EP. 24: Mary Menniti and the Italian Garden Project

EP. 24: Mary Menniti and the Italian Garden Project

Author: Seeds And Their People November 10, 2023 Duration: 1:33:40
Mary Menniti grew up with her Italian immigrant grandfather growing vegetables, figs, and tending sheep in her family's backyard. She created The Italian Garden Project to celebrate the joy and wisdom inherent in the traditional Italian American vegetable garden, preserving this heritage and demonstrating its relevance for reconnecting to our food, our families and the earth. Over the past few years, we have been connecting over our shared love of growing Italian American seeds and their stories, and are now collaborating on preserving on various farms and sharing her seed collection through our seed catalog.  In this episode, we also hear the voices of Concetta Liberto, Antonino Machi, Fenice Mercurio, Charles Adornetto, Domenic Carpico, and Michele Vaccaro from interviews conducted by Mary.   SEED AND PLANT STORIES TOLD IN THIS EPISODE:   Figs Broccoli Rabe Poverella Pole Bean from Concetta Liberto Cow's Nipple Tomato from Mariano Floro Lunga di Napoli Squash Cucuzza from Antonino Machi Cucuzza seed saving with Charles Adornetto Fagiolina del Trasimeno Long Bean Vinny's Neapolitan Friariello (Frying Pepper) Ischia Eggplant Nepitella Fennel from Fenice Mercurio Black Fava (Mora de Precoce) from Nicola Ranieri Swiss Chard from Caro Simbula Sabatino’s "Peppe Insalata" Lettuce from Sabatino DiNardo Floriani Red Flint Corn   MORE INFO FROM THIS EPISODE: Italian Garden Project (web) Italian Garden Project (IG) Italian Garden Project (YouTube) Italian Garden Project (Facebook) Bruno Garofalo's Bidente (Two-Toothed tool) Italian American Podcast on Unification Growers Grange Italian Heirloom CSA, Corbett, OR Eggplant Parmesan recipe by Cooking with Nona The Feast of the Madonna del Sacro Monte, Clifton, NJ 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 Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Twitter   FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden   THANKS TO: Mary Menniti Concetta Liberto Antonino Machi Fenice Mercurio Charles Adornetto Domenic Carpico Michele Vaccaro Ruth Kaaserer

There’s a whole world of history, culture, and personal connection tucked inside every seed packet, and that’s the world Seeds And Their People explores. This isn’t just a gardening show; it’s a series of conversations that dig into the rich soil of human experience. Hosts Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden sit down with growers, seed savers, and community elders to hear the stories that these living heirlooms carry with them. Each episode feels like a quiet chat on a back porch or in a garden row, where the talk inevitably turns to the seeds that have been passed down through families and communities. You’ll hear about the journey of a particular bean variety, the memories tied to a specific tomato, and the profound cultural resilience that keeping these seeds alive represents. The podcast moves beyond simple horticulture to touch on food sovereignty, ancestral knowledge, and the simple, powerful act of planting something with a story. It’s for anyone curious about where their food really comes from, not just geographically but historically and emotionally. Listening, you begin to understand that a seed is never just a seed-it’s a keeper of traditions, a spark of identity, and a quiet promise for the future, all held in the palm of your hand.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 40

Seeds And Their People
Podcast Episodes
EP. 25: Black Farming Vibes in the Delta: Three Wise Men [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:27
While visiting Greenville, Mississippi, we asked farmer and food justice elder Mama D (our mother, Ms. Demalda Newsome) to co-produce an episode about the farmers of the Delta. This is the first of multiple episodes abou…
EP. 23: Dr. William Woys Weaver and the Roughwood Seed Collection [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:56
Dr. William Woys Weaver is an internationally known food historian and author of 22 books including: Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting Seed Saving, and Cultural History; 100 Vegetables a…
EP. 22: Gujarati Seeds and Flavors with Nital Vadalia-Kakadia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:18
This episode features Nital Vadalia-Kakadia. Originally from the state of Gujarat in Western India, Nital has been fascinated by farming and food since she was a child on her family’s farm in India. These days, she tends…
EP. 21: Haiqal’s Garden - Indonesian vegetables in South Philly [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:31
In the first week of June 2023, I finally visited Haiqal's Garden in South Philadelphia to speak with Hani White and Syarif Syaifulloh about their beloved Indonesian food plants, food culture, and life stories. We met fi…
EP. 20: The Iraqi Seed Collective and Awafi Kitchen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:54
In late February 2023, Annabel Rabiyah and Amanda Chin of the Iraqi Seed Collective visited the Truelove Seeds office to help fill the first packets of Iraqi Seed Collective seeds (Iraqi Reehan Basil, grown by Experiment…