The Newest Addition to Denmark’s Happiness Museum: Tomato Seeds

WHEN KATIE DIEZ TALKS TO me from her home in rural Oregon, the world is red with smoke. It’s mid-September, and wildfires have been raging across the West Coast for weeks. “The air quality is in the hazardous level,” says Diez. “I keep looking out the window hoping that the smoke will start to clear.”

Inside Diez’s home, however, life blossoms. Diez is a pediatric occupational therapist and the cofounder of Comfort Seeds, an initiative that uses gardening to help kids who have lost loved ones heal. She’s currently writing a Comfort Seeds children’s book, in collaboration with Oregon-based illustrator Manda Severin. And she’s dreaming of the trip she’ll take once pandemic restrictions are lifted: to Copenhagen, and Denmark’s new Happiness Museum, which recently added a packet of comfort seeds to its collection. “My cup is completely full,” says Diez.

Read more at Atlas Obscura. Featured image: NordWood Themes/Unsplash.