Ep. 27 Seeds That Know The South - Chris Smith of The Utopian Seed Project

Chris Smith is the founder of the Utopian Seed Project, a hands in the earth non-profit based in Asheville, North Carolina. Chris is also the author of the book the Whole Okra: A Seed To Stem Celebration

Chris grew up in the UK and moved to the U.S. in 2012 with no formal background in farming, But that all changed when he received an okra pod and a gift card to a local seed company as wedding shower gifts

In this episode, Chris shares his journey to become a seed grower and advocate. We talk about his time at Sow True Seed, where he began his deep dive into seed systems and community engagement. This led to launching the Utopian Seed Project to develop a seed system rooted in the Southeast U.S. And later the Appalachian Growers Seed Collective, a farmer-led network focused on growing, adapting, sharing, and selling seeds that know the South

 

Chris and I talk about the importance of meaningful relationships with seed over time rather than simple rigid preservation, climate resilient crops like taro and chayote, and then we talk a lot about growing okra for seed.

I hope you enjoy this conversation

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