Ep. 71 Eggplants and The Virtue of Patience: Chris Sanford, Yonder Hill Farm

Chris Sanford runs Yonder Hill Farm with Garrett Lauten on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Her seed journey is deeply anchored in a commitment to regional resilience from working to preserve the local Tancook Island Cabbage to breeding and establishing hardy hazelnut, chestnut, and walnut orchards. In this episode, Chris shares the logistics of running a small-scale seed farm. We talk about how having  backburner crops lets you adapt to the natural rhythms of the farm.Chris reflects on the power of community seed partnerships, highlighting how seed producers can work directly with market gardeners to stabilize and select regional strains.  In the deep dive, Chris and I get into growing eggplant seed. We break down how to plan your fruit harvest and seed extraction to get great germination. And we talk about why patience is a virtue for eggplants. Enjoy the conversation!   Support the Seed Farmer Podcast https://www.farmerspreadsheetacademy.com//supportpodcast   🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 Episode links Yonder Hill Farm website https://yonderhillfarm.ca/   Yonder Hill Farm on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yonderhillfarm   🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 Tell me what crops you think I should cover in my summer Seed Farmer school. Fill out this form to let me know: https://forms.gle/sZES93eNahtXi44y7   🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 Stay in Touch Follow the Seed Farmer on instagram https://www.instagram.com/danbrisebois.farm/   Get my weekly seed newsletter https://www.farmerspreadsheetacademy.com/seeds   Order Tourne-Sol seeds (Canadian orders only) https://fermetournesol.qc.ca/   Get my new book The Seed Farmer https://danbrisebois.com/seedfarmerbook   ❤️ Thanks for listening!