Hello and welcome back to the Community Agriculture Project Podcast.

In episode 5, we welcome Javier Flores, a farmer based out of San Diego. Javier got his start working in his local food system at the Wild Willow Farm and Education Center, and now works with the Seeds@City Sustainable Agriculture.

We discuss Javier’s transition into working in the food system and finding mentors in the agriculture space. We talk about the developing community at Seeds@City and around Javier’s work in general. We also get into farming seed vs growing food, Javier’s vision for his local seed bank, and gardening at the Tijuana River Valley Community Garden space.

Javier shares the key values that he holds while in farming/education spaces, and the rituals that keep him grounded in his work.

Below are some of the resources Javier shared throughout our talk:

Organic Seed Alliance

https://seedalliance.org

The Milpa Initiative

https://www.plantspeoplecommunity.org/the-milpa-initiative

San Diego Seed Farmer Training

https://www.plantspeoplecommunity.org/san-diego-seed-farmer-training

Native Seed Search and the ADAPTS Collection Database

https://www.nativeseeds.org

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Food Shed - Food Distribution Hub in San Diego

https://www.foodshedcooperative.com

Wild Willow Farm

https://www.wildwillowfarm.org

Seeds@City Farm

https://www.sdcity.edu/community/seeds/index.aspx

Thanks for tuning in!