The Appalachian Growers Seed Collective w/ Shelby Mandonado and Leeza Chen

In this Episode Shelby Mandonado and Leeza Chen share the story behind the Appalachian Growers Seed Collective, a collaborative network of farmers producing and stewarding locally adapted seeds for the Southern Appalachian region. They discuss why regional seed production matters, how climate change makes local adaptation increasingly important, and how farmers can reclaim seed sovereignty by saving and sharing seeds. The conversation explores the practical realities of launching a seed collective, preserving heirloom varieties, and strengthening local food systems through collaboration rather than competition. It is an inspiring discussion about resilience, biodiversity, and the long-term power of community-grown seeds.

Our Guests: Shelby is a farmer, organizer, and mother with a passion for collaborative models of community building based around our shared love of the land. And

Leeza is a seed farmer near Asheville, North Carolina. She is inspired by the way seeds are both deeply personal and powerfully political, often leaning on them as a lens to understand our connection to the land, culture, and sovereignty.

Key Topics

Appalachian Growers Seed Collective
Shelby Mandonado
Leeza Chen
Southern Appalachian seed stewardship
Bioregional seed adaptation
Seed sovereignty
Local food systems
Community-based seed production
Seed farming
Climate resilience in agriculture
Utopian Seed Project
Heirloom and heritage crop preservation
Farmer collaboration and shared equipment
Seed saving as cultural preservation

Key Questions Answered

What is the Appalachian Growers Seed Collective?

A regional network of approximately ten farmers who collaboratively grow, steward, package, and sell locally adapted seed varieties while sharing equipment, knowledge, and resources.

Why are locally adapted seeds so important?

Seeds grown and selected in a specific region become better adapted to local climate, weather patterns, soils, pests, and diseases, improving reliability for future growers.

What is a seed farmer?

A seed farmer allows crops to complete their full life cycle, harvesting mature seed instead of edible produce, then cleaning, testing, and packaging seed for future planting.

Why has on-farm seed saving declined?

Commercial seed industry consolidation has led many growers to purchase seed annually rather than saving their own, reducing regional adaptation and local seed resilience.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic influence the collective?

Seed shortages during the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in the food system and highlighted the need for local seed production and regional seed independence.

How was the collective started?

The founders secured a grant, purchased shared seed-processing equipment, built a mobile processing trailer, and spent significant time developing trust, shared values, and collaborative systems before expanding production.

What makes Southern Appalachian seed production unique?

The region's humid climate presents challenges rarely addressed by traditional seed-saving literature, requiring local experimentation and farmer-to-farmer learning.

How can others start a regional seed collective?

Begin with trusted growers, define shared values and goals, develop a complementary seed collection, share resources, and grow at the "speed of trust."

How does the Utopian Seed Project support the collective?

The nonprofit evaluates diverse crop varieties through research and field trials, then shares promising selections with the collective for regional seed production and distribution.

What role does seed stewardship play in climate resilience?

Saving seed from plants that survive local stresses gradually builds populations better adapted to changing environmental conditions.

Can someone without a farming heritage become a seed steward?

Absolutely. Every seed saver can become the first generation of a new seed lineage by preserving, sharing, and passing seeds to future growers.

Episode Highlights

The collective includes about ten farmers working together to grow, process, and market locally adapted seeds.
Seeds are selected only after proving themselves through multiple growing seasons in Southern Appalachian conditions.
COVID-19 seed shortages revealed how dependent local food systems are on distant commercial seed suppliers.
Shared equipment, including a mobile seed-processing trailer, allows small farmers to access professional seed-cleaning tools.
Trust-building, shared meals, and collaborative decision-making are considered just as important as technical farming skills.
Climate change makes regional seed adaptation increasingly valuable for future food security.
Every heirloom seed carries generations of cultural history, family traditions, and local knowledge.
Anyone can become the first ancestor in a new seed-saving tradition by simply beginning to save and share seed.

Resources

Appalachian Growers Seed Collective Store — https://utopianseed.org/store

Utopian Seed Project — https://utopianseed.org

Real Seeds ZigZag Winnower Plans — https://www.realseeds.co.uk

Connect with Leeza Chen — leeza@utopianseed.org

Recommended Book - The Seed Garden by Jared Zystro

Follow Utopian Seed Project — Instagram, Facebook, and the Utopian Seed Project mailing list for breeding trials, research, and seed releases.

Visit www.urbanfarm.org/SeedCollective for the show notes on this episode, and access to our full podcast library!

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