its annual cycle. Guided by conversations around clouds, soils, seeds and seasonal change, community members reflected on the many forms of care, observation and collaboration that make cultivation possible; while sharing the knowledge they hope to pass on to younger generations.
The resulting calendar represents the milpa as a living network of relationships rather than a linear timeline. Participants connected environmental signs, agricultural practices, local plants, food traditions and community celebrations, showing how each moment in the cycle depends on the interactions between people, seeds, soils, weather, biodiversity and shared labour. From the preparation of the land to the selection of seeds, from seasonal recipes to collective work in the fields, the calendar highlights the milpa as a dynamic socio-ecological system where knowledge is continually cultivated through practices that sustain interdependences. As with the other activities developed within the project, the calendar emerged not simply as a documentation exercise, but as a collaborative tool for strengthening community memory, intergenerational learning and the ongoing care of native maize and its diverse ecological relationships.
