Kate Brown is an MIT Distinguished Professor in the History of Science. Across her career, her research has sometimes inadvertently documented the impact of urban, often small and under resourced gardens and gardeners, in our world. Her new book, "Tiny Gardens Everywhere: The Past, Present, and Future of the Self-Provisioning City", compiles this research and her own lived experience of its truth and potentially beneficial consequences. She makes a case for the importance of

This week, when we think about Cultivating Place well, we get to the seed of the matter in conversation with the team at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank, also known as MARSB. We’re in conversation with Ed Toth, the Executive Director, and John Price, MARSB’s Associate Director and Native Seed Collection Coordinator. As a collective, MARSB is wisely managing and conserving their region’s wild seed resources, and encouraging the development of the sustainable and ethical Na

As the earliest signs of spring unfurl in the mild climates–think snowdrops manzanita, the earliest narcissus, wild iris and Daphne odora, hmmm!–the earliest pollinators are paying even more attention than we are. This week we learn more about some of our earliest and BEST native pollinating bees – the orchard mason bees. We’re in conversation with Thyra McKelvie, who loves “these sweet little bees". And it was this love that brought her to gardening in her adulthood. Based i

For our final episode of January, we honor gardening and Cultivating Place often in spite of the odds. It’s been a full year since the devastating fires of Los Angeles, California in January of 2025. Many lives were lost, many acres and homes were burned. And many gardens, cultivated spaces, and gardeners were profoundly impacted. This week, we check-in with two humans who are cultivating their place with care in the wake of this catastrophe. Leigh Adams and Shawn Maestretti

January is prime seed-dreaming and seed-catalogue season. With that in mind we’re revisiting a favorite conversation all about generosity, mutual care, good seeds, and seed people. Who doesn’t need more of all those as we continue to lay the foundation for this new year? Ken Greene – who goes by K - is a seed person. He is the co-founder of the Hudson Valley Seed Library , which in 2004 became the first public library based seed lending library in the US; in 2008 he went on t

This week, we finish up Artober on CP, in conversation with artist Mary Jackson, a renowned sweetgrass basket weaver known for combining traditional methods with contemporary designs. Based in the Low Country of South Carolina, Mary is the descendant of generations of Gullah basket weavers. Born in 1945, in 2008, Mary was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship ("Genius Grant") for "pushing the centuries-old tradition in stunning new directions" . From the 1970s throug

This week on Cultivating Place , host Abra Lee dives into the world of pathways to plant professions with Jazmin Albarran, Executive...

As autumn and harvest begins to color the edges of our awareness, this week on Cultivating Place we’re joined by two people whose work...

Looking back, even just this year, Cultivating Place has had multiple conversations with plantspeople from around the country about the...

Have you ever heard of a Moth-er? Yes, it is the moth equivalent of a birder–someone who loves and follows and studies the incredible...

Happy May Day! This week on Cultivating Place, we welcome May, with all of her floral and plant profusion, revisiting a conversation we...

Happy Spring Equinox! To welcome Spring — especially this exact Spring in the US — practicing re-enchantment in our world seemed exactly...

In celebration of Black History Month and looking forward to Women’s History Month - this week we’re so pleased to air another of our CP...

Many gardeners are also collectors. Collectors of things like pots, books, seeds, and of course plants. Some collect flowers, or herbs,...

In this week's best of conversation, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us that All flourishing is mutual.

In our ongoing exploration of who gardeners are, where gardeners are, and all that they are growing in this world, this week in...

Jared Rosenbaum is a botanist and Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner with extensive experience in stewardship and monitoring...

Dr. Alan Weakley is a career-long botanist and conservation biologist firmly rooted in the southeast region of the U.S. For a little...

Late July, August, and September (with the constellation Sirius high in the night sky) is perhaps the stretch of the year in most...

Tim Johnson is engaged in the native plant and garden worlds on both personal and professional levels. Having worked with Seed Savers...