Our Team

Maebh Aguilar

Maebh is a Truelove Seeds farmer and manager of our office & seed collection. At our farm, they focus on stewarding seeds from the Andean and Irish diasporas. They are an artist, herbalist, writer, and aspiring archivist. They are Ecuadorian and Irish, from an immigrant family. They were born, raised & live in Philadelphia. They are an herbal educator with the Building Your Home Apothecary course at Bartram's Garden. Instagram: @cryptogam_.

Maebh's favorites:

• Passionflower
• Clary Sage
• Uvilla (Aguaymento)
• Transkutukú Peanuts

Maebh apprenticed in 2019 and joined staff in 2020.

Christopher Bolden-Newsome

Chris Bolden-Newsome, originally from the Mississippi Delta, is the oldest son of farmers and justice workers Demalda Bolden Newsome and Rufus Newsome Sr., and a fourth generation free farmer since emancipation in 1865. In 2010, Chris joined Ty Holmberg in creating the Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram's Garden where Chris co-directs a three-acre crop field, orchard, and 60-bed community garden. Sankofa Farm is a spiritually rooted, African Diaspora urban-centered farm and youth development program. Following Natural Agriculture practices, Chris focuses on cultivating healthy soil for life-giving crops while learning and teaching Pan-African practices in farming and foodways. In 2012, Chris married seed farmer Owen Smith Taylor with whom he co-founded the cultural preservation and rematriation focused seed company Truelove Seeds.

Chris' favorites:

• Mississippi Silver Hull Crowder Pea
• White Velvet Okra
• Coral Sorghum
• Seven Top Turnip Greens
• Buena Mulata Pepper
• Fatalii Pepper
• Vardaman Sweet Potato

Sarah Kim

Sarah Kim is an artist, critic, and arts organizer raised in Los Angeles and based in West Philadelphia for the last six years.

Sarah's favorites:

• 38N Kkaennip (Korean Perilla)
• Greater Burdock
• Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower)
• Lemon Balm
• Quillquiña (Bolivian Coriander)

Sarah apprenticed in 2020 and joined staff in 2021.

Miki Palchick

Miki Palchick joined the Truelove farmteam in the Spring of 2022. She is honored to be stewarding her ancestral crops of Kabocha, Edamame, Shungiku and Japanese Indigo and managing the cut flower operation. Off the farm Miki still plays in the dirt at her home pottery studio. As a potter she enjoys collaborating with chefs, homecooks, and farmers to make contemporary adaptations of traditional vessels used to process, prepare, store, and serve culturally important food. She is currently developing ash glazes from the crop residue left at the end of seed harvest. Instagram: @claykitchenstudio. Website: www.claykitchenstudio.com.

Miki's favorites:

• Odell's Large White Watermelon
• Benne (Sesame)
• Mizuna Landrace
• Japanese Indigo

Owen Taylor

Owen is a seed nerd who loves growing Southern Italian and Irish heirlooms and supporting the community food sovereignty movement through seed keeping. Instagram: @seedkeeping.

Owen's favorites:

• Mikado Tomato
• Delaway Cabbage
• San Marzano Tomato
• Peperone Friariello (Italian Frying Pepper)
• Cocoxochitl Chingonxs: A Dahlia Diva Mix (Seeds)
• Passionflower
• Risser Sickle Pea

Photo credit: Sahar Coston-Hardy.

Sara Taylor

Sara is the webmaster (webkeeper!) and graphic designer behind Truelove Seeds. She also provides administrative and technical support. In 2020, she started her very first vegetable garden and got to know some Southern Italian varieties that she now loves. Being more tech-savvy than farm-savvy, Sara is thrilled that she is able to contribute to the important work that the Truelove seedkeepers do, and she loves joining the team in the field when she can. Instagram: @sarastaylor.

Sara's favorites:

• Gigante di Rotonda Tomato
• Lettuce Leaf Basil (Basilico a foglia di lattuga)
• Lungo Bianco di Sicilia Zucchini
• Sicilian Rocket (Arugula)
• Strawflower