EP. 27: Improving Vegetable Crops through Seed Production with Bryan O'Hara of Tobacco Road Farm

Bryan O'Hara speaks about wholistic reasons for seed production on his vegetable farm, including working with natural processes such as growing winter annual crops for seed from summer to summer for better pest control and better flavor. He also discusses hybrid vigor and how to achieve this with genetically diverse populations of open pollinated plants, and explains how he selects for winter hardiness, more or less uniformity, earliness, flavor, and so on. In line with our theme of ancestral seeds, he talks about being both Polish and Irish and some connections to his farming practices through plants and ways of being and seeing. We end the episode with a traditional Irish song, Moorlough Shore, featuring Bryan on guitar, his daughter Clara O'Hara on vocals and flute, her boyfriend Sparrow Belliveau on Piano, and his brother Raven Belliveau on lead and backing violin. 

Bryan O’Hara and Anita Johnson have been growing vegetables at their three acre farm for over 30 years. Tobacco Road Farm produces high quality, nutrient-dense food using no pesticides and working with nature as much as possible in a close relationship. With an intensive focus on building the health of the soil, they use no-till natural farming methods. They also introduce indigenous microorganisms (IMOs) from the surrounding forest into their compost systems and foliar sprays to feed, protect, and invigorate their field soil and vegetable crops. Bryan is also the author of No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture: Pesticide-Free Methods for Restoring Soil and Growing Nutrient-Rich, High-Yielding Crops. Tobacco Road Farm provides ten carefully selected open-pollinated seed varieties for the Truelove Seeds catalog, which are listed below:

SEEDS GROWN BY TOBACCO ROAD FARM FOR TRUELOVE SEEDS:

• • Ice-Bred Arugula

  • Tokyo Bekana

  • Wonnegold Turnip

  • Polish Watermelon

  • Mizuna Landrace

  • Big Pink Tomato (not in episode)

  • Vit Mache

  • Presto Cress

  • Vertissimo Chervil (not in episode)

  • Claytonia

MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE:

• • Tobacco Road Farm at Truelove Seeds
  • No-Till Vegetable Intensive Culture from Chelsea Green Publishing
  • Several No-Till Growers Network podcast episodes featuring Bryan O'Hara

ABOUT:

Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden.

trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio

FIND OWEN HERE:

Truelove Seeds

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FIND CHRIS HERE:

Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden

THANKS TO:

• • • Bryan O'Hara and Anita Johnson
    • Clara O'Hara, Sparrow Belliveau, and Raven Belliveau
    • Ruth Kaaserer