In this episode of the Cultivariable podcast, I talk with Tom Wagner of Tater Mater Seeds. Tom is a well known public domain breeder, based in Everett, WA, who has worked with tomatoes, potatoes, and corn for more than sixty years. We discuss potato and tomato breeding, the history of some of his varieties […]
Arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza) is just the sort of plant that I normally try to talk myself out of growing. It is delicious, but a real challenge to grow in most climates. It originated in the middle elevations of the Andes, a Goldilocks climate where temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold, but just right. […]
In this episode of the Cultivariable podcast, I talk with Curzio Caravati of the Kenosha Potato Project and Kenosha Urban Farm Institute about collecting potatoes, growing potatoes in an urban farm environment, and growing potatoes from true potato seeds (TPS). Along the way, we discuss farmers markets, how potatoes can be classified by their agronomic […]
In this first episode of the Cultivariable podcast, I talk with Nathan Kleinman of the Experimental Farm Network about participatory plant breeding, sustainable agriculture, and some favorite plants like sorghum, chinquapin chestnuts, and perennial kales. The Experimental Farm Network connects breeders with trial growers all over the country, making it possible to speed up variety […]
I get a lot of questions about how to harvest and use sea kale as a root vegetable. Sea kale is more commonly grown for its spring shoots, but all parts of the plant are edible, including the roots. Plants that are two years old or more can produce very large roots that represent a […]