The Seed Farmer Podcast (Dan Brisebois)
Explorez tous les épisodes de The Seed Farmer Podcast
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| 06 Nov 2024 | Ep. 21 Farm-Raised Kids w/ Author & Farmer Katie Kulla of Oakhill Organics & Growing for Market | 01:21:06 | |
Katie Kulla is the author of Farm-Raised Kids. A brand new book from Storey Publishing. Katie is also an illustrator, one of the hosts of the Growing For Market Podcast and farms with her husband at Oakhill Organics on Grand Island in rural Dayton, Oregon. In this episode, we do discuss Katie’s brand new book but we also talk a lot about Katie’s experience growing seeds and how that experience has changed over the years. Katie’s early seed experience was mostly growing seed contracts on her market farm. Katie liked how seed crops occupied a different time and space than growing vegetables for CSA or farmers markets. And also how seed crops often generated more $ per square foot than vegetable crops. Then when Oakhill Organics moved to offering a full diet CSA, they moved out of seed contracts and shifted to growing seed for food such as grains, beans, and popcorn. And now that the farm plays a smaller role in Katie’s life and she is focusing on other interests such as writing books, Katie is still harvesting seed whenever it is easy to do so from the crops in her fields. This brings us to Farm-Raised Kids, Katie’s new Book. We talk about the dream and the actual reality of having kids on the farm. How there is an idyllic vision that children can just chill out and hang around the fields but having kids on your farm is actual work and farms can also be dangerous places for little ones. Katie talks about how it is still an amazing opportunity for kids to grow up on a farm. How they pick up so much knowledge about different crops and food bit by bit over the years. And how kids wind up learning real skills like how to handle knives and breaking down just about any vegetable. Katie also explains how satisfying it is for kids to put their hands in gooey fermenting seed tomatoes or getting to hit dry beans with a stick to thresh them or just getting to sink their arms in buckets of clean seed. In the deep dive, we talk about growing dry beans for seed because Katie’s family just loves eating dry beans and there is really no comparing the flavour with store bought beans. We talk about how bush beans are a lot easier than pole beans, how farming in the Willamette Valley with its dry summers means you can dry seed outdoors without cover in your backyard but how Katie might still bring seed indoors if she was still growing commercial seed contracts. And how she still wishes she’d invested in a good set of screens. Katie also has a reminder that you should make a point of not eating all your dry beans and make sure to keep some as seed for next year’s crop! Mentioned in the show... Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com to further support our work! Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||
| 18 May 2022 | Annie & Nathaniel of Deep Harvest Farm | 01:15:23 | |
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 same farm, how the two compliment one another in workload and cashflow, and they break down growing beets from seed to seed. The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 16 Oct 2024 | Ep. 20 All the Things You Need to Know--Other Than Seed--to Launch a Seed Business w/ Ellen Rignell of Winnow Farm Seeds | 01:27:52 | |
Ellen Rignell has many years experience growing seed from her time at Trill Farms and as a program coordinator for the Gaia Foundation seed sovereignty program. But in this interview we catch Ellen at a new part of her seed journey as she’s finishing the first growing season of her Winnow Farm Seeds, her very own seed company based in Dorset in the UK. In this episode, we discuss what Ellen wants from this new business and we discuss all the things other than growing seed that you need to know when launching a seed business. Ellen talks about her collaboration with Lucy and Emma of Meadowsweet Flowers and Floristry. These are flower growers she shares the site with. How this helps share infrastructure, rent and labour in addition to amazing camaraderie and having tea breaks together. This collaboration also creates an opportunity to grow flower seeds especially adapted to the wet UK climate. In the deep dive Ellen and I talk about growing parsnips for seed. The importance of sloping shoulders to drive rain away, whether to stake flowering parsnips or not, and do parsnip seeds live up to their reputation as bad germinators with limited storage life? We also discuss working with biennials other than parsnip. At the end of the conversation Ellen goes into the opportunities to grow seed in a market growing context to take advantage of gaps in your crop plan and to better use farm labour. Mentioned in the show... Visit Winnow Farm Seeds website & follow on Instagram To make your Season Review a little more manageable, I’ve got a 5 video series that will walk you through all the steps you need to do. There is also a checklist to help you keep track of what you’ve done. If you want to watch the Season Review Challenges videos and get your annual farm review started you can find them at www.seasonreview.farm/ Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com to further support our work! Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast!
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| 02 Oct 2024 | Ep. 19 Starting a Seed Company, Seed as Spiritual Partner, & Refining Isolation Distances w/ Manish Kushwaha of Gaia Organic Seeds | 00:57:44 | |
Manish Kushwaha is a fourth generation seed farmer who had no intention of following the family tradition, but after a period working as a software engineer and thinking about what was meaningful to him, Manish decided to start working with seeds and ultimately start his own seed company, Gaia Organic Seeds in Ottawa, Ontario. In this episode, Manish talks about getting set up on land in Ottawa's NCC Greenbelt where it is possible to rent farmland for 25-year periods. This opportunity let him get set up with tile-drained fields, buildings, and a place to live. Manish explains how his approach to seed is more spiritual than scientific. He sees himself as a steward. Seeds are our allies and we walk in this journey together. Manish also uses seed growing isolation distances that are much smaller than usual recommendations. We talk about how he has established these distances without compromising his seed varieties. Throughout the interview, we keep coming back to Manish's watermelon breeding project, where he crossed 22 varieties to create a diverse gene pool and how he has been selecting out specific phenotypes from the mix, including the ever elusive mango watermelon.This leads into a discussion of how you should always keep some of your stock seed back to compensate for the vagaries of squirrels, plant disease, and rats. In the deep dive, we talk about growing watermelons from seeds, planting, spacing, harvest, and how to extract the seeds with the food processor and/or pressure. Check out the Gaia online catalogue and follow Gaia Organic Seeds on Instagram Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com to further support our work! Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||
| 14 Aug 2024 | The Seed FARMER Podcast, Season 2 Preview + New Book | 00:02:13 | |
Dan Brisebois here, seed grower at Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm, spreadsheet crop-planning enthusiast, and also host of The Seed Farmer Podcast. Wait... The Seed Farmer Podcast? Isn’t this The Seed Growers Podcast feed? Well, you are right - but let me tell you why there is going to be a name change... Mentioned in the show... The Farmer Spreadsheet Academy Canadian growers, get it directly from the author at... Stay tuned for the first episode of season two, coming August 21st, wherever you get your seedy podcasts.
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| 27 Apr 2022 | Joelene & Adrianna of Empowered Flowers | 01:11:08 | |
... 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 on Instagram Check out the Empowered Flowers website Mentioned in the show... Wild Garden Seeds, where they learned how to save seeds The Winnow Wizard, the machine they use to process seeds 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 meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 24 Feb 2023 | You Can Grow Seed on Your Farm | 00:08:31 | |
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. This is how you become a cornerstone in a resilient seed and farming community system. Ask a question for future episodes Dan's list of Seed Grower Resources Follow Dan Brisebois on Instagram The Seed Growers Podcast is produced, in part, by No-Till Growers No-Till Growers is powered by the folks who support it every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers, you can also pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on the brand new growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat | |||
| 29 Jun 2022 | Robin Tunnicliffe of Sea Bluff Farm | 01:14:48 | |
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 Seed Cooperative, a 20+ member seed coop. For the technical breakdowns, she dives into brassica greens and Swiss chard. Also mentioned in the show... The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 08 Jun 2022 | Helen Skiba of Artemis Flower Farm | 01:19:21 | |
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 sales. Mentioned in the show... Helen's blog series on saving flower seeds Helen's blog post about dahlia tuber production and profitability Dan’s Getting Ready For Seed Harvest workshop The Treehouse Farm Collective on YouTube The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 10 Mar 2023 | The Plant Life Cycles of Seed Crops | 00:09:52 | |
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, you’re thinking, “I should have cut this lettuce and sent it to market!!!” If you want to reliably grow seeds, you need to align your farming systems to respect your plant’s life cycles. This is the third of 5 weekly mini-episodes all about the basics you need to know so you can plan your first seed crop for the coming growing season. Mentioned in the show... Ask a question for future Seed Growers episodes Dan's list of Seed Grower Resources Follow Dan Brisebois on Instagram The Seed Growers Podcast is produced, in part, by No-Till Growers No-Till Growers is powered by the folks who support it every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers, you can also pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on the brand new growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat | |||
| 20 Nov 2024 | Ep. 22 Seed Work Across Time and Space & Allium Seed Breakdown w/ Heron Breen of Fruits of Our Labors | 01:38:27 | |
Heron Breen is this episode's guest. Heron grows seed on six acres at Fruits of Our Labors in St. Albans, Maine. In this episode, Heron and I discussed the nature of seed work as a plant-based meditation that encompasses sculpture, art, science, and quantum physics, and the generational connection that seed provides across time and space. And then we pivot into talking about how to space seed crops and the reasons and importance of broader spacing before delving into what words like heirloom and open pollinated seeds really mean. In the deep dive, we talk about growing onions and leeks for seed. Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com to further support our work! Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||
| 06 Jul 2022 | Chris & Owen of Truelove Seeds | 01:04:55 | |
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 difference between technology and technique when harvesting and cleaning seed. For the technical breakdown, Chris talks about growing and harvesting crowder peas and Owen talks about cucuzza bottle gourd seed. Truelove Seeds https://www.instagram.com/ https://www.patreon.com/ Seeds and Their People Podcast https://trueloveseeds.com/ Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram's Garden https://www.bartramsgarden. Please TAKE THIS SURVEY to tell Dan what you think of The Seed Growers Podcast and what you want to hear in season 2! The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 03 Mar 2023 | Managing Cross-Pollination on Your Farm | 00:10:07 | |
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 basics you need to know so you can plan your first seed crop for the coming growing season. Mentioned in the show... Take Podcast Host Natalie's Survey! Ask a question for future Seed Growers episodes Dan's list of Seed Grower Resources Follow Dan Brisebois on Instagram The Seed Growers Podcast is produced, in part, by No-Till Growers No-Till Growers is powered by the folks who support it every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers, you can also pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on the brand new growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat | |||
| 21 Apr 2022 | NEW The Seed Growers Podcast with Dan Brisebois, coming April 27th | 00:01:24 | |
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 27th. Check out our farm, Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm | |||
| 25 May 2022 | Rowen White of Sierra Seeds | 01:21:24 | |
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 with NOTION to manage all of the information related to her seed work, seed rematriation—an initiative to bring seed back to their mother communities and lands and it’s implications for reconciliation, and managing space/time/diversity in corn and squash seed crops. The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 15 Jun 2022 | Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed | 01:23:41 | |
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 grows on a hectare and is more profitable than ever, the differences between wholesale and retail and why everyone should have a retail outlet, and his evolving crop mix from primarily greens, to fruiting crops, to flowers. Part two comes out Friday and is all about lettuce seed production. You don't want to miss it. Also mentioned in the show... The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 31 Mar 2023 | Crop Planning for Seed Growers | 00:15:42 | |
You can plan for growing seed in as little or as much detail as you can plan for growing any other crop. Up until now, I’ve been encouraging you to slow down and take it easy. Start your seed growing small and learn from it. Don’t worry about the details too much. But eventually, when you start feeling more comfortable growing seed, you’re going to want to plan your seed crops more precisely. This is the 5th and final weekly episode of a mini-series all about the basics you need to know so you can plan your first seed crop for the coming growing season. I would love to know how you like these mini-episodes. Send me a DM or an email to tell me what you think - is this a format you’d like me to repeat in the future? Mentioned in the show... Ask a question for future Seed Growers episodes Dan's list of Seed Grower Resources Follow Dan Brisebois on Instagram The Seed Growers Podcast is produced, in part, by No-Till Growers No-Till Growers is powered by the folks who support it every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers, you can also pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on the brand new growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat | |||
| 04 Sep 2024 | Ep. 17 A Seed Farmer's Favorite Tool, The Winnow Wizard with Mark Luterra | 01:03:16 | |
In almost every interview on The Seed Farmer, my guests and I wind up talking about tools. And one tool that podcast guests have mentioned more than any other tool is the Winnow Wizard. We use the Winnow Wizard at Torne-Sol Farm to clean seeds, so I understand the love that folks have for this machine. But I really wasn't expecting it for it to just keep coming back, interview after interview. And since it has kept coming back, I thought we should spend some time with the person who designed the seed cleaning machine, Mark Luterra. Mark currently works at Adaptive Seeds in Sweet Home, Oregon, but he started his seed journey at Wild Garden Seed, where he designed and built the first Winnow Wizard to make his seed cleaning days easier. He then went on to build another 104 machines that have been shipped all over the U.S. and Canada. He's now transferred production of the Winnow Wizard to Oppen Works in Wisconsin. In today's episode, Mark tells us what the Winnow Wizard does and how it works, and we do a deep dive into seed cleaning. And of course, the Winnow Wizard plays the key part in the seed cleaning stories, but Mark also explains how seed harvest and screening are equally important steps to get your seed clean. Mark also reveals some secrets of using a shop vac for seed cleaning. During the discussion, we go through four seed cleaning scenarios and how Mark would tackle each of them. Mark then wraps up the conversation by telling us about his next seed project aimed at small-scale seed farmers. Follow Mark on Instagram and check out his Substack Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||
| 21 Aug 2024 | Ep. 16 Wild Seed Collection, Working with Market Gardeners, & DIY Seed Equipment w/ Kim Delaney of Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds | 01:15:55 | |
Kim Delaney farms with Aaron Lyons and Stephen Surgenessie at Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds in Mount Forest, Ontario. They grow certified organic seeds on two farm sites for their online store and to distribute through Seedy Saturdays and through their wholesale seed rack program. In this episode, Kim discusses how she began her seed journey working in tall grass prairie restoration and how that blossomed into growing and selling vegetable, flower, and herb seeds. Kim also talks about how she has established and manages wild collection areas on her farm to harvest seed for wild bergamot, black-eyed Susan, milkweed, prairie grasses, and other plants. Kim explains how Hawthorn has worked with local farmers to grow seed on their farms as part of a transition town project where market growers grow the seed crop and Hawthorne would harvest and clean the seed. We discuss Kim's vision of what that could look like as a cross-country project. Kim also describes some of the seed infrastructure they've set up at Hawthorn including a seed dryer in a shipping container and a DIY air column. For this episode's technical section, Kim talks about growing and harvesting seeds from two native prairie grasses, Indian grass and blue stem grass. Follow Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds on Instagram & check out their website Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com Mentioned in the show… The Organic Seed Grower by John Navazio Real Seeds (UK) DIY seed cleaner Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||
| 18 Dec 2024 | Ep. 24 Peasant Seeds with Léa Martinet Jannin & Ferdinand Beau of Buzuruna Juzuruna | 01:15:40 | |
Léa and Ferdinand are two of the twenty-two members of Buzuruna Juzuruna, a 2 ha seed farm and school farm in Lebanon. In this episode, Léa and Ferdinand define the terms “peasant seeds” and “balady seeds” and the challenges of finding local seeds in Lebanon. They also discuss the role of international seed banks in preserving seeds and the importance of reclaiming these seeds and bringing them back to where they originated. Ferdinand describes the seed house at Buzuruna Juzuruna and how they control temperature and humidity. Léa explains how the seeds and crops they grow are distributed. In the deep dive, we talk about growing cucumbers for seed and how you shouldn’t assume every cucumber is a cucumber. Léa and Ferdinand also discuss how they work with ancient wheat varieties. Free, Crop Planning for Seed Farmers minicourse: www.spreadsheet.farm/ Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com to further support our work! Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||
| 11 May 2022 | Kristyn Leach of Namu Farm | 01:38:29 | |
A living seed LEGEND, 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 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 meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 04 May 2022 | Marie-Claude Comeau of Ferme La Radicule | 00:47:49 | |
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 her choice of seed crops, and the technical details of growing two acres of cucurbits. Hint: there is a log-splitter and shop-vac involved. She concludes with how to finish legume seed crops in a wet-Fall climate and the joy/worry of scaling to enter the US market. Mentioned in the show... The Winnow Wizard, one of the machines she uses to process seeds The Millet Wet Seed Extractor, another seed processing machine she uses 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 meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 22 Jun 2022 | Liz & Matthew of Muddy Fingers Farm | 01:02:43 | |
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 technical breakdown this week is pole beans and leeks! Throughout the convrsation, they illustrate how they overcome the challenges of growing seed in a humid climate. The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 22 Jan 2025 | Ep. 25 The Organic Seed Alliance w/ Researcher & Educator Jared Zystro | 01:04:52 | |
Jared Zystro is a research and education director at the Organic Seed Alliance. Jared is based in Arcada, California. I invited Jared onto this episode so he can tell you about the Organic Seed Growers Conference in Corvallis, Oregon that is taking place from February 26th to March 1st, 2025. I first went to this conference in 2008 and it was the single most important learning experience to my seed career. I also made so many great friends and contacts that have followed me throughout all my CD endeavors. And I think that you would probably enjoy an experience like this also. So in this episode, Jared and I talk about what is happening at this year's conference and how you can participate not only in person, but also virtually if you can't make it to Corvallis. Jared and I talk about more than just the conference in this episode. We start with Jared's seed story and how it went from working summers on vegetable farms to ultimately getting a PhD in plant breeding and plant genetics from the University of Wisconsin Madison. And we finished with a deep dive into growing quinoa on both a larger commercial scale using a combine and a smaller scale with manual techniques. Free, Crop Planning for Seed Farmers minicourse: www.spreadsheet.farm/ Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com to further support our work! Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||
| 18 Sep 2024 | Ep. 18 Growing Seed in a Humid Tropical Climate with Gabriel Bravo of Semillas Plantae | 01:30:34 | |
Gabriel Bravo is one of the founders of the company Semillas Plantae and farms with Mima Picado at El Tablazo Farm in Costa Rica. In this episode, Gabriel talks about how Semillas Plantae is structured with 4 partners who operate the seed company and how they distribute their seeds. Gabriel explains how they source seeds from outside of Costa Rica and trial them to see what can grow in their bioregion and how he is always on the hunt for Costa Rican heirloom varieties and the stories that come with them. We also discuss what it is like growing seed in the tropics where there is a very humid season that is a nightmare for growing dry seeded crops and a dry season that is much better suited for seed production. We then have a more technical seed growing conversation about growing cilantro for seed and producing seed for biennials such as carrots in a climate with no cold winter to help with vernalisation. Follow Semillas Plantae on Instagram and check out their YouTube channel Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com to further support our work Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||
| 17 Jun 2022 | BONUS Frank Morton on Saving Lettuce Seed | 00:47:27 | |
In this bonus episode, Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed explains several methods for saving lettuce from seed to seed. Also mentioned in the show... Frank Morton on The Seed Growers Podcast The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by... The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada. and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon. | |||
| 24 Mar 2023 | Selecting Your First Seed Crops | 00:08:40 | |
What seed will you harvest this summer from your market garden? In episodes 1-3 of this miniseries, we’ve talked about some key considerations for growing seed. We’ve discussed open pollinated and hybrid varieties. Selfer and crosser crops. Annual and biennial plant life cycles. Now, let’s look at what crops you’re actually growing for market or CSA or wholesale and let’s see which of those crops would be great first seed crops. This is the 4th of 5 weekly mini-episodes all about the basics you need to know so you can plan your first seed crop for the coming growing season. I would love to know how you like these mini-episodes. Send me a DM or an email to tell me what you think - is this a format you’d like me to repeat in the future? Mentioned in the show... GUIDE SUR LA PRODUCTION DE SEMENCES À LA FERME Ask a question for future Seed Growers episodes Dan's list of Seed Grower Resources Follow Dan Brisebois on Instagram The Seed Growers Podcast is produced, in part, by No-Till Growers No-Till Growers is powered by the folks who support it every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers, you can also pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on the brand new growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat
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| 04 Dec 2024 | Ep. 23 Mohawk Seedkeeper, Stephen Silverbear McComber | 01:04:02 | |
Stephen Silverbear McComber is a seedkeeper and a recently elected chief on the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke whose portfolio is sustainable development. Silverbear tells us about the seeds that different people shared with him while visiting different First Nations communities within the Confederacy. He tells us how he has taken care of these seeds and a generation later, he has been able to return some of these seeds to the families of the folks who shared them with him, and the joy and connection that this brings. Silverbear explains how he plants by the phases of the moon, and what crops he plants during different periods, how the spring has been starting later than it used to and the autumn is also ending later and the challenges that creates for growing food. Silverbear explains how it is important to select corn and other crops to adapt to this changing environment and to your bioregion. We then do a deep dive into growing squash for seed and hand pollination techniques. Mentioned in the show... Steve's Garden Tips Facebook Page Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com to further support our work! Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast! | |||