#seedstories

New Seed Alert! Yellow Carrot-Shaped Radishes! Tasty radishes with yellow skin and a crisp, white interior as well as tasty, hairless greens! Yellow radishes are fairly uncommon, and more often, people are familiar with round yellow radishes like Zlata in Poland, or Jaune Hatif in France. This longer, carrot-shaped variety comes to us from Bartram's Garden (@bartramsgarden), who received the seed from William Woys Weaver (@roughwoodseeds), who in turn was given seeds by Alzbeta Kovacova-Pecarova, a seed saver in Kosice, Slovakia. Will Weaver says “this rare summer radish was developed in Central Europe during the eighteenth century. It is mentioned in Austrian garden books as early as 1770 and was once widely cultivated in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The radish is used both raw in salads as well as cooked like turnips. It was also shredded and fermented with sauerkraut. The Hungarians stew it with peppers. Use like Daikon in Asian-style pickles.” Photos by Dorene Pasekoff (@hillcreekfarmpa) of Pottstown, PA. Read about her experience with this radish on her Hill Creek Farm Blog. Also known as: Slavic Solstice Radish #yellowcarrotshapedradish #slavicsolstice #heirloomradish #seedsaving #seedstories #seedkeeping #radish (at Bartram's Garden) https://www.instagram.com/p/B74QtdRgSle/?igshid=xlpi386yuxvv

Listen now! Seeds & Their People is a radio show where people we admire tell stories about the seeds they truly love. Our first episode is up on our website! Chris and I tell our own seed stories so you can get to know us a little before we launch into our interviews and conversations with others, such as Kristyn Leach from @namu_farm and Ira Wallace of @southernexposureseed. So excited for this medium that allows us to hear seed stories woven in the voices of their keepers. Look for the bar at the top of www.trueloveseeds.com to listen! Soon, you can listen on all your favorite podcast apps. Thanks!#seedsandtheirpeople #seedkeeping #seedstories #seedsaving @trueloveseeds @sankofacommunityfarm #trueloveseeds https://www.instagram.com/p/B6-nZXIAj6V/?igshid=llzxdfhyq93b

Here are some of my favorite people right before they each told captivating seed stories, which was a really powerful and intimate way to get to know them and their work better. Left to right: Ken Green, Rowen White, Raul Carreon, Karen Washington, and Leah Penniman. #seedstories #foodsovereignty #landjustice (at Omega Institute)

"Buena Mulata Pepper" and "Pippin" were handwritten on a baby food jar that a young William Woys Weaver found in the bottom of the deep freezer in his grandmother’s basement, a decade after his plant-loving grandfather’s untimely death. If you’ve heard of the Fish Pepper, this story probably sounds familiar. There were many important and beautiful varieties of seeds in that lucky freezer, and many that passed from Philly- and Baltimore-based Black caterers' hands to now-famed painter Horace Pippin, including this purple-to-red cayenne type Buena Mulata. Seeds stay viable longer in the freezer; our heirlooms only survive if someone finds them in storage and places them in soil; and stories only live when they are told. I'm bringing these to Portland, OR to be included in a dish created by Sam Smith of @tuskpdx that will highlight the Fagiolina del Trasimeno at the @culinarybreedingnetwork Variety Showcase on Monday night. #buenamulata #cayenne #capsicumannuum #williamwoysweaver #roughwoodseedcollection #seedsaving #seedkeeping #seedstories #horacepippin #buenamulatapepper #culinarybreedingnetwork (at The Nines, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Portland, OR)

Buena Mulata Pepper was the name on the baby food jar next to the name “Pippin” in the bottom of the deep freezer in William Woys Weaver’s grandmother’s basement, a decade after his plant-loving grandfather’s untimely death. If you’ve heard of the Fish Pepper, this story probably sounds familiar. There were many other seeds besides those of the beautiful, delicious, and now widely-available Fish Pepper in that frozen trove, and many that passed through Horace Pippin’s hands, including this purple-to-red cayenne type Buena Mulata. Please look up #horacepippin to learn about his important and powerful work and life. Meanwhile, in the 1940s, he traded seeds from his friends in the Black catering communities of Philly and Baltimore in exchange for bee sting therapy from Will’s grandfather H. Ralph Weaver’s hives. Seeds stay viable longer in the freezer; our heirlooms only survive if someone removes them from storage and places them in soil; and stories only live when they are told. We eat the ripe red ones. (I wish I knew the origin of this variety name.) #buenamulata #cayenne #capsicumannuum #williamwoysweaver #roughwoodseedcollection #seedsaving #seedkeeping #seedstories #horacepippin #apitherapy #beestingtherapy #buenamulatapepper (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

Excited to for tomorrow’s 34th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference! It costs $5, draws well over a thousand community gardeners from around New York City (like a huuuge family reunion), many of whom lead the workshops. It is my favorite conference. It is sold out online but there will be some tickets available at the door. I’m co-leading one of the featured presentations with gardeners from International Rescue Committee’s New Roots Community Farm (BX) and youth from East New York Farms (BK) where we talk about how seed saving is part of our community food sovereignty work, and also where we tell lots of our seed stories. #greenthumbgrowtogether #gtgt2018 #seedkeeping #seedstories @greenthumbgrows @enyfarms @theirc (at Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY)

"Wow. How awesome is the wisdom of the universe. Beautiful in her practicality." Chris said as he opened one of his African Bottle Gourds (Lagenaria siceraria). He grows this gourd "first in thanksgiving to the creator and my ancestors because it is an African crop and second because it is so beautiful". #africanbottlegourd #bottlegourd #Lagenariasiceraria #seedkeeping #seedsaving #seedstories (at South West Philadelphia)

Buena Mulata Pepper. That’s the name that was on the baby food jar next to the name “Pippin” in the bottom of the deep freezer in William Woys Weaver’s grandmother’s basement, a decade after his plant-loving grandfather’s untimely death. If you’ve heard of the Fish Pepper, this story probably sounds familiar. There were many other seeds besides those of the beautiful, delicious, and now widely-grown Fish Pepper in that lucky freezer, and many that passed through Horace Pippin’s hands, including this purple-to-red cayenne type Buena Mulata. Please look up #horacepippin to learn about his important and powerful work and life. Meanwhile, in the 1940s, he traded seeds from his friends in the Black catering communities of Philly and Baltimore in exchange for bee sting therapy from Will’s grandfather H. Ralph Weaver’s hives. Seeds stay viable longer in the freezer; our heirlooms only survive if someone finds them in storage and places them in soil; and stories only live when they are told. We eat the ripe red ones but I wanted you to see the whole spectrum! #buenamulata #cayenne #capsicumannuum #williamwoysweaver #roughwoodseedcollection #bakercreekheirloomseeds2016 #seedsaving #seedkeeping #seedstories #horacepippin #apitherapy #beestingtherapy #buenamulatapepper (at The Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center)