Sama Mansouri of Reyhan Herb Farm grows foods from Iran in the San Francisco Bay Area, California for her community members in the Iranian Diaspora. She also shares seeds through our Truelove Seeds catalog, and we met up in January of 2025 to talk about some of her favorite food plants. In June 2025, Israel and the US attacked Iran, accusing Iran of violating their nuclear nonproliferation obligations. There were thousands of casualties, mostly civilians. Sama and I spoke again a week after the ceasefire to introduce this episode and I'm finally getting around to sharing it with you! Listen in to learn about the various Iranian herbs of Sabzi and many other vegetable friends, as well as some thoughts and tips on growing and saving seeds from them. 

Find seeds from Sama's farm, including the following, at: https://trueloveseeds.com/collections/reyhan-herb-farm

REYHAN HERB FARM SEEDS IN OUR CATALOG (8/25):

Bademjan (Iranian Eggplant)

Laboo (Iranian Beet)

Marzeh (Iranian Summer Savory)

Pache Baghala (Gilani Bush Bean)

Shambalileh Iranian Fenugreek

"Medzmama" Arevatsaghik (Armenian Sunflower)

LINKS:

Reyhan Herb Farm

THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY:

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

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Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

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In late November, 2024, we finally recorded an episode featuring Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram's Garden and many of the voices of the farmers there. This podcast in many ways is an extension of their work to "Go Back and Bring Forward What You Left Behind" - which is a take on the meaning of the Twi word "Sankofa". Its corresponding Akan proverb is, “Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkyiri.” In large part, this approach to farming, community building, and cultural preservation with a heavy emphasis on learning the practices and foodways of our ancestors inspired the genesis of Truelove Seeds and this podcast lifting up the voices of people sharing about their ancestral foods.

So please enjoy this episode where you hear reflections from many of the farmers from Sankofa, including: 

Chris Bolden Newsome, Laquanda Dobson, Lailah Lindsey Glass, Maria Jose Garcia, Ty Holmberg, Keyone Carter, and Hajja Glover. 

FOOD PLANTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Collard Greens

Siling Labuyo Pepper

Sehsapsing Corn

Okra

Castor Beans

Roselle

Hill Rice (Trinidad)

LINKS:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram's Garden

THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY:

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

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Truelove Seeds

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Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

In late October, 2024, we (Chris and Owen) walked down our Germantown, Philadelphia street to interview our friend and neighbor Ms. Valerie Erwin on her porch. 

We talked about traditional (and less traditional) Gullah Geechee foodways with a focus on rice, field peas, okra, cornbread, shrimp and grits, thyme, hog jowls, Nan-e berenji (a Persian rice cookie), duck confit with fried Hoppin' John, and much more. Of course, with Chris and Ms. Val on the same porch, there are lots of easy segues into the African influence on Southern food. We talked about her former restaurant, her work as a chef now, and we took a walk around her garden. 

Here is an excerpt from Ms. Valerie’s bio from Les Dames D’escoffier’s member directory (with some updates):

Valerie Erwin is a longtime Philadelphia chef who, for 12 years owned the critically acclaimed Geechee Girl Rice Cafe. Valerie specializes in the food of the Low Country—the coast of South Carolina and Georgia—where her grandparents were born. During its tenure, Geechee Girl was featured on many major media outlets, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Magazine, The Food Network, and NPR. For two years Valerie was the General Manager of EAT Café, a West Philadelphia neighborhood restaurant with an innovative pay-what-you-can model. Since 2020, Valerie has managed Farm to Families, a produce access program of St Christopher’s Foundation for Children. Valerie has served on the board of the Southern Foodways Alliance—the country’s premier institution for the study of food and culture. She now serves on the board of the Wyck Historic House Garden and Farm, a Germantown historic home, and the People's Kitchen Philly, a mutual aid kitchen. Valerie spends her time catering, doing business consulting, and working on food related projects with cultural institutions such as the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Jazz Project.

FOOD PLANTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Sea Island Red Peas

Sea Island Okra

Hill Rice (Trinidad)

Corn

Thyme

LINKS:

Valerie Erwin / Geechee Girl Cafe on Instagram

Anson Mills, Columbia, South Carolina

Kilimanjaro Restaurant, Philadelphia

Black Rice, by Judith Carney

Chef Edna Lewis

Culinary Historian Jessica B Harris

Culinary Historian Michael W Twitty

Fish Pepper episode on Seeds and Their People

THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY:

• YOU! Please become a Patron for $1 or more a month at Patreon.com/trueloveseeds

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

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

• Valerie Erwin

This episode, recorded in late September 2024, features the voices and wisdom of East New York Farms youth leaders Jemel Thomas, Gaby, and Hope, as well as staff member Alexx Caceres as they talk about their community food work and seed keeping in particular. We were chatting moments before I (Owen) led a seed keeping workshop for an awesome group of community members and visitors where all had a chance to share knowledge, swap seeds, and shell several types of beans (this part was not recorded, sorry!)

After Alexx, you hear from Ms. Marlene Wilks and her twin sister Ms. Pauline Reid while we sit at their farmers market table outside East New York Farms' gates during a bustling market. The two are from Jamaica and have been farming in East New York since 1990 and selling their Caribbean vegetables, herbs, and plants at this market since 2000. Several customers also share about their cultural foods: another Pauline from Jamaica, Molly from Senegal, and chef Desma Ross from Trinidad and Tobago. 

FOOD AND MEDICINE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Callaloo (Amaranthus spp.)

Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia)

Long Beans (Vigna unguiculata)

Jamaican Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata)

Gungo Peas / Pigeon Peas (Cajanus cajan)

Shado Beni / Culantro (Eryngium foetidum)

Scotch Bonnet Pepper (Capsicum chinense)

Cerasee (Momordica charantia)

Moringa (Moringa oleifera)

Guinea Hen Weed (Petiveria alliacea)

Soursop (Annona muricata)

Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citratus)

LINKS:

East New York Farmers Market (homepage)

East New York Farms (instagram)

GreenThumb, City of New York

Marlene Wilks at East New York Farms

Pauline Reid at East New York Farms by Leave it Better

New York gardens produce Caribbean treasures - New York Times / The Bulletin

A Community of Growers How East New York Farms builds food security and provides jobs for its neighborhood. - Civil Eats

In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World by Judith Carney

THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY:

• YOU! Please become a Patron for $1 or more a month at Patreon.com/trueloveseeds

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

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

• Youth: Jemel, Gaby, and Hope

This episode features a conversation in early July 2024 with Mohegan tribal members Sharon Maynard and Rachel Sayet about traditional Mohegan food. 

Sharon Maynard is a Mohegan elder and a Tribal Nonner. Retired after serving 12 years on the Council of Elders, Sharon’s interests include food sovereignty, seed saving, and decolonizing our diets. She has a BA in anthropology and an AS in food service management. 

Rachel Sayet (Akitusut) is a Mohegan writer, teacher, and indigenous food specialist. Rachel has a BS in restaurant management and an MA in anthropology. She has spent her adult life trying to cultivate awareness of Native New England. She worked for the Mohegan tribe for 8 years in their cultural department spearheading grassroots efforts in revitalizing traditional foods and diabetes prevention.

FOOD AND MEDICINE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Maple, Birch

Blueberries, Strawberries, Fiddlehead Ferns

Milkweed, Sassafras, Elder, Boneset

Corn, Beans, Squash, Sunflowers, Tobacco

Succotash (Corn, Beans, Salt Pork, Salt and Pepper)

Johnny Cakes (Journey Cakes)

Yokaeg (traveling food made of dried, parched corn which has been ground finely with a mortar and pestle).

Clams, Quahogs, Scallops, Shad, Salmon

Fry Bread, Indian Tacos, Buffalo and Alligator Burgers

LINKS:

Mohegan Tribe

Rachel Beth Sayet, Indigenous Educator, Lightworker, Chef, Herbalist

Tantaquidgeon Museum

Gladys Tantaquidgeon - in Memorium

Makiawisug, or the Little People at Mohegan Hill

Eastern Woodlands Rematriation

Sherry Pocknett, Mashpee Wampanoag chef, Sly Fox Den Restaurant

The Man Who Weeps, story by Dale Carson, Abenaki cookbook author, in Dawnland Voices 2.0

Strawberry Thanksgiving, by Paula Dove Jennings, Narragansett 

Sioux Chef, Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota Sioux

Yazzie the Chef, Brian Yazzie, Diné

Rowen White, Mohawk/Kanienkeha:ka, seed keeper

THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY:

• • YOU! Please become a Patron for $1 or more a month at Patreon.com/trueloveseeds

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

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

• Rachel Sayet and Sharon Maynard

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

THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY:

• YOU! Please become a Patron for $1 or more a month at Patreon.com/trueloveseeds

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

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

• Queen Karen

This episode is a compilation of recordings by seed geographer Chris Keeve and Truelove Seeds' business manager (and Owen's sister) Sara Taylor at our annual growers gathering at our Truelove Seeds farm in November 2023. They recruited party goers to their table where they mapped seed stories with strings and notes on a world map, and where they asked people to share about how their favorite seed became their favorite seed. There are a few recordings at the end that we added after the fact as well.

SEED STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE:

• Lex Wiley, Sankofa Community Farm - African Rice

PREVIOUS GROWERS GATHERING EPISODE:

• Seeds and their People - EP. 17: Mycelial Networks of Seed Growers & the Truelove Seeds Listening 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

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

• Chris Keeve and Sara Taylor for recording most of these stories 

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

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

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

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

• Zee Lilani

Bryan O'Hara speaks about wholistic reasons for seed production on his vegetable farm, including working with natural processes such as growing winter annual crops for seed from summer to summer for better pest control and better flavor. He also discusses hybrid vigor and how to achieve this with genetically diverse populations of open pollinated plants, and explains how he selects for winter hardiness, more or less uniformity, earliness, flavor, and so on. In line with our theme of ancestral seeds, he talks about being both Polish and Irish and some connections to his farming practices through plants and ways of being and seeing. We end the episode with a traditional Irish song, Moorlough Shore, featuring Bryan on guitar, his daughter Clara O'Hara on vocals and flute, her boyfriend Sparrow Belliveau on Piano, and his brother Raven Belliveau on lead and backing violin. 

Bryan O’Hara and Anita Johnson have been growing vegetables at their three acre farm for over 30 years. Tobacco Road Farm produces high quality, nutrient-dense food using no pesticides and working with nature as much as possible in a close relationship. With an intensive focus on building the health of the soil, they use no-till natural farming methods. They also introduce indigenous microorganisms (IMOs) from the surrounding forest into their compost systems and foliar sprays to feed, protect, and invigorate their field soil and vegetable crops. Bryan is also the author of No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture: Pesticide-Free Methods for Restoring Soil and Growing Nutrient-Rich, High-Yielding Crops. Tobacco Road Farm provides ten carefully selected open-pollinated seed varieties for the Truelove Seeds catalog, which are listed below:

SEEDS GROWN BY TOBACCO ROAD FARM FOR TRUELOVE SEEDS:

Ice-Bred Arugula

Tokyo Bekana

Wonnegold Turnip

Polish Watermelon

Mizuna Landrace

Big Pink Tomato (not in episode)

Vit Mache

Presto Cress

Vertissimo Chervil (not in episode)

Claytonia

MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Tobacco Road Farm at Truelove Seeds

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

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

• Bryan O'Hara and Anita Johnson

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)

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

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden