Seeds And Their People

Join us and 15 of Karen Washington's dear friends, family, mentees, and collaborators in wishing her a very happy 70th birthday with this episode featuring food and plant stories about our Farmy Godmother. Karen has been instrumental in the creation and guidance of neighborhood organizations such as Garden of Happiness, La Familia Verde Coalition and Farmers Market, and Bronx Green Up, as well as Farm School NYC, Black Urban Growers, and the Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference. She serves on the board of Soul Fire Farm, the Black Farmer Fund, and the Mary Mitchell Center and has been a part of so many others such as Just Food (where we first met) and New York Botanic Garden, and was once the president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition, organizing to protect the gardens from development. She is one of the four co-founders and owners of Rise & Root Farm in Chester, NY. More importantly, Karen is a fierce fighter for gardens and justice and loves her friends and families with gusto and grits. We hope these stories reveal her love and knack for investing in community and her life-long commitment to rising and rooting for justice. PEOPLE WITH KAREN STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Karen Washington Lorrie Clevenger - Rise and Root Farm, Black Urban Growers, and Farm School NYC; formerly of Just Food and WhyHunger. Leah Penniman - Soul Fire Farm Cheryl Holt - Karen's neighbor, Garden of Happiness Kendra Washington Bass - Karen's daughter Kady Williams - Taqwa Community Farm, Iridescent Earth Collective; formerly of Bronx Green Up Ashanti Williams -Taqwa Community Farm, Black Yard Farm Julian Bass - Karen's grandson Nicole Ndiaye - NAHE, Bathgate Community Garden Gabriela Pereyra - Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust Aleyna Rodriguez - Mary Mitchell Center Ursula Chanse - Bronx Green Up, New York Botanic Garden Michael Hurwitz - Landing Light Strategies; formerly of Added Value and Greenmarket Kathleen McTigue - AmeriCorps; formerly of Just Food and New Roots Community Farm Frances Perez Rodriguez - Farm School NYC Jane Hayes Hodge - Rise and Root Farm; formerly of Just Food and Farm School NYC THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY: YOU! Please become a Patron for $1 or more a month at Patreon.com/trueloveseeds A Bookkeeping Cooperative: https://bookkeeping.coop/home/ ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Queen Karen Jane Hayes Hodge for helping make this happen Emilio Sweet-Coll for help with audio editing Our Patreon members and A Bookkeeping Cooperative

This episode features an interview with Zee Lilani at Kula Nursery in West Oakland, California in January 2024. Zee grows Doodhi (Lauki/Bottle Gourd) and Kalonji (Black Seed/Nigella) seeds for our Truelove Seeds catalog as well as many varieties for Second Generation Seeds at her farm in Petaluma, California. In this episode, we hear how Zee left her work as a hydrologist, became a farmer, worked in food sovereignty and food security supporting other farmers, and then started her own nursery business focused on South Asian plants during the pandemic. During the partition of India, her family was displaced from the city of Surat, in the state of Gujarat, in India to Pakistan. Her work with plants familiar to her mother and grandmother bring Surat back to life many decades later, far from home. In her words: 'Kula Nursery is a grassroots urban nursery working within and for BIPOC communities to increase food sovereignty through gardening education and culturally relevant plant starts. The mission at Kula Nursery is to reconnect the diaspora with heritage food, strengthen food sovereignty among these communities, and promote cultural and biological diversity. As a heritage nursery, we believe the act of growing, tending to, and eating heritage foods encourages folks to reclaim their power within the local food system while simultaneously honoring and reconnecting to their ancestors, immediate family and community at large.' Basically, this interview is right up our alley at Seeds and their People, focused on how plants connect us to our people, power, place, ancestors, and community. SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Cuban Oregano, Indian Mint, Patta Ajwain, Coleus amboinicus Curry Tree, Murraya koenigii Night Blooming Jasmine, Raat Ki Rani, Queen of the Night, Cestrum nocturnum Mogra, Arabian Jasmine, Belle of India, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Jasminum sambac Henna, Lawsonia inermis Amla, Indian Gooseberry, Emblica officinalis Sugarcane, Saccharum spp. Taro, Colocasia esculenta Bindhi, Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus Doodhi/Lauki, Bottle Gourd, Lagenaria siceraria Kalonji, Black Seed, Nigella, "Onion Seed", Nigella sativa Krishna Tulsi, Ocicimum tenuiflorum Desi Girl Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum Lal Mirch Indian Pepper, Capsicum annuum Baingan Indian Eggplant, Solanum melongena Surti Papdi and Valor Papdi, Lablab purpureus MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Kula Nursery webpage Kula Nursery Instagram Kula Nursery at Truelove Seeds Second Generation Seeds (direct links to Kula Nursery varieties above) Diaspora Co. Seeds and their People - EP. 22: Gujarati Seeds and Flavors with Nital Vadalia-Kakadia Seeds and their People - EP. 2: Kristyn Leach and Namu Farm ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Zee Lilani Nital Vadalia-Kakadia Ruth Kaaserer Emilio Sweet-Coll

Dr. Bryan Connolly is a botanist, horticulturalist, and professor of Biology at Eastern Connecticut University in Willimantic, CT, my (Owen's) hometown. His research interests include rare plants of New England, the nightshade family, the rose family, and cannabis. Before Eastern, Professor Connolly was a faculty member at Framingham State University in Massachusetts and also worked for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Mississippi’s Medicinal Plant Garden, New England Wild Flower Society, and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. He is also involved in his family farm: Cobblestone Farm CSA in Mansfield Center, CT. Bryan appreciates his family's tolerance of his growing unusual plants, especially his wife Diane Dorfer, and he is sorry about the Erubia spines all over the yard a few years back. He thanks his son William for helping to take care of the spiny Erubia as well! In this interview we hear about Bryan's 33 year journey with seed saving, seed production, and plant breeding; his work with giving a boost and sometimes reintroducing native plants from New England to Puerto Rico; his work with students around growing cannabis for medicinal uses; and his trials and initial breeding work with some crops we shared with him, including pigeon peas, field peas, and roselle. SEED AND PLANT STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Chenopodium formosanum (Taiwan) Grass Jelly (Taiwan, Indonesia) Erubia (Puerto Rico) Corpse Flower (Indonesia) Easter in August Cherry Tomato Minnesota 13 Field Pea Bo (Black-Eyed Pea Leaves) Mississippi Purple Hull Pea Northern Adapted Pigeon Peas Solanum chacoense (South America) Cannabis (specifically the beverage, Bhang from India) Chin Baung (Burmese Roselle Leaf) MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Bryan's ECSU professor bio Bryan's instagram: Northeastern Connecticut Botany Breeding Organic Vegatables, NOFA publication, by Rowen White and Bryan Connolly Organic Seed Production and Saving, NOFA publication, by Bryan Connolly Stewarding Indigenous Seeds and Planting by the Moon with Stephen Silverbear McComber, Seed Savers Exchange Ploidy (number of chromosomes in a cell) Ploidy, genetic diversity and speciation of the genus Aronia ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

Mary Menniti grew up with her Italian immigrant grandfather growing vegetables, figs, and tending sheep in her family's backyard. She created The Italian Garden Project to celebrate the joy and wisdom inherent in the traditional Italian American vegetable garden, preserving this heritage and demonstrating its relevance for reconnecting to our food, our families and the earth. Over the past few years, we have been connecting over our shared love of growing Italian American seeds and their stories, and are now collaborating on preserving on various farms and sharing her seed collection through our seed catalog. In this episode, we also hear the voices of Concetta Liberto, Antonino Machi, Fenice Mercurio, Charles Adornetto, Domenic Carpico, and Michele Vaccaro from interviews conducted by Mary. SEED AND PLANT STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Figs Broccoli Rabe Poverella Pole Bean from Concetta Liberto Cow's Nipple Tomato from Mariano Floro Lunga di Napoli Squash Cucuzza from Antonino Machi Cucuzza seed saving with Charles Adornetto Fagiolina del Trasimeno Long Bean Vinny's Neapolitan Friariello (Frying Pepper) Ischia Eggplant Nepitella Fennel from Fenice Mercurio Black Fava (Mora de Precoce) from Nicola Ranieri Swiss Chard from Caro Simbula Sabatino’s "Peppe Insalata" Lettuce from Sabatino DiNardo Floriani Red Flint Corn MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Italian Garden Project (web) Italian Garden Project (IG) Italian Garden Project (YouTube) Italian Garden Project (Facebook) Bruno Garofalo's Bidente (Two-Toothed tool) Italian American Podcast on Unification Growers Grange Italian Heirloom CSA, Corbett, OR Eggplant Parmesan recipe by Cooking with Nona The Feast of the Madonna del Sacro Monte, Clifton, NJ ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Mary Menniti Concetta Liberto Antonino Machi Fenice Mercurio Charles Adornetto Domenic Carpico Michele Vaccaro Ruth Kaaserer

This episode features Nital Vadalia-Kakadia. Originally from the state of Gujarat in Western India, Nital has been fascinated by farming and food since she was a child on her family’s farm in India. These days, she tends to beautiful gardens filled with her ancestral Indian vegetables and herbs, as well as lush native pollinator plants, fruit trees, and cut flowers at her family’s home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, not too far from our home in Philadelphia. She has introduced us and our community to many Indian seeds and so it was great to have this chance to visit her home and speak with her about her life, her beloved food plants, and even get a chance to share a delicious meal featuring bindhi, guar, curry leaves, amba, and so much more. You will also hear a couple voice recordings from Truelove Seeds apprentice Tika Jagad and her father Mr. Krutarth Jagad. And at the end, our son Bryan asks Nital and Dinesh’s son Soham a couple questions about his favorite traditional foods. SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Bindhi, Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus Guar, Cluster Bean, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba Curry Tree, Murraya koenigii Ratalu, Purple Yam, Dioscorea alata Lablab, Hyacinth Bean, Lablab purpureus White Eggplant, Solanum melongena Transkutukú Peanuts from the Shuar people of Ecuador, Arachis hypogaea Chana, Chickpeas, Cicer arietinum Pigeon Pea, Cajanus cajan Fenugreek, Trigonella foenum-graecum Surti Papri, Lablab purpureus Karela, Bitter Melon, Momordica charantia Lauki, Bottle Gourd, Lagenaria siceraria Luffa Jewels of Opar, Talinum paniculatum and Waterleaf, Talinum triangulare Red Amaranth, Amaranthus spp. Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum Mango, Mangifera indica Amla, Indian Gooseberry, Emblica officinalis Falsa, Sherbet Berry, Grewia asiatica Papaya, Carica papaya MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Nital's Instagram Amirah Mitchell's Sistah Seeds Tika's garden, Rabbit Hole Farm, Newark, NJ Kula Nursery, Oakland ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Nital, Dinesh, and their son Soham Tika and her father, Mr. Krutarth Jagad Zee Husain Amirah Mitchell Our son Bryan Ruth Kaaserer Cecilia Sweet-Coll

In late February 2023, Annabel Rabiyah and Amanda Chin of the Iraqi Seed Collective visited the Truelove Seeds office to help fill the first packets of Iraqi Seed Collective seeds (Iraqi Reehan Basil, grown by Experimental Farm Network), and prepare some of their other collectively-grown seeds for germination testing. We took the opportunity to record conversations with them about Annabel's work with Awafi Kitchen, which focuses on preserving traditional Iraqi Jewish food, and about their seed collective, which works with a wide array of gardeners and farmers from Iraq and the Iraqi diaspora in the US. At the end of this episode, you will hear from several other collective members who sent short phone recordings about their transformative moments being part of the collective, as well as a recording Annabel sent after returning from their family's first trip back to Iraq in 50 years. The episode begins with answering some listener questions about growing and cooking Mustard Greens, dealing with the Squash Vine Borer, and shelling peas with kids. SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Introduction: Broadleaf Mustard Greens Squash Vine Borer in Pennsylvania SEED STORIES: Sesame Rice Aswad Eggplant Amba (Mango, Cayenne, Fenugreek, Turmeric) Ali Baba Watermelon Rashad (Chamsur) Al Kuffa Tomato Fava Bean Winter Melon Flax MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: 2023 Iraqi Seed Collective General Interest Form Iraqi Seed Collective (Instagram) The Awafi Kitchen (Webpage) The Awafi Kitchen (Instagram) Beidth al Tbeet: Deconstructing the political history of an Iraqi Jewish meal (Youtube) Garrett Williamson PA Flax Project ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Tumblr | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Annabel "Nibal" Rabiyah - Massachusettes Amanda Chin - Pennsylvania Rivka-Suad Ben Daniel - Southern California Ali Hamad - Tennessee Monique Mansour - Southern California Sarmed Yasser Jabra - Michigan Ali Ruxin - New York Rabab Al-Amin - Maryland Cecilia Sweet-Coll (for consistent helpful feedback)

Heidi Ratanavanich invited their mom, Mae Sue, and aunties Na Na, Na Urm, and Na Toy from Thailand and Chicago to cook traditional Thai foods together for their Philadelphia friends and family and to visit their traditional foods growing at our farm. We were also able to talk about the family hotdog stand, Al's Drive-In, which serves hotdogs and Thai-inspired Chinese food. We are grateful to have recorded these beautiful moments with them for this episode! Heidi is a visual artist, carpenter, and educator. Heidi is interested in the intersection of food sovereignty, Thai/Chinese diaspora, ecology and economy. They are involved in the collectives FORTUNE and Television. Heidi apprenticed at Truelove Seeds for a season, tending to Thai and Chinese based plants with a special focus on Kra Praow (Thai Holy Basil) saved from their mom's home, Sappaya, Thailand. They were also part of a team that re-opened a small take-out corner store in West Philly called Golden Dragon. Golden Dragon will be closing its doors this month, though Heidi plans to continue their food sovereignty work and personal journey with ancestral food, including growing a Chicago-Style hotdog garden in 2023 with Zhong Shu Tomatoes, Thai white cucumbers, Chinese Celery, Sport Peppers, and more. SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Introduction: Milkweed Efo Shoko Callaloo Coral Sorghum Couve Heidi's Seed Stories: Krapao (Thai Holy Basil) Celtuce (Chinese Stem Lettuce) Prik Chi Fa (Pepper) Lemongrass Makrut Lime Leaves Moringa Eggplant Culantro/Recao/Foreigner Cilantro/Saw-Toothed Cilantro Rice MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Goodbye Golden Dragon, on Bunny Hop Instagram Fortune Heidi at Truelove Al's Drive-In Al's on CBS News Al's in New York Times ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Tumblr | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Heidi Ratanavanich Mae Sue Na Na Na Urm Na Toy Cecilia Sweet-Coll Ruth Kaaserer

Akoth Ambugo spends part of her year back home in her family's rural villages in Kenya and part of her year in the United States as a nurse and gardener. While in the US, she is learning to keep seeds, grow nutritious food, and feed the soil. She hopes to revive traditional indigenous crop varieties and farming practices that are more in tune with the land and the health of the people. She recently wrote: "This thing that we do is a return. A return to a deep and sacred knowing of wild things. That we all begin and return as seeds. This land, these hands, and these hearts all feel like a sacred alignment, weaving to-gather together. Here there is no sense of if, just is. Here I breathe in hope and beauty. This is what the seeds teach me, learning the path of patience and humility. Of fire and water in balance. Of the sweetness of my sweat and the delight of feeling my body toil for sanctuary. I eat with more awareness and gratitude. Because of the seed. The revolution has always been here and it is in the seed." SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE: Apoth/Ewedu/Molokhia/Jute Bo/Kunde/Field Pea/Cowpea Chinsaga/Dek/Spider Plant Sisal Besobela/Ethiopian Holy Basil Huacatay/Peruvian Black Mint Spilanthes/Toothache Plant Pili Pili/Apilo Moringa Bambara Groundnuts MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Newark Adopt-a-Lot Masanobu Fukuoka Natural Farm, Japan Tagetes minuta as a natural dye in Kenya The Kenya Cereals Enhancement Programme - Climate Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods - Cowpea Extension Manual Seed Savers Network, Kenya ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Tumblr | Instagram | Twitter FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden THANKS TO: Akoth Ambugo Cecilia Sweet-Coll Ruth Kaaserer