Episodios

  • EP. 30: Happy 70th Birthday Karen Washington! Food and Plant Stories about our Queen.

    EP. 30: Happy 70th Birthday Karen Washington! Food and Plant Stories about our Queen.
    Apr 20 2024

    Join us and 15 of Karen Washington's dear friends, family, mentees, and collaborators in wishing her a very happy 70th birthday with this episode featuring food and plant stories about our Farmy Godmother. Karen has been instrumental in the creation and guidance of neighborhood organizations such as Garden of Happiness, La Familia Verde Coalition and Farmers Market, and Bronx Green Up, as well as Farm School NYC, Black Urban Growers, and the Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference. She serves on the board of Soul Fire Farm, the Black Farmer Fund, and the Mary Mitchell Center and has been a part of so many others such as Just Food (where we first met) and New York Botanic Garden, and was once the president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition, organizing to protect the gardens from development. She is one of the four co-founders and owners of Rise & Root Farm in Chester, NY. More importantly, Karen is a fierce fighter for gardens and justice and loves her friends and families with gusto and grits. We hope these stories reveal her love and knack for investing in community and her life-long commitment to rising and rooting for justice.

    PEOPLE WITH KAREN STORIES IN THIS EPISODE:

    • Karen Washington
    • Lorrie Clevenger - Rise and Root Farm, Black Urban Growers, and Farm School NYC; formerly of Just Food and WhyHunger.
    • Leah Penniman - Soul Fire Farm
    • Cheryl Holt - Karen's neighbor, Garden of Happiness
    • Kendra Washington Bass - Karen's daughter
    • Kady Williams - Taqwa Community Farm, Iridescent Earth Collective; formerly of Bronx Green Up
    • Ashanti Williams -Taqwa Community Farm, Black Yard Farm
    • Julian Bass - Karen's grandson
    • Nicole Ndiaye - NAHE, Bathgate Community Garden
    • Gabriela Pereyra - Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust
    • Aleyna Rodriguez - Mary Mitchell Center
    • Ursula Chanse - Bronx Green Up, New York Botanic Garden
    • Michael Hurwitz - Landing Light Strategies; formerly of Added Value and Greenmarket
    • Kathleen McTigue - AmeriCorps; formerly of Just Food and New Roots Community Farm
    • Frances Perez Rodriguez - Farm School NYC
    • Jane Hayes Hodge - Rise and Root Farm; formerly of Just Food and Farm School NYC

    THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY:

    • YOU! Please become a Patron for $1 or more a month at Patreon.com/trueloveseeds
    • A Bookkeeping Cooperative: https://bookkeeping.coop/home/

    ABOUT:

    Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden.

    trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio

    FIND OWEN HERE:

    Truelove Seeds

    Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

    FIND CHRIS HERE:

    Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

    THANKS TO:

    • Queen Karen
    • Jane Hayes Hodge for helping make this happen
    • Emilio Sweet-Coll for help with audio editing
    • Our Patreon members and A Bookkeeping Cooperative
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    1 h y 26 m
  • EP. 29: How Did Your Favorite Seed Become Your Favorite Seed? Truelove Seeds Growers Gathering 2023

    EP. 29: How Did Your Favorite Seed Become Your Favorite Seed? Truelove Seeds Growers Gathering 2023
    Mar 21 2024

    This episode is a compilation of recordings by seed geographer Chris Keeve and Truelove Seeds' business manager (and Owen's sister) Sara Taylor at our annual growers gathering at our Truelove Seeds farm in November 2023. They recruited party goers to their table where they mapped seed stories with strings and notes on a world map, and where they asked people to share about how their favorite seed became their favorite seed. There are a few recordings at the end that we added after the fact as well.

    SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE:

    • Lex Wiley, Sankofa Community Farm - African Rice
    • Hannah Thompson, Truelove Seeds - Black-Eyed Peas
    • Tamanda Chabuuta, Texas A&M researcher - Corn
    • Chiamaka Alozie, Truelove Seeds apprentice - Cotton and Malabar Spinach
    • Nate Kleinman, Experimental Farm Network - Nigella sativa, Nanticoke Squash
    • Olivia Gamber - Hilige Bean (Dutch Holy Bean) and O'Driscoll Pole Bean
    • Linda Clark, Strawflower Farm - Strawflowers
    • Gabe Lewis, SeedEd Farm - Cherokee Purple Tomato
    • Cassandra Brown, Haverford College Farm - none yet :)
    • Wren Rene, filmmaker + Dr. Ashley Gripper, Land Based Jawns - Sunflowers
    • Bahay215 (Nicky Uy, Omar Buenaventura, and Ira Angel Aurelio Buena) - Siling Labuyo (Nicky) Ampalaya/Bittermelon (Omar)
    • Sam Stern, SeedEd Farm - Cabbage
    • Owen Taylor, Truelove Seeds - sauce tomatoes, San Marzano + Cow's Nipple
    • Ruth Kaaserer, filmmaker - Dandelion, Dahlia, Fava Bean
    • Miki Palchick, Truelove Seeds - Watermelon

    PREVIOUS GROWERS GATHERING EPISODE:

    • Seeds and their People - EP. 17: Mycelial Networks of Seed Growers & the Truelove Seeds Listening Project

    ABOUT:

    Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden.

    trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio

    FIND OWEN HERE:

    Truelove Seeds

    Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

    FIND CHRIS HERE:

    Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

    THANKS TO:

    • Chris Keeve and Sara Taylor for recording most of these stories
    • Emilio Sweet-Coll for help with audio editing and compiling show notes!
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    44 m
  • Ep. 28: Zee Lilani, Kula Nursery, and South Asian plants in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Ep. 28: Zee Lilani, Kula Nursery, and South Asian plants in the San Francisco Bay Area.
    Mar 1 2024
    This episode features an interview with Zee Lilani at Kula Nursery in West Oakland, California in January 2024. Zee grows Doodhi (Lauki/Bottle Gourd) and Kalonji (Black Seed/Nigella) seeds for our Truelove Seeds catalog as well as many varieties for Second Generation Seeds at her farm in Petaluma, California. In this episode, we hear how Zee left her work as a hydrologist, became a farmer, worked in food sovereignty and food security supporting other farmers, and then started her own nursery business focused on South Asian plants during the pandemic. During the partition of India, her family was displaced from the city of Surat, in the state of Gujarat, in India to Pakistan. Her work with plants familiar to her mother and grandmother bring Surat back to life many decades later, far from home. In her words: 'Kula Nursery is a grassroots urban nursery working within and for BIPOC communities to increase food sovereignty through gardening education and culturally relevant plant starts. The mission at Kula Nursery is to reconnect the diaspora with heritage food, strengthen food sovereignty among these communities, and promote cultural and biological diversity. As a heritage nursery, we believe the act of growing, tending to, and eating heritage foods encourages folks to reclaim their power within the local food system while simultaneously honoring and reconnecting to their ancestors, immediate family and community at large.' Basically, this interview is right up our alley at Seeds and their People, focused on how plants connect us to our people, power, place, ancestors, and community. SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Cuban Oregano, Indian Mint, Patta Ajwain, Coleus amboinicus Curry Tree, Murraya koenigii Night Blooming Jasmine, Raat Ki Rani, Queen of the Night, Cestrum nocturnum Mogra, Arabian Jasmine, Belle of India, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Jasminum sambac Henna, Lawsonia inermis Amla, Indian Gooseberry, Emblica officinalis Sugarcane, Saccharum spp. Taro, Colocasia esculenta Bindhi, Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus Doodhi/Lauki, Bottle Gourd, Lagenaria siceraria Kalonji, Black Seed, Nigella, "Onion Seed", Nigella sativa Krishna Tulsi, Ocicimum tenuiflorum Desi Girl Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum Lal Mirch Indian Pepper, Capsicum annuum Baingan Indian Eggplant, Solanum melongena Surti Papdi and Valor Papdi, Lablab purpureus MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Kula Nursery webpage Kula Nursery Instagram Kula Nursery at Truelove Seeds Second Generation Seeds (direct links to Kula Nursery varieties above) Diaspora Co. Seeds and their People - EP. 22: Gujarati Seeds and Flavors with Nital Vadalia-Kakadia Seeds and their People - EP. 2: Kristyn Leach and Namu Farm ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Zee LilaniNital Vadalia-KakadiaRuth KaasererEmilio Sweet-Coll
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    1 h y 6 m
  • EP. 27: Improving Vegetable Crops through Seed Production with Bryan O'Hara of Tobacco Road Farm

    EP. 27: Improving Vegetable Crops through Seed Production with Bryan O'Hara of Tobacco Road Farm
    Jan 25 2024
    Bryan O'Hara speaks about wholistic reasons for seed production on his vegetable farm, including working with natural processes such as growing winter annual crops for seed from summer to summer for better pest control and better flavor. He also discusses hybrid vigor and how to achieve this with genetically diverse populations of open pollinated plants, and explains how he selects for winter hardiness, more or less uniformity, earliness, flavor, and so on. In line with our theme of ancestral seeds, he talks about being both Polish and Irish and some connections to his farming practices through plants and ways of being and seeing. We end the episode with a traditional Irish song, Moorlough Shore, featuring Bryan on guitar, his daughter Clara O'Hara on vocals and flute, her boyfriend Sparrow Belliveau on Piano, and his brother Raven Belliveau on lead and backing violin. Bryan O’Hara and Anita Johnson have been growing vegetables at their three acre farm for over 30 years. Tobacco Road Farm produces high quality, nutrient-dense food using no pesticides and working with nature as much as possible in a close relationship. With an intensive focus on building the health of the soil, they use no-till natural farming methods. They also introduce indigenous microorganisms (IMOs) from the surrounding forest into their compost systems and foliar sprays to feed, protect, and invigorate their field soil and vegetable crops. Bryan is also the author of No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture: Pesticide-Free Methods for Restoring Soil and Growing Nutrient-Rich, High-Yielding Crops. Tobacco Road Farm provides ten carefully selected open-pollinated seed varieties for the Truelove Seeds catalog, which are listed below: SEEDS GROWN BY TOBACCO ROAD FARM FOR TRUELOVE SEEDS: Ice-Bred Arugula Tokyo Bekana Wonnegold Turnip Polish Watermelon Mizuna Landrace Big Pink Tomato (not in episode) Vit Mache Presto Cress Vertissimo Chervil (not in episode) Claytonia MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Tobacco Road Farm at Truelove SeedsNo-Till Vegetable Intensive Culture from Chelsea Green PublishingSeveral No-Till Growers Network podcast episodes featuring Bryan O'Hara ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Bryan O'Hara and Anita JohnsonClara O'Hara, Sparrow Belliveau, and Raven BelliveauRuth Kaaserer
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    1 h y 19 m
  • EP. 26: Saving Spiny Nightshades, Breeding Cannabis, Adapting Tropical Crops, and much more with Northeastern Connecticut Botanist Bryan Connolly

    EP. 26: Saving Spiny Nightshades, Breeding Cannabis, Adapting Tropical Crops, and much more with Northeastern Connecticut Botanist Bryan Connolly
    Jan 12 2024
    Dr. Bryan Connolly is a botanist, horticulturalist, and professor of Biology at Eastern Connecticut University in Willimantic, CT, my (Owen's) hometown. His research interests include rare plants of New England, the nightshade family, the rose family, and cannabis. Before Eastern, Professor Connolly was a faculty member at Framingham State University in Massachusetts and also worked for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Mississippi’s Medicinal Plant Garden, New England Wild Flower Society, and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. He is also involved in his family farm: Cobblestone Farm CSA in Mansfield Center, CT. Bryan appreciates his family's tolerance of his growing unusual plants, especially his wife Diane Dorfer, and he is sorry about the Erubia spines all over the yard a few years back. He thanks his son William for helping to take care of the spiny Erubia as well! In this interview we hear about Bryan's 33 year journey with seed saving, seed production, and plant breeding; his work with giving a boost and sometimes reintroducing native plants from New England to Puerto Rico; his work with students around growing cannabis for medicinal uses; and his trials and initial breeding work with some crops we shared with him, including pigeon peas, field peas, and roselle. SEED AND PLANT STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Chenopodium formosanum (Taiwan) Grass Jelly (Taiwan, Indonesia) Erubia (Puerto Rico) Corpse Flower (Indonesia) Easter in August Cherry Tomato Minnesota 13 Field Pea Bo (Black-Eyed Pea Leaves) Mississippi Purple Hull Pea Northern Adapted Pigeon Peas Solanum chacoense (South America) Cannabis (specifically the beverage, Bhang from India) Chin Baung (Burmese Roselle Leaf) MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Bryan's ECSU professor bio Bryan's instagram: Northeastern Connecticut Botany Breeding Organic Vegatables, NOFA publication, by Rowen White and Bryan Connolly Organic Seed Production and Saving, NOFA publication, by Bryan Connolly Stewarding Indigenous Seeds and Planting by the Moon with Stephen Silverbear McComber, Seed Savers Exchange Ploidy (number of chromosomes in a cell) Ploidy, genetic diversity and speciation of the genus Aronia ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden
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    59 m
  • EP. 25: Black Farming Vibes in the Delta: Three Wise Men

    EP. 25: Black Farming Vibes in the Delta: Three Wise Men
    Dec 14 2023

    While visiting Greenville, Mississippi, we asked farmer and food justice elder Mama D (our mother, Ms. Demalda Newsome) to co-produce an episode about the farmers of the Delta. This is the first of multiple episodes about Black Farming Vibes in the Delta, we hope!

    FEATURING:

    7:26 - Ms. Demalda Newsome interviews Kevion Devanté Young, CTE Diversified Agriculture instructor (Leland, MS)

    23:21 - Owen Taylor interviews Mr. Rufus Newsome, Newsome Community Farms, Greenville, MS

    49:20 - Owen and our son Bryan record animal sounds and talk about the surrounding farm fields, Greenville, MS

    54:05 - Rufus and Demalda Newsome interview Mr. Elgin Johnson, farmer and wood seller in Greenville, MS

    SEED AND PLANT STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE:

      • Carolina Broadleaf Mustard

      • Turnip Greens

      • Collard Greens

      • Mississippi Purple Hull Peas

      • Mississippi Silver Hull Crowder Peas

      • Cow Horn Okra

      • Speckled Brown Butter Bean

    MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE:

      • Kevion Devanté (Linktree)
      • Rufus and Demalda Newsome on Seeds and their People, episode 4, February 2020
      • Newsome Community Farm on YouTube, 2008
      • Newsome Community Farm (in Tulsa, OK), Guardian article, 2016
      • Visit Mr. Elgin Johnson for greens and firewood on Highway 1 at Short Irene in Greenville, MS.

    ABOUT:

    Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden.

    trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio

    FIND OWEN HERE:

    Truelove Seeds

    Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

    FIND CHRIS HERE:

    Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

    THANKS TO:

        • Demalda Newsome for coproducing, cohosting, and interviewing
        • Rufus Newsome for interviewing and being interviewed
        • Kevion Devanté and Elgin Johnson for being interviewed
        • Bryan for helping Owen with editing ideas during animal noise section
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    1 h y 13 m
  • EP. 24: Mary Menniti and the Italian Garden Project

    EP. 24: Mary Menniti and the Italian Garden Project
    Nov 9 2023
    Mary Menniti grew up with her Italian immigrant grandfather growing vegetables, figs, and tending sheep in her family's backyard. She created The Italian Garden Project to celebrate the joy and wisdom inherent in the traditional Italian American vegetable garden, preserving this heritage and demonstrating its relevance for reconnecting to our food, our families and the earth. Over the past few years, we have been connecting over our shared love of growing Italian American seeds and their stories, and are now collaborating on preserving on various farms and sharing her seed collection through our seed catalog. In this episode, we also hear the voices of Concetta Liberto, Antonino Machi, Fenice Mercurio, Charles Adornetto, Domenic Carpico, and Michele Vaccaro from interviews conducted by Mary. SEED AND PLANT STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Figs Broccoli Rabe Poverella Pole Bean from Concetta Liberto Cow's Nipple Tomato from Mariano Floro Lunga di Napoli Squash Cucuzza from Antonino Machi Cucuzza seed saving with Charles Adornetto Fagiolina del Trasimeno Long Bean Vinny's Neapolitan Friariello (Frying Pepper) Ischia Eggplant Nepitella Fennel from Fenice Mercurio Black Fava (Mora de Precoce) from Nicola Ranieri Swiss Chard from Caro Simbula Sabatino’s "Peppe Insalata" Lettuce from Sabatino DiNardo Floriani Red Flint Corn MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Italian Garden Project (web)Italian Garden Project (IG)Italian Garden Project (YouTube)Italian Garden Project (Facebook)Bruno Garofalo's Bidente (Two-Toothed tool)Italian American Podcast on UnificationGrowers Grange Italian Heirloom CSA, Corbett, OREggplant Parmesan recipe by Cooking with NonaThe Feast of the Madonna del Sacro Monte, Clifton, NJ ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Mary MennitiConcetta LibertoAntonino MachiFenice MercurioCharles AdornettoDomenic CarpicoMichele VaccaroRuth Kaaserer
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    1 h y 34 m
  • EP. 23: Dr. William Woys Weaver and the Roughwood Seed Collection

    EP. 23: Dr. William Woys Weaver and the Roughwood Seed Collection
    Sep 28 2023

    Dr. William Woys Weaver is an internationally known food historian and author of 22 books including:

    • Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting Seed Saving, and Cultural History;
    • 100 Vegetables and Where They Came From, and
    • As American As Shoofly Pie: The Foodlore and Fakelore of Pennsylvania Dutch Cuisine

    Dr. Weaver lives in the 1805 Lamb Tavern in Devon, Pennsylvania where he maintains a jardin potager in the style of the 1830s featuring over 5,000 varieties of heirloom vegetables, flowers, and herbs. He is an organic gardener, a life member of Seed Savers Exchange, and for many years served as a Contributing Editor to Gourmet, Mother Earth News, and The Heirloom Gardener.

    From 2002 to 2010, he lectured on Food Studies at Drexel University and is presently lecturing on regional American cuisine in connection with a non-profit academic research institute organized under the name The Roughwood Center for Heritage Seedways. Dr. Weaver received his doctorate in food ethnography at University College Dublin, Ireland, the first doctorate awarded by the University in that field of study.

    In the winter of 2013, Owen had just moved to Philadelphia. A friend introduced him to Dr. Weaver and he hired him to care for his gardens and the Roughwood Seed Collection. During his four years working with him, Owen was fascinated by slow walks through the garden where he could reveal 10,000 years of human history in each plant story. It was here that Owen first learned how to carefully select and midwife the seeds of these countless storied species. We started a seed catalog and grew for a couple other companies. Dr. Weaver’s work with seeds often connects and reconnects gardeners and farmers with seeds that help tell their own stories. One of the best examples is making the Horace Pippin peppers available to African American growers in the Mid-Atlantic, as well as Pennsylvania Dutch and Lenni Lenape heirlooms from Southeastern Pennsylvania.

    SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE:

    • Hannah Freeman Bean

    • Pippin's Fish Pepper

    • Bowling Pin Paste Tomato

    • Green Striped Maycock

    • Weaver Pole Bean

    • Shipova Mt. Ash Hybrid

    MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE:

    • The Roughwood Center for Heritage Seedways
    • Roughwood Facebook
    • A Century of Don Yoder: Father of American Folklife
    • James Weaver and Meadowview Farms, Bowers, PA

    ABOUT:

    Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden.

    trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio

    FIND OWEN HERE:

    Truelove Seeds

    Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

    FIND CHRIS HERE:

    Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

    THANKS TO:

    • Dr. William Woys Weaver
    • Ruth Kaaserer
    • Cecilia Sweet-Coll
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    1 h y 14 m