Summer 2025 | Basil Propagation Rooted in Regenerative Education

During Summer 2025, Sweet Water Communiversity embraced the theme of regeneration through propagation. Over the course of six weeks, Communiversity participants and visitors alike engaged in a deep exploration of regeneration by refreshing 10 beds in the Community Garden with basil.  Spaces across The Common|Wealth from the Shelf of Life to the Think-Do House Kitchen and Community Garden were activated as “Living Classrooms,” where techniques for propagation, plant care, and harvesting were shared. As the basil continued to grow, it was integrated into several different farm-to-table meals, a flavorful testament to the community’s growing knowledge and action.

This example embodies Sweet Water Communiversity’s approach to Regenerative Education, where knowledge and action are intertwined and applied toward the re-generation of the publics (public education, public knowledge, public health, etc). Learn more about SW Communiversity’s approach to Regenerative Education through the example of basil propagation. 

From Left to Right: The initial 10 basil cuttings (“Props”) taken at the beginning of July (left), which regenerated into an abundance of basil across 10 Community Garden beds by the middle of August (right).

Plant Propagation, An Important Lesson in Regenerative Education

Sweet Water Foundation has used plant propagation as a teaching tool to demonstrate the inherent intelligence and regenerative nature of plants since its founding in 2009. Originating in simple classroom demonstrations, this hands-on approach has evolved into an active practice of Regenerative Education that engages Communiversity participants—from neighbors to elementary students to university students and community practitioners—in hands-on, interdisciplinary learning that brings lessons of science, math, and art to life. From the “Prop Shop,” a homeschool-inspired pop-up that shared the many ways of plant propagation (e.g., seed, cuttings, division, etc.), to the Fall 2024 Propagation Regeneration Experiment, which brought Prop Blocks (reclaimed wood embedded with vials) to local schools and a college, participants were able to physically witness new life emerging from cuttings. This work served as a foundation for the Neighborhood Academy’s Winter and Spring 2025 activities, which cultivated over 500 seedlings to fill our community garden beds, including the basil seedlings that laid the foundation for Summer 2025 basil propagation.

From Left to Right. Top Row: Prop Shop at Neighborhood Market (Summer 2024), Prop Blocks decorated by and activated as a Shelf of Life at Beasley Academic Center (Fall 2025), and Shelf of Life activated at Lake Forest College (Fall 2025). Bottom Row: Neighborhood Academy propagation lesson in the Think-Do House and Community Garden (Winter/Spring 2025).

Summer 2025 |  Re-Search, Education, & Action via Basil Re-generation

This summer, Sweet Water Communiversity challenged Neighborhood Academy and summer fellows and apprentices to bring new life and abundance to ten community garden beds, transforming them with an abundance of basil. The journey began during Wellness Wednesday on July 2, with 10 stem cuttings taken from basil mother plants grown by the Neighborhood Academy. The “props” were carefully placed in Prop Blocks artfully decorated by participants to start the process of regeneration.

Over the next six weeks, summer fellows and apprentices embraced a weekly routine of observation and care. They transformed the "Shelf of Life" into a Living Classroom, where they observed the plants' health and documented their progress. Within 3-5 days, the first roots would emerge, and within 7 days, the rooted cuttings were potted up into jars. By 14 days, they were ready to be transplanted into the Community Garden. This sustained effort turned the initial 10 props into over 100 basil plants.

Over 6 weeks, the 10 initial basil props generated ~100 basil plants.

Top Row: Examples of Wellness Wednesday programming to introduce propagation, from decorating Prop Blocks to introducing propagation techniques. Bottom row: Examples of basil propagation using the Shelf of Life and Community Garden. 

As the plants grew, the Community Garden itself became a site for shared learning. The team, summer fellows, and apprentices, along with the Neighborhood Academy, engaged community members and visitors, translating their hands-on experience into lessons on regenerative math, botany, agroecology, economics, and culinary arts. 

The bountiful harvests, which grew from a first-week yield of 2 cups to more than 40 cups within six weeks, supported six different recipes for farm-to-table meals shared with ~130 people. This abundance also challenged visitors to reimagine the economics of herbs, demonstrating the remarkable value of fresh basil, which typically costs around $5 for a quarter-cup in a grocery store.

Photos showing how the act of basil propagation transformed spaces across The Common|Wealth into “living classrooms” throughout the lifecycle of basil plants.

Celebrating Basil Regeneration & Abundance | SWF’s End of Summer Celebration

The six-week journey culminated with the End of Summer Celebration, where the Sweet Water Communiversity team, Neighborhood Academy, and Summer Fellows  and Apprentices demonstrated their techniques and shared their re-search with new guests. Participants, including a group from Teens Grow Greens in Milwaukee, used Prop Blocks as a canvas for civic arts and learned how to propagate basil from a stem cutting – a technique that can be translated to many other plants, including houseplants, vegetables, and herbs. 

By the sixth week, more than 100 basil plants had been propagated and transplanted. The End of Summer Celebration featured a farm-to-table meal for over 50 people, which included basil pesto made from more than 40 cups of basil.  The enormous harvest barely made a dent in the abundance of plants, demonstrating the power of regeneration. 

The simple and practical act of propagating basil embodies "Regenerative Education," where knowledge and action are intertwined. Through a series of applications and iterations over time, this process creates a complex body of knowledge rooted in both action and essential values of Regenerative Neighborhood Development. It highlights the inherently transdisciplinary, intergenerational, and cross-cultural nature of our work, making the basil propagation a foundation for exploring everything from agroecology, botany, and culinary arts to economics, scientific methodologies, and more.

There GROWS the Neighborhood!

Photos showing the range of basil regeneration activities and farm-to-table meal featured during the End of Summer Celebration.