Annie Richard
In this episode
Annie Richard is a seed grower and plant breeder with Kitchen Table Seed House, in Ontario. In this French language episode, Annie talks about her on-farm seed selection and plant breeding work, including breeding cucumber for resistance to Downy Mildew, as well as projects for the Costata Romanesco zucchini, and Candystick Dessert Delicata squash. Annie shares her passion for seeds as a portal to flavour, resilience in short-season farming, and collaboration while also sharing useful tips and information about the management of on-farm plant breeding projects.
Annie’s bio:
Annie is an eater, seed producer and budding plant breeder. While in culinary school, Annie rounded out her experience with a summer farm internship where she discovered the incredible range and potential of flavour possibilities in the garden. She went on to learn on numerous farms, studied Sustainable Agriculture at Fleming College and worked at Kingston’s Heirloom Seed Sanctuary. These experiences reinforced her interest in producing and developing quality seed. A growing knowledge of plant breeding and the ways it can best serve farmers and gardeners lead to her working under Dr. Michael Mazourek in the Plant Breeding department at Cornell University. Her current work to improve and develop varieties with flavour at the forefront, is her central focus at Kitchen Table Seed House.
- Find Kitchen Table Seed House here.
- Learn more about Michael Mazourek here.
- Find Carol Deppe’s episode about Golden Zucchini on Free the Seed, the podcast from the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI)