This is a series of flash interviews with people I admire, people who are doing something—anything, a lot of things—for the Earth. These folks walk the walk, each of them in their own way, using their unique skillset. They dedicate their energy, their time, and their hearts to a crucial cause: the preservation of this precious planet we call home.
I am always excited to meet a young person with fire in their belly and dirt under their fingernails. As the next generation of Earth tenders, they’re carrying the torch forward—which fills me with happiness and hope.
Isaiah Barton, who calls himself a gardener/land steward/green educator, is one such young person. As a student at Clemson University majoring in horticulture with a concentration in edibles and a minor in biological sciences, Zay was active in the campus chapter of MANRRS: Minorities in Agriculture and Natural Related Resource Sciences.
Zay’s signature project was a community organic food garden he created in an unused corner of campus. An enthusiastic group of student volunteers helped him start and maintain the garden, and it’s still going today. Surplus produce is donated to the university’s Paw Pantry.
(FUN FACT: A decade ago, when I worked as a mental health counselor at the Clemson student health center, my office was in the building next to Zay’s garden. I remember how sadly neglected that area looked back then.)
In 2023, even before he graduated from Clemson, Zay started his own company, Infinite Seeds Academy. Now based in Columbia, South Carolina, Zay offers a mixture of hands-on garden consultation and installation, plus horticultural workshops—all with the mission of “re-establishing our lost connections to The Land and our food.”
He strongly believes in carrying on the traditions of his elders, by paying “homage and respect to our ancestors' growing, plant, and farming wisdom that we've inherited over thousands of years, and passing it on to the next generation of growers, while simultaneously watering that inherent knowledge of growing in each and every one of us.”
Are you inspired by this young man’s spirit? Me, too!
When I e-mailed Zay about featuring him here, he said something that will stick with me:
”The Earth is worth it. Always.”
Here is a wonderful 7-minute video feature about Zay and the Clemson garden, which will prep you for reading his answers to my questions.
Zay, please tell us about some of your early experiences in nature.
When it comes to nature, I'm beyond grateful to say that I've got experiences from quite literally all over the world, even at a young age. I was a military brat growing up. My pops served in the U.S. Army for 25+ years. So, as one can imagine, we did quite a bit of moving around. We've lived in Georgia where I was born, North Carolina where my brother and sister were born, Maryland, and now settled in South Carolina. Through all of that school switching, abandoning of friends, and house swapping, I found a way to keep myself grounded through nature. Physically and mentally. Most notably in North Carolina. Two towns specifically are Goldsboro, N.C. where my mother’s father lives, and Wallace, N.C. where my father’s father lived until he recently transitioned to the status of ancestor. In Goldsboro, my mother’s father still owns the childhood home my mother and her six siblings grew up in, and bought the house right next to it (which definitely is a whole lot more structurally safe than the childhood home LOL). And behind both houses are grapevines we picked from. Our harvest would mostly go to my grandfather’s stock for his winemaking business. (He gives away his wine for free to friends and family.) Even though he’s busy as a local pastor, he always finds time to garden, growing gourds he makes soups and birdhouses from, squash, pecans, peaches, tomatoes and plenty more. He hunted squirrels who ravaged those trees especially, and I've tasted one as a result! When I was a child, there was more than enough to do in those backyards—especially since I didn't have a mobile device/phone until I was much older.
Then there’s my grandfather on my pop’s side, the one who just recently transitioned to ancestor status in March 2025. He was born in the parish of St. Mary, Jamaica, and eventually settled in Wallace, N.C., which is where 95 percent of all of my outdoor experiences with him happened. One of the most notable of those experiences was interacting with my grandfather’s herd of about 20+ goats (minimum) that he raised on his 14 acres of land. The experiences of pure joy were banging that rusty wire fence or just calling out the goats’ names and seeing a sea of white and brown animals come trotting to see what you've got to feed them. The goats ate grass, weeds, and other brush in their pens, and because it was widely available and cheaper, my grandfather also fed them horse feed. For some reason that always amazed me as a child.
In addition to the goats and the two dogs (one for goat herding and another for security), the top joy for me there was my grandfather’s garden. Shooting off the hip here, I’d say his biggest garden bed was roughly 6x12 feet. His second was nearly the same size, and then he had one in the front yard that was about 7 feet square.
I never knew how deeply those experiences and that time I spent working with him or watching him ingrained in my very being. Because Papa George was a native of Jamaica, he brought an entirely different perspective and field of knowledge when it came to land stewardship. A few of the things he grew that aren't commonly grown here in the U.S.: Jamaican thyme, callaloo, perennial collards, scotch bonnet peppers, and plenty more. He didn't talk all the time, but that's because he was too busy doing. Teaching and leading through example. And if you weren't paying attention, you missed it. He is my No. 1 elder mentor, when it comes to greenspaces and nature.
How did those early experiences shape your relationship with the natural world?
Those early experiences played a crucial role in shaping my relationship with our natural world. Most importantly, whether I was aware of it or not, I was learning that there was a relationship to begin with! I was actively learning that there is an unseen balance to be maintained within our natural world. If that balance is thrown off, there will be short-term and long-term consequences. Actively learning that we as the dominant species and inhabitants (that we know of) on this planet, are also the ones who affect the planet the most. My Elders have told me, "They aren't making any more land"—which ultimately means that we have to take care of what we do have. Which is all of the land on this planet—specifically, undeveloped land. How I imagine the rest of society views my relationship with the natural world is like a two-year-old having an imaginary friend. You can't really conceptualize it on your own; I have to describe it to you. She (Mama Nature) talks to me and I talk back, but you can't ever hear the conversation. So as a result, you don't understand the relationship at all and are left confused.
How do you connect with nature now … through your work or leisure or both?
I connect with Mama Nature every single day. Through work and leisure, during my day-to-day life. My work life is 90 percent outside. So we could end the conversation right there! But I love to talk about nature and my work, so I'll keep going. The largest part of my work life in nature is through my brand, Infinite Seeds Academy—which specializes in garden education and garden installations. I build, install, curate, and transform greenspaces into sources of edible production and ornamental beauty at people’s homes and businesses—with practical benefits, of course!
I'm currently the community garden manager for the Koinonia Community Garden in the heart of the Belmont community in Columbia, South Carolina. There, I am curating and expanding the greenspace to be more of a benefit to Koinonia and the Belmont community through more raised beds, in-ground vegetable beds, and their first flower garden, which in large part consists of native plants. I also connect with nature through my work hosting workshops for local youth at The G.R.O.W. Farm, a gardening and farming experiential learning site located not too far from the Koinonia Community Garden. My latest workshop series is “Exploring the 5 Senses,” where I lead youth with autism through exploring each of the senses in the garden and immersed in ... you guessed it—nature!
Leisurely speaking, I have a garden at home. To get there, I have to cross the lawn. Probably close to a million times I have walked shirtless and barefoot out the back door of my house, across the lawn, and into the garden to pick some mint for a smoothie or some basil or sage for a dish I'm whipping up. I'm forever grounded with my toes in the dirt and my skin in the sun.
Another way nature and I stay locked together is through passive and random touching. I could be walking through downtown Atlanta, and I’ll just brush my hand across the trunk of a tree in the middle of the city. Or even the low-hanging leaves from the tree. Not plucking, not yanking, just a very intentional yet quick touch and energy exchange. I find myself randomly touching plants in urban spaces. It could be with what some might consider the most boring and redundant bushes ever, like a boxwood or a holly. But I’ll come walking up the sidewalk and brush my hand along the entire length of the bush. Sometimes I won't even notice what I’m doing until afterwards. An unconscious yearning for nature, perhaps?
What are your biggest fears for the future of our planet?
Boy, oh boy. This question … I could write a chapter book series just to fully answer it. For the sake of this interview, though, I'll just give you the synopsis. First, I fear that the disconnection between humans and the earth and the natural world will grow so much that it will become normal to be anti-nature.
Second, I fear that children of the future will never know the simple joys of interacting with nature, simply because there will be no nature left. The image that comes to mind is a video game I witnessed my little brother playing. It’s called Cyberpunk 2077. Everything in the realm of this video game's world is mechanized, powered with artificial intelligence, and 50 percent of the population are cyborgs connected to a grid. And here’s the real kicker: I don't remember seeing one bush or tree in the entire game. For me, I'd rather be reincarnated as a worm than to live a life in that manner. Just let me eat all day and wriggle around.
Third, which is the worst of all, I fear (human) society and its continued development will ultimately kill Mama Nature and there won't even be a natural world left. This reminds me of the old kids’ movie, WALL-E: Our planet had become a barren wasteland and humans had to find somewhere else to live. I'm getting hints of this probability now, with all the talk about "moving to another planet." My response to that is: What about the planet we already have????
What is your biggest hope for the future of our planet?
My biggest source of hope for the future of our planet are those kindred souls—relatively few in number, but scattered across the world—who firmly believe and stand on the preservation of the natural world and our planet, for the present generation and also those to come. Those who have dedicated their lives to preserving the history of our natural world, preserving species of our natural world, and preserving the life of our natural world. Those kindred souls who dedicated their lives to teaching youth, adults, and elderly about our natural world and how to form mutually-benefitting relationships with our planet. I am one of those educators. The people I surround myself with professionally and have formed family-like relationships with, are kindred souls. We are made of the same things that our planet, sun, and stars are made of. That always is a source of hope for me, because we are ALL connected through that fact.
Thank you, Zay, for being a Champion of Nature!
Here is where you can connect with Zay and learn more about his work:
Website: https://infiniteseedsgrow.wixsite.com/infiniteseedsacademy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infiniteseeds_academy
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1bBKHG5cdzqFV0YAfQcGqQ?sub_confirmation=1
SC ETV Feature: https://video.scetv.org/video/the-manrrs-redfern-community-garden-bjcceu/
"My biggest source of hope for the future of our planet are those kindred souls—relatively few in number, but scattered across the world—who firmly believe and stand on the preservation of the natural world and our planet, for the present generation and also those to come." ....... These are wise words and I couldn't agree more.
Thank you for this introduction to Zay Barton and his work founding the Clemson MANRSS community garden and now with his Infinite Seeds Academy. What a gift he is to this world!