I designed an alien people once, for a Star Wars game. And, basically they were natural golems, they were made from the earth and plants and all that, but they grew biologically. Also, they were unisex.
Well, once a year, one of the most accomplished, and most esteemed members of said race prepares themselves, and the entire community encourages and celebrates them, and they party and they dance and they drink and they cook all their best meals, all that crap. This goes on until a certain time, at which point the person goes into the center of town, they strip naked, and they slit their own throat and fall to the ground, dead.
The body is kept there and preserved, and not moved in any way(birds can still come along and other scavengers can do their thing, because that's a part of nature.). The blood seeps into the ground, along with the body and the nutrients and all that, and eventually that is combined with the earth to create a baby, that claws from the ground. The entire community then has a hand in raising this child.
Man, they were awesome.