The Seed Farmer Podcast

Ever wonder if your seeds are actually ready to harvest, or if you're jumping the gun? This minisode is all about learning how to listen to your plants and read the clues they give us that their seeds are mature.    In this episode, we'll get into…   •  Ripeness indicators for fleshy fruit crops and seed pods •  The bite tes •  Beating the weather •  When to harvest for farm efficiency Enjoy the s...

Welcome to a special crossover edition of the Seed Farmer Podcast!  I am thrilled to share an episode from the Seed Heads podcast published by the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security.  This episode features Steph Benoit in conversation with Rav Singh and Ekow Stone. In this episode they get into their farming and seed work. They also talk about an okra breeding project they are both...

Say cheese! In this minisode, we are diving deep into part two of our seed photography series. (Part 1 was in episode 62). This episode is about taking product shots of your vegetables and flowers for your online store and seed packs. In this episode, we'll get into… •  The three types of photo to capture for each of your crops •  How to use your greenhouse plastic or wash station to cheat bad lig...

Chris Sanford runs Yonder Hill Farm with Garrett Lauten on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Her seed journey is deeply anchored in a commitment to regional resilience from working to preserve the local Tancook Island Cabbage to breeding and establishing hardy hazelnut, chestnut, and walnut orchards. In this episode, Chris shares the logistics of running a small-scale seed farm. We talk about how ha...

I've been encouraging you to go out and find any accidental crosses that might be in your fields. These can be the beginning of exciting breeding projects. But once you've found those very special individuals, what should you do? That's what this minisode is about! In this episode we get into  •  The difference between crossers and selfers  •  How many crossed up plants you need to start a breedin...

Petra stewards  Fruition Community Seed Farm with Matthew Goldfarb in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Petra's seed journey began at a young age in her father's garden, harvesting seeds and packing them into homemade seed packets to then share them with others. This early love for the magic of sharing seeds eventually led to founding Fruition.   In this episode, Petra shares the evolution of F...

Have you ever noticed a single red lettuce in a bed of green oakleaf, or a pepper that doesn't look like anything you planted? While some growers see these as mistakes to be culled, they are also opportunities to start a new breeding project.   This minisode is all about hidden treasures, specifically looking for crosses in your fields that could be the start of your next favorite variety.   In th...

Fanny Lebrun is the driving force behind Les Marequiers, a Belgian non-profit dedicated to regional food autonomy. Through their flagship program, Semences d'Ici (which translates to Seeds from Here), Fanny works to strengthen the local organic seed sector. Prior to that, Fanny started the seed company Cycle en Terre by herself then built it into a citizen-owned seed cooperative.   In this episode...

Today, let's talk about how to set you up for successful seed harvests this summer. Taking a little time right now to make sure you have the right tools on hand means you can just head to the field and get those seeds when the weather is right! Today's minisode is all about •  Setting up your Seed HQ for your summer seed work •  Choosing your seed harvest tools •  Building field screens •  And pro...

Josh Volk runs Cully Neighborhood Farm on a one-acre lot in Portland, Oregon, where he grows vegetables for a CSA. Josh also operates Slow Hand Farm, where he helps grow market gardens and community through his writing and technical support. He is the author of Compact Farms and Build Your Own Farm Tools. Across all his work, Josh brings an engineering mindset to farming. In this episode, Josh exp...

Have you been feeling scared to keep the seeds from your crops? Have those seed books with their 1 to 2 mile isolation distances gotten you down? This minisode is all about how to cheat those formal isolation distances and still harvest seed that works for your farm.   In this episode we get into    •  The four main isolation crop groups and what distances you can get away with •  How to create ph...

Mélanie Ouellette runs the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library from her home in Orleans, Ontario. This all began when she asked "What's preventing people from growing native plants in our region?" In this episode, Mélanie shares the logistics of how the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library works. How hundreds of volunteers harvest the seeds, pack seed packs, fulfill orders, and attend events to distribute th...

Today's minisode is all about getting ready for the season- farm photo season, that is!    Whether you want good visuals for the crops on your online store, or you want to document your breeding selections, or you're writing up standard operating procedures for your crew; having the right images makes all the difference.   Those pictures don't happen by themselves, you need a Farm Picture Plan!  ...

Charlie Watt runs Homecoming Seeds in Northfield, Vermont. His seed journey began in Montana under the mentorship of John Austin, a connection that eventually led Charlie back to his roots in the Northeast with a suitcase packed with high-altitude adapted seeds. In this episode, Charlie shares the logistical challenges of scaling a seed business from a home garden to a production farm. We discuss...

Today's minisode is an audio immersive tour of our seed warehouse. We'll start in the cleaning room to hear the distinct seed rain of different types of seeds. We'll then put the fleet of seed cleaning machines to work and listen to their different rhythms, from the cascading acceleration of the spiral separator to the roar of the Winnow Wizard. From there we'll step into the chilled hums of the s...

Sarah Kleeger runs Adaptive Seeds alongside Andrew Still in Sweet Home, Oregon. Their journey began twenty years ago with the Seed Ambassadors Project, a massive seed-finding expedition through Europe that saw them return to the U.S. with over a thousand rare varieties that had almost no commercial presence in North America.   In this episode, Sarah shares what it's like growing over 380 crops in...

Let's head over to my library and take a look at the books that have most influenced my journey as a seed grower. Whether you are just starting out or looking to develop your own farm-original variety, these are the titles I return to time and time again.   🌱Basic Seed Books • How to Save Your Own Seeds by Seeds of Diversity Canada • Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth • The Seed Garden by Micaela C...

Jesse Frost operates Rough Draft Farm in Kentucky with his wife, Hannah Crabtree. Jesse is also the author of The Living Soil Handbook and hosts the No-Till Growers Podcast. As a writer and farmer, Jesse approaches plant breeding as a creative process; a rough draft shaped by the unique terroir of his land.   In this episode, Jesse shares how he moved past the seed intimidation of his early years...

This minisode is about unexpected seed opportunities in your cold room.   And those opportunities are the roots you're storing in that cold room and haven't eaten yet.   Most root crops are biennials, and you might be able to plant these roots as second year biennials and get a seed crop this summer!   This is true for onions, turnips, rutabagas, winter radish, beets, carrots, parsnips, and more!...

Edmund Frost is a seed grower and plant breeder based at Twin Oaks Community in Virginia. He is the manager of Commonwealth Seed Growers, a cooperative seed company focused on regionally adapted varieties for the Southeast.   In this episode, Edmund shares the hidden realities of contract growing and his efforts to build a Seed Workers Union through the Seed Worker Organizing project to advocate f...

This minisode is a conversation with Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN).   I invited Lucy to talk about the new genetically engineered Purple Tomato. This the first biotech vegetable seed being directly marketed to home gardeners. It's important for folks in the seed world to be aware of this change and to start thinking about the potential long-term impacts on our s...

Bonnetta Adeeb is a founding member of the Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance, a program of the non-profit STEAM Onward based in Maryland. Bonnetta is dedicated to increasing the number of BIPOC seed farmers stewarding culturally meaningful crops and liberating seeds from "seed jail".   In this episode, Bonnetta shares her journey to find the Stone Mountain Watermelon, a variety mentioned in fami...

This minisode is a conversation with Rebecca Newburn of the Seed Library Network. We talk about seed libraries: what they are, how they work, and how anyone (yes, anyone) can start one. And we talk about the Seed Library Conference on February 14th, focused on helping people get started with seed libraries in their own communities.  Enjoy the conversation! Support the Seed Farmer Podcast http://sp...

Shannon Jones runs Broadfork Farm with Bryan Dyck in River Hebert, Nova Scotia. They grow vegetables and cut flowers for market. I've been trying to get Shannon on the podcast since the beginning of the pod because Broadfork is a great example of how a market farm can integrate seed production into their vegetable and flower fields. And we finally found a time that worked for us to have a conversa...

Episode 50 of the Seed Farmer Podcast!!!! Wow!   Let's do something a bit different to pause and mark the occasion.   In this episode, I'm joined by my podcast producer, Molly Brisebois, for a behind-the-scenes conversation about how the podcast gets made, how it's changed over time, and what we've learned along the way.    We talk about how sharing seed stories and talking about seed work brings...