The Seed Farmer Podcast

Have you ever had that perfect bed of lettuce in the field and a few days before you're going to cut it for market, you discover that the stems have all bolted, the lettuce has gone bitter, and you think to yourself "I should really be a seed grower?" But, once you're trying to harvest that seed, you're getting awfully close to the rainy days of autumn and your lettuce has barely begun to bolt, yo...

Are you afraid to keep your own seed on your farm? Does the terror of cross-pollination keep you up at night? Are you worried that any seed you kept would unleash legions of unruly crossed-up mutant plants onto your market gardens and that there would be no turning back the ensuing chaos? Let me put your mind to rest. It's not that dire. This is the second of 5 weekly mini-episodes all about the b...

You can grow seed on your farm. And it's easier than you think.  This is the first of 5 mini-episodes to get ready for the season 2 of The Seed Growers Podcast. Today's episode is about getting into the mindset for your first seed crop. By starting small and taking your time, there is a greater chance that seed growing seems realistic on your farm and that you persist and develop your seed skills....

Chris & Owen are the founders of Truelove Seeds, a Philadelphia, PA farm-based seed company offering seeds grown by 70+ small scale urban and rural growers. They discuss their seed stories, how they came to be seedkeepers (and how they intentionally use that word), and Truelove's network of seed growers and how they support the growing of culturally important seed. They also talk about the differe...

Robin Tunnicliffe grows seeds and veg at Sea Bluff Farm in BC, Canada. She is also one of the co-owners of Saanich Organics Marketing Cooperative. Robin talks about how she selects veg for seed from a 10 acre farm and transplants them into a 1/4 acre seed plot, coordinating seed production and sales through the cooperative, her love of seed and farming conferences, and her work with the BC Eco See...

Muddy Fingers Farm is in the finger lakes region of NY state. Liz and Matthew grow veg for CSA and market on about 3 acres for about twenty years! and now grow a handful of seed crops on contract for seed companies and for on-farm use. They talk about how they got started saving seed to improve varieties used on their own farm and the juggling act of fitting seed crops into a market garden. The te...

In this bonus episode, Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed explains several methods for saving lettuce from seed to seed.       Follow Dan Brisebois on Instagram Check out Dan's blog Going to Seed See where Dan farms cooperatively at Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm   The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance , a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to me...

Frank is a renown seed grower and sells seed both on contract and retail through their seed catalogue and website , Wild Garden Seed . You can also follow them on Instagram . The conversation ran long, so we broke it up into two parts. Part one, Frank talks about his farming career, how he scaled up his operation through a number of sites over the years to growing 15 acres of seed, and now only gr...

Helen Skiba of Artemis Flower Farm  in Boulder CO sells cut flowers through farmers markets, wholesale, and a flower CSA. She also sells dahlia tubers and Dutch flower bulbs through her online store . She talks about how she integrates saving flower seed into her production field for on-farm use, how and why she chooses to save certain varieties, and EVERYTHING about dahlia tuber propagation and s...

Rowen White is a seed-keeper and farmer from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne and a passionate activist for indigenous food and seed sovereignty. She grows seed outside of Nevada City, California, in the foothills of the Sierras. She talks about improving stock seed to offset the impact of genetic drift to select culturally and bioregionally relevant seed, about building a relational database wit...

Today, Annie Jesperson and Nathaniel Talbot of Deep Harvest Farm tell us about running both a veg CSA and seed company on Whidbey Island, outside of Seattle Washington. They get into their exposure to growing seed at The Organic Farm School, a letterbox campaign to find land, early seed growing/selling experience, running a seed company vs growing on contract, how they navigate seed/veg on the sam...

Kristyn Leach of Namu Farm grows veg and seed crops in Winter, Ca. She is also a part of Second Generation Seeds, a collective of Asian-American growers devoted to the deepening of culturally adaptive seed and veg production. Follow them on Instagram and check out their seed collection here .   Follow Dan Brisebois  on Instagram Check out Dan's blog Going to Seed See where Dan farms cooperatively...

Marie-Claude Comeau of Ferme La Radicule is situated in Manseau, Quebec (zone 4B). She grows certified organic seed with draft horses, which she sells exclusively on seed contracts. She talks about why, after working with both vegetables and seeds, she chose to go "all in" on seed production, how and why she came to farm with horses having little previous experience, what considerations go into he...

... grow certified organic veg in Oregon City, OR where they sell through farmers markets and a Winter CSA. They ALSO grow a variety of seeds on seed contracts for seed companies. Adrianna and Joelene explain how they've integrated commercial seed saving into the market garden, how they got started with their first contract, and why they like contracts for selling seeds. Follow Empowered Flowers o...

Every episode I'm going to bring you a conversation with a grower who has integrated Saving Seeds into their own farm systems. Some grow seed crops to sell commercially and some do it just for their own farm use. I'm hoping their stories will make you want to save seed on your own farm... and if you already save seed on your farm, I hope it makes you want to save more! First episode comes April 27...