The Seed Growers Podcast

Mar 31 2023 134
The Seed Growers Podcast artwork

The Seed Growers Podcast with Dan Brisebois of Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm. 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!

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Crop Planning for Seed Growers

Mar 31 2023 15 mins  
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 crop

Selecting Your First Seed Crops

Mar 24 2023 8 mins  
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

The Plant Life Cycles of Seed Crops

Mar 10 2023 9 mins  
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 ha

Managing Cross-Pollination on Your Farm

Mar 03 2023 10 mins  
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-episod

You Can Grow Seed on Your Farm

Feb 24 2023 8 mins  
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 devel

Chris & Owen of Truelove Seeds

Jul 06 2022 64 mins  
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 ab

Robin Tunnicliffe of Sea Bluff Farm

Jun 29 2022 74 mins  
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 wi

Liz & Matthew of Muddy Fingers Farm

Jun 22 2022 62 mins  
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 mark

BONUS Frank Morton on Saving Lettuce Seed

Jun 17 2022 47 mins  
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

Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed

Jun 15 2022 83 mins  
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, a