The Utopian Seed Project

Supporting diversity in food and farming
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The Utopian Seed Project is a hands in the earth non-profit committed to trialing crops and varieties in the Southeast to support and Celebrate diversity in food and farming. OUR VISION is an engaged community of growers, gardeners, farmers, foodies, cooks and chefs (actually, everyone) WHO embrace regional biodiversity for a resilient and delicious food and farming system.

OUR WORK

THe Experimental Farm

We growing many different things in Western North Carolina to explore what could be grown in a more diverse food and farming system. In our farm work we explore emerging crops for this region as well as variety trials for traditional crops. Diversity and experimentation is at our core!

Crop Stories

Crop Stories is our way of speaking about, educating and celebrating the crops that we are working with. Crop Stories includes a crop-specific event series, a crop-specific magazine and a supporting podcast, with a high degree of synergy between these three platforms.

Seed Commons

Β Collective responsibility, sharing of knowledge and seed, protection from private enclosure, and distributed, polycentric governance are key features of Seed Commons. Equitable and open-source seed work is at the center of everything we do.

Chef Yunanda Wilson cooking taro at the utopian seed project taro pop-up

TRIAL TO TABLE

The Utopian Seed Project grows a wide range of crops and varieties with the aim of increasing agrobiodiversity into the food and farming system. We host food focused events and partner with incredible local chefs to showcase the crops we’re working with.

SE SEED VIDEO SERIES

This project traveled across 12 states and interviewed over 50 farmers, community gardeners, seed savers, seed growers and seed advocates. The footage was weaved together to tell the story and seed saving of six southern crops: corn, okra, southern peas, collards, sweet potatoes and squash.

Honored to be named a @gardenandgun 2023 Champion of Conservation alongside some other great folks. Check out the latest edition of Garden & Gun!

#seeds
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Our emerging seed growers collective had our first Community Seed Processing Day, cleaning seeds from local seed growers. The equipment we have in our mobile seed processing trailer will help scale seed growing in the region, making it more realistic for farmers to grow and sell seeds πŸ’š

#seedgrowing #seedfarmers #seedsaving #seeds #seedcleaning
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Our current solution to threshing eggplant seeds. Basically we made a big blender out of a 60 gal barrel, a drill, paint mixer and old 13" mower blade we ground down blunt. I wish I had an action shot, but it actually kind of worked!

#seedsaving
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Check out the over achieving sorghum πŸ™ƒ

#sorghum
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In case you`re wondering, this is an okra flower and roselle `green` mead, naturally carbonated and served with a slice of frozen lime, an okra petiole straw and okra salted rim πŸ’š

Looking forward to tomorrow`s Beyond the Pod seminar for @chowchow_avl

#okra #thewholeokra
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This is a test run of my okra leaf faux-seaweed salad served on an okra petal 😍

Having so much fun prepping for my @chowchow_avl seminar, Okra: Beyond the Pod

#okra #okraleaf #thewholeokra
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Thanks to our Sustaining Sponsors

Two Seeds in a Pod - Sustaining Sponsor
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Sustaining Sponsor