Sowing Connections with Seed Savers Exchange

Healthy seeds and healthy plants don’t exist in isolation. They are shaped by the soil they grow in, the conditions they experience, and the relationships between living things above and below the ground.

In this episode of Sowing Connections, farmer, scientist, and Real Organic Project co-director Linley Dixon joins Seed Savers Exchange to explore the connections between soil, seeds, and the natural world. She shares what healthy soil looks like from both a farmer’s and scientist’s perspective, why organic matter and biological diversity matter, and how soil health can help farms and gardens become more resilient.

Finally, we return to Heritage Farm for Field Notes with farm director Corbin and a behind-the-scenes look at what happens after a seed crop is harvested:  from drying and processing to preparing seeds for long-term storage.

Episode chapters

• 00:00 — Opening
• 00:31 — Welcome
• 01:29 — Featured Conversation:  Linley Dixon and Mike Bollinger
• 37:47 — Field Notes:  Seed processing
• 44:55 — Closing

Full Transcript

About Linley Dixon
Linley Dixon has been farming organic vegetables in SW Colorado since 2010, specializing in soil grown greenhouse tomatoes. In 2018 she launched the Real Organic Project’s certification program and is now the Co-Director of the non-profit with Vermont organic farmer Dave Chapman. For over a decade she has worked with the organic movement to achieve greater transparency and integrity in USDA Organic. She holds a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Florida and a Masters in Soil Science from West Virginia University’s Organic research farm. She held a 2-year post-doctorate with the USDA’s Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory in plant fungal interactions.

Real Organic Project is a farmer-led “add-on” organic certification that certifies farms just as the organic movement intended. We foster healthy soils, move livestock on pasture, ensure worker protections and “whole farm” organic principles across all agricultural endeavors. Real Organic Project provides the transparency lacking in the marketplace and educates eaters about the farming practices that provide for a healthy future. We are partnered with the international Organic certification agency Naturland to unite the organic movement worldwide around these shared organic principles.

Learn more

• Learn more about the Real Organic Project
• Listen to the Real Organic Project Podcast
• Learn more about Seed Savers Exchange
• Explore thousands of varieties offered through The Exchange

Connect

Seed Savers Exchange: Website, Shop, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Listen 

Listen on the podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Original theme music by Lissie.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.  

For decades, seed saver John Swenson grew, studied, and shared an extraordinary diversity of garlic. John passed away in 2024, leaving behind a wealth of knowledge about garlic and the varieties he helped preserve. 

In this episode, John is joined by Mason Welter, a young seed saver who began building his own garlic collection as a teenager. Together, they explore the remarkable diversity found in garlic, share what they have learned from growing and observing different varieties, and reflect on the work involved in maintaining a collection over time.

Their conversation shows how preserving plant diversity depends on more than keeping varieties growing. It also means sharing the knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm that help a new generation of seed savers carry that work forward.

Episode chapters

• 00:00 — Opening
• 00:25 — Welcome
• 01:26 — From the Archives – Passing on a Garlic Legacy with John Swenson & Mason Welter
• 24:38 — Closing

Full Transcript

Learn more

• Learn more about Seed Savers Exchange
• Explore thousands of varieties offered through The Exchange

Connect

Seed Savers Exchange: Website, Shop, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Listen 

Listen on the podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Original theme music by Lissie.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.  

Seeds are sustained through the people who grow, save, and share them. In this episode of Sowing Connections, we explore the role that relationships and community can play in keeping seeds, farms, and local food systems thriving.

First, we share the story of ‘Susan’s Polish’ tomato, a variety that traveled thousands of miles and has been carefully stewarded for decades.

Then farmer and community organizer Elizabeth Henderson joins Seed Savers Exchange to reflect on a lifetime spent growing food and building community. An early practitioner of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in the United States, Henderson shares what she learned from bringing people together around a farm, why meaningful participation matters, and what small farms and local food systems need to thrive.

She also discusses the challenges facing farmers today and the many ways people can become more involved in the farms, gardens, and food systems in their own communities.

Episode chapters

• 00:00 — Opening
• 00:34 — Welcome
• 01:37 — Seed Story:  ‘Susan’s Polish’ Tomato
• 08:50 — Featured Conversation:  Elizabeth Henderson and Mike Bollinger
• 45:19 — Closing

Full Transcript

About Elizabeth Henderson
Elizabeth Henderson farmed at Peacework Organic Farm in Wayne County, New York, producing organically grown vegetables for the fresh market for over 30 years. In 1989, her started a CSA project to serve people in Wayne County and the city of Rochester. This was the first CSA in all of western NY and one of the first in the whole country. She is an active member of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) policy committee, co-chairs the Policy Committee of the NOFA Interstate Council, and represents the Council on the Board of the Agricultural Justice Project. She is the Honorary President of Urgenci, the International CSA and Solidarity Economies Network. From 1993 – 2013, she chaired the Wayne County Agricultural Development Board, taking an active role in creating the county Farming and Farmland Protection Plan. In 2001, the organic industry honored her with one of the first “Spirit of Organic awards; in 2007, Abundance Co-op honored her with the “Cooperating for Communities” award; and in 2009 NOFA-NY honored her with a Lifetime Achievement Award and then a Golden Carrot in 2013. In 2014 Eco-Farm presented her with their Advocate of Social Justice Award, the “Justie.” Her writings on organic agriculture appear in The Natural Farmer and other publications, and she is lead author of Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen’s Guide to Community Supported Agriculture (Chelsea Green, 2007), with translations into Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Spanish. She also wrote A Food Book for a Sustainable Harvest for the members of Peacework Organic CSA (aka GVOCSA) in its thirty sixth year in 2026, these days supplied by Mud Creek Farm. Retired from farming, Elizabeth continues to mentor younger farmers and is a member of the Rochester Food Policy Council and its Urban Agriculture Working Group.

Learn more

• Find Elizabeth Henderson’s Sharing the Harvest 
• Read CSA Job List from Sharing the Harvest
• Read Elizabeth Henderson’s CSA FoodBook
• Read A Season for Solidarity
• Learn more about Fruition Seeds
• Learn more about Food Chain Workers Alliance
• Learn more about HEAL Food Alliance
• Learn more about National Organic Coalition
• Learn more about May Day 2028
• Learn more about Northeast Organic Farming Association
• Learn more about Seed Savers Exchange
• Explore thousands of varieties offered through The Exchange

Connect

Seed Savers Exchange: Website, Shop, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Listen 

Listen on the podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Original theme music by Lissie.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.  

Seeds are sustained through the people who grow, save, and share them. In this episode of Sowing Connections, we explore the role that relationships and community can play in keeping seeds, farms, and local food systems thriving.

First, we share the story of ‘Susan’s Polish’ tomato, a variety that traveled thousands of miles and has been carefully stewarded for decades.

Then farmer and community organizer Elizabeth Henderson joins Seed Savers Exchange to reflect on a lifetime spent growing food and building community. An early practitioner of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in the United States, Henderson shares what she learned from bringing people together around a farm, why meaningful participation matters, and what small farms and local food systems need to thrive.

She also discusses the challenges facing farmers today and the many ways people can become more involved in the farms, gardens, and food systems in their own communities.

Episode chapters

• 00:00 — Opening
• 00:34 — Welcome
• 01:37 — Seed Story:  ‘Susan’s Polish’ Tomato
• 08:50 — Featured Conversation:  Elizabeth Henderson and Mike Bollinger
• 45:19 — Closing

Full Transcript

About Elizabeth Henderson
Elizabeth Henderson farmed at Peacework Organic Farm in Wayne County, New York, producing organically grown vegetables for the fresh market for over 30 years. In 1989, her started a CSA project to serve people in Wayne County and the city of Rochester. This was the first CSA in all of western NY and one of the first in the whole country. She is an active member of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) policy committee, co-chairs the Policy Committee of the NOFA Interstate Council, and represents the Council on the Board of the Agricultural Justice Project. She is the Honorary President of Urgenci, the International CSA and Solidarity Economies Network. From 1993 – 2013, she chaired the Wayne County Agricultural Development Board, taking an active role in creating the county Farming and Farmland Protection Plan. In 2001, the organic industry honored her with one of the first “Spirit of Organic awards; in 2007, Abundance Co-op honored her with the “Cooperating for Communities” award; and in 2009 NOFA-NY honored her with a Lifetime Achievement Award and then a Golden Carrot in 2013. In 2014 Eco-Farm presented her with their Advocate of Social Justice Award, the “Justie.” Her writings on organic agriculture appear in The Natural Farmer and other publications, and she is lead author of Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen’s Guide to Community Supported Agriculture (Chelsea Green, 2007), with translations into Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Spanish. She also wrote A Food Book for a Sustainable Harvest for the members of Peacework Organic CSA (aka GVOCSA) in its thirty sixth year in 2026, these days supplied by Mud Creek Farm. Retired from farming, Elizabeth continues to mentor younger farmers and is a member of the Rochester Food Policy Council and its Urban Agriculture Working Group.

Learn more

• Find Elizabeth Henderson’s Sharing the Harvest 
• Read CSA Job List from Sharing the Harvest
• Read Elizabeth Henderson’s CSA FoodBook
• Read A Season for Solidarity
• Learn more about Fruition Seeds
• Learn more about Food Chain Workers Alliance
• Learn more about HEAL Food Alliance
• Learn more about National Organic Coalition
• Learn more about May Day 2028
• Learn more about Northeast Organic Farming Association
• Learn more about Seed Savers Exchange
• Explore thousands of varieties offered through The Exchange

Connect

Seed Savers Exchange: Website, Shop, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Listen 

Listen on the podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Original theme music by Lissie.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.  

For more than 30 years, Neil Lockhart has been growing, saving, and sharing seeds and building friendships with fellow seed savers around the world.

Neil grew up in a family of gardeners and began saving seeds years before joining The Exchange with Seed Savers Exchange in the early 1990s. Over time, his passion grew into a remarkable collection, including thousands of tomato varieties.

Through The Exchange, Neil connected with gardeners near and far, trading seeds and helping keep rare varieties in circulation. Along the way, he learned firsthand how easily a variety can nearly disappear—and how a community of growers can help bring it back.

In this conversation, originally recorded in 2022, Neil reflects on a lifetime of gardening, the friendships he's made through exchanging seeds, the excitement of rediscovering a nearly lost tomato variety, and why he believes every gardener can play a part in keeping our shared food heritage alive.

Episode chapters

• 00:00 — Opening
• 00:32 — Welcome
• 02:00 — From the Archives - Neil Lockhart:  A Passion for Tomatoes
• 24:23 — Closing

Full Transcript

Glossary of terms

• Yearbook: The annual print publication of Seed Savers Exchange’s gardener-to-gardener seed swap.
• The Exchange: The online version of Seed Savers Exchange’s gardener-to-gardener seed swap.
• Listed Member: A historical term for a Seed Savers Exchange member who offered seeds through the Yearbook. Seed Savers Exchange separated membership from participation in The Exchange in 2015, so membership is no longer required to list seeds.
• Lister: The term Seed Savers Exchange now uses for someone who offers seeds through the Yearbook and The Exchange.

Seed Laws, Regulations, and Treaties

Users requesting or distributing seeds that cross international borders are responsible for ensuring they are in compliance with the seed laws, regulations, and treaties of both countries. It is illegal to send plants or cuttings between countries, even between the United States of America and Canada, without proper permits and certificates. Seed Savers Exchange cannot provide users with legal advice regarding such laws or how to comply with them.

The USDA requires that all seed sent into the United States be accompanied by a Phytosanitary Certificate. At $75 or more per certificate, that price can be prohibitive for small-scale gardeners. It is up to the individuals involved in the transaction to decide who is responsible for paying that fee. However, the USDA has a free Small Lots of Seed permit which allows the importation of up to 50 seeds of 50 different varieties per shipment, which is valid for three years. To apply for this permit, fill out PPQ form 587, which is available on the USDA website. You must follow the instructions laid out by the USDA regarding proper use of this permit.

About Neil Lockhart

Neil Lockhart, whose Lister code is IL LO N, has participated in the Seed Savers Exchange community since the early 1990s. Through decades of growing and sharing seeds, Neil has helped preserve rare tomatoes while building friendships with gardeners around the world.

Learn more

• Explore The Exchange
• Learn more about Seed Savers Exchange

Connect

Seed Savers Exchange: Website, Shop, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Listen 

Listen on the podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Original theme music by Lissie.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.  

Before we decide what to eat, countless other decisions have already shaped the choices available to us. In this episode of Sowing Connections, Seed Savers Exchange explores how choices about seeds, agriculture, policy, and markets influence our food system and why preserving agricultural diversity matters.

First, we share how Seed Savers Exchange uses careful isolation practices to keep open-pollinated varieties true-to-type and protect their genetic diversity for future generations.

Then we sit down with renowned nutritionist and food policy expert Marion Nestle for a wide-ranging conversation about industrial agriculture, food policy, ultra-processed foods, grocery store marketing, and the role that gardeners, farmers, communities, and policymakers can play in building a healthier, more resilient food system.

Finally, meet the 'Corgi' pea, a sweet and versatile heirloom variety from the Seed Savers Exchange collection and a reminder that the future of our food system begins with the seeds we choose to save, share, and grow.

Episode Chapters

• 00:00 — Opening
• 00:34 — Welcome
• 01:39 — Field Notes: Protecting true-to-type seeds
• 06:25 — Featured Conversation:  Marion Nestle and Mike Bollinger
• 39:23 — Variety Spotlight: ‘Corgi’ pea
• 41:43 — Closing

Full Transcript

About Marion Nestle
Doctor Marion Nestle is a consumer advocate, nutritionist, award-winning author, and academic specializing in the politics of food and dietary choice. Her research examines the scientific, economic, and social forces that influence food choices and health, with particular attention to food-industry marketing.

She is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, and a professor of sociology at New York University. She also holds an appointment as a visiting professor in Cornell University’s Division of Nutritional Sciences.

Learn more

• Read Marion Nestle’s full biography
• Visit Marion Nestle’s Food Politics blog
• Learn more about What to Eat Now
• Learn more about Sugar Coated
• Follow Marion Nestle on Instagram
• Learn more about Seed Savers Exchange
• Explore thousands of varieties offered through The Exchange
• Request the ‘Corgi’ pea from The Exchange.

Connect

Seed Savers Exchange: Website, Shop, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Listen 

Listen on the podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Original theme music by Lissie.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.  

Seed Savers Exchange began with one family wondering how to protect a few cherished seed varieties from being lost.

As a young girl, Seed Savers Exchange co-founder Diane Ott Whealy spent summers on her grandparents’ porch, surrounded by walls of morning glory flowers. Each fall, she helped her grandfather, Baptist John Ott, collect their seeds to share with visitors.

Years later, her grandfather gave Diane a small pill box filled with those morning glory seeds, along with seeds of the ‘German Pink’ tomato. Both varieties had been brought to the United States by her great-grandparents when they emigrated from Bavaria in the 1880s.

After her grandfather died, Diane realized how vulnerable those seeds were. If something happened to her or her garden, the varieties and their family stories could disappear.

That realization helped inspire Diane and her then-husband, Kent Whealy, to create a network through which gardeners could share their heirloom varieties and help preserve one another’s seeds. In 1975, the first exchange list included just 29 gardeners. Today, The Exchange connects hundreds of seed stewards offering thousands of varieties.

As the collection grew, it became clear that the seeds needed a permanent home. Because seeds are living, they cannot simply be placed on a shelf. They must be planted, grown, renewed, and shared.

In this recording, originally released as a video in 2022, Diane tells the story of how Heritage Farm became a home for this growing community and a place where people can see, taste, and experience the extraordinary diversity held within seeds.

Episode chapters

• 00:00 — Opening
• 00:26 — Welcome
• 03:29 — From the Archives - Diane Ott Whealy: The Story of Heritage Farm
• 15:45 — Closing

Full Transcript

Learn more

• Learn more about Seed Savers Exchange
• Explore the history of Seed Savers Exchange in co-founder Diane Ott Whealy’s book, Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver.
• Visit Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa
• Explore thousands of varieties offered through The Exchange

Connect

Seed Savers Exchange: Website, Shop, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Listen 

Listen on the podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Original theme music by Lissie.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.  

Whether large or small, seeds represent so much more than the food they produce. This episode features groundbreaking author and food historian Michael Twitty, who joins Seed Savers Exchange to explore the concept of culinary justice and discuss how seeds, food, and cooking traditions carry history, culture, and power. Twitty reveals how crops like okra and rice tell deep stories of migration, resilience, and identity. The conversation highlights why it’s so critical to honor food origins, preserve seed diversity, and learn the stories behind what we grow and eat. This episode also tells the story of ‘Hoyt’s’ okra, an heirloom variety whose unexpected journey brings these themes to life. Join us and experience the hope that stems from planting, sharing, and understanding seeds and their stories. 

Episode Chapters

• 00:00 — Opening Quote
• 00:22 — Welcome
• 01:33 — Featured Conversation: Michael Twitty
• 38:06 — Seed Story: ‘Hoyt’s’ Okra
• 43:07 — Closing

Learn More

• Michael Twitty’s books and blog 
• ‘Hoyt’s’ okra on The Exchange and explore more varieties 

Connect

Michael Twitty: Instagram and Facebook 

Seed Savers Exchange: Website, Shop, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Listen 

Listen on the podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.  

Seed Savers Exchange presents Sowing Connections, a new video podcast exploring the surprising journeys of seeds and the people and practices who care for them.  Season 1 will highlight conversations with farmers, community organizers, chefs, and everyday enthusiasts who are making a meaningful impact, including Michael Twitty, Marion Nestle, Sean Sherman, Jennifer Jewell, and more. We’ll also share seed histories, crop variety spotlights, updates from Heritage Farm, and special “From the Archive” episodes featuring farm tours and classic Seed Savers Exchange presentations.

Together, we’ll dig into traditions, science, and personal stories that help keep our food heritage thriving. 

Our first episode premieres on July 16, with new episodes releasing every two weeks through December. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

Whether you are a seasoned gardener, a seed saver, or simply curious, all are welcome.

Learn More:  Visit Seed Savers Exchange at seedsavers.org 

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.