Fruit Love Letters

"I could label you divine, godly as many have, but you are a fruit of the womb." The fig is myth, sustenance, and ecological wonder. For this episode, Jessamine Starr explores each of those aspects of the fig and how they intertwine… the stories blending with the fruit’s sugar, shaped by the tree’s strong roots, venerated by wasps and people. She places, in essence, the fig’s mythology and biology on equal footing. Mike Shanahan, author of Gods, Wasps and Stranglers is just the person to answer all her questions. Learn more about this episode of Fruit Love Letters at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG at @whetstoneradio, Twitter at @whetstone_radio, and YouTube at /WhetstoneRadio.

"I always knew you were special; then I discovered that you are very special - and evolutionary anachronism, a scientific miracle." In this episode, Jessamine does things a little differently and explores the life of the avocado pit instead of the fruit. She talks with farmer Tom Siddons about the science of growing the avocado from seed and artist Maria Elena Pombo about how she uses the seed to bind us to a past and present community narrative. Learn more about this episode of Fruit Love Letters at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at /WhetstoneRadio.

“Writing to you is akin to writing a single letter to all the humans.” Humans have been tinkering with crossbreeds of apples for thousands of years. Gidon Coll, the owner of Hudson Valley Apple Project, shares some of the types he grows and why so few varieties of apples are available for sale at the store or from your local apple farmer. Luckily for Jessamine, she gets to sample some of the rare breeds Gidon grows on his farm. Then she has a conversation with William Mullan, a New York-based artist who elevated apples to his photographic muse. Topics covered in this episode: Min 1:55: Jessamine’s letter to apples Min 1:55: Intro and apple description Min 3:30: Meet William Mullan Min 4:00: Odd Apples portrait description & origin Min 6:00: Heterozygous attribute of apples Min 8:00: Apple trees adaptability to environment Min 9:30: Exploring diversity of apples Min 11:00: Meet Gidon Coll Min 12:45: How to graft Min 13:00: USDA Orchards in Geneva, New York and why apples are heterozygous Min 15:00: Apples and the founding fathers Min 16:00: The Golden Age of Pomology Min 17:30: The decline of apple varieties Min 19:00: Apple tasting and the wide range of apple flavors Learn more about this episode of Fruit Love Letters at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at /WhetstoneRadio. Guests: William Mullan (@pomme_queen), Gidon Coll (@hudsonvalleyappleproject)

"Even so, I cannot move away from my ‘self’/perpetually residing in a blueberry cave." Jessamine learns the history of both the cultivated blueberry and the native wild blueberry. For the former, she consults Kiyomi Locker, a historian for the Whitesbog Preservation Trust, birthplace of the cultivated blueberry. Through Kiyomi, Jessamine hears of Elizabeth White, the agricultural specialist who took the blueberry out of the woods and to consumers around the world. But just because most of us enjoy the cultivated blueberry doesn’t mean the wild one is gone. Brian Altvater and Holli Francis introduce Maine’s Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Company, the only Native-owned wild blueberry enterprise in the world. Clearly, there is space for both the wild and cultivated blueberry in our homes and our bellies. Topics covered in this episode: Min 0:00: Jessamine Starr recites her poem to blueberries Min 1:35: Intro and blueberry description Min 3:17: Meet Kiyomi Locker Min 3:30: Whitesbog’s history as a village and cranberry bog Min 4:30: Elizabeth White’s blueberry cultivation endeavors Min 7:00: Blueberry varieties and crossbreeding Min 9:00: Blueberry plants: errors and successes Min 10:21: More explanations of blueberry varieties Min 12:25: Elizabeth White’s unknown legacy outside of Whitesbog Min 18:00: Meet Holli Francis and Brian Altvater Min 19:11: Health benefits of wild blueberries and how they grow Min 21:01: Passamaquoddy tribe history with wild blueberries and colonizer challenges Min 22:02: The result of The Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act Min 23:00: Altvater recounting the tradition of Passamaquoddy tribe harvesting and transitioning to mechanical methods Learn more about this episode of Fruit Love Letters at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at /WhetstoneRadio. Guests: Kiyomi Locker of Whitesbog Preservation Trust, Brian Altvater & Holli Francis of Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Company

"Strand me on an island with one food, I always choose you." This is an impassioned ode to the mango. Host Jessamine Starr talks to mango expert Dr. Noris Ledesma, who fell in love with mangoes as a child in Colombia and has since spent much of her career studying this fruit. While both Jessamine and Noris share a great love for mango, Noris has made it her life's mission to ensure that it continues to thrive and make it to our kitchen tables. She has traveled around the world collecting mango species in an attempt to cultivate mangoes that can withstand everything from climate change and farmers' needs to the picky consumer's eye. Topics covered in this episode: Min 1:00: Jessamine recites her letter to mangoes Min 3:30: Meet Noris Ledesma Min 5:40: Why mangoes are so special to communities in Florida Min 8:50: Mango import process to the US Min 9:30: Growing mangoes in the US Min 12:00: Environmental and growing climate concerns and solutions for mango farmers Min 16:00: Purple skin mangoes to prevent food loss due to slight imperfections Min 18:00: Ways to eat mangoes from different regions Min 20:30: Limitations of mango varieties in the US Min 22:00: Mild allergic reactions to mangoes Min 24:00: Mango connections around the world Learn more about this episode of Fruit Love Letters at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at /WhetstoneRadio. Guest: Dr. Noris Ledesma (@norisledesma)