top of page
Search

SUNCHOKE FARMS, NEXT IN THE CULTIVATING SOUTH BEND SERIES





Cultivating Place well so often comes down to sharing the abundance of growing from a place of love, from a strong sense of community, and an equally grounded sense of home. Susan Greutman is the founder and owner of Sunchoke Farms, an urban homestead-turned-family farm in South Bend, Indiana, growing chemical-free produce on formerly vacant city lots.


Susan has been farming since 2018 and also happens to be growing right in Ben Futa and Botany's neighborhood. Their conversation this week, on the cusp of the Fourth of the July holiday here in the U.S., is filled with so many lessons derived from all of this abundance of place. This is the second in Ben’s Cultivating South Bend series, leading up to the Cultivating Place: The Power Of Gardeners, South Bend 2026 Symposium this September!


From Ben: Susan and her team grow their produce on a human-scale across multiple formerly vacant urban lots near their home. Growing in the same neighborhood as Botany & Co., she’s one of the very first people I met when we were moving our business here back in 2021. It’s been nearly five years to the day as this episode airs, and what started as a “getting to know you” coffee around her kitchen table those many years ago has blossomed into a deep friendship, love, and kindred farming spirit in the heart of our neighborhood.


It's because of Susan, and Tyler from last month’s episode, that Botany & Co. now includes our own urban farm, literally across the street from our brick-and-mortar location. I’ll share that story a bit later...


Follow Sunchoke Farms online:

and on Instagram:


All photos courtesy of Sunchoke Farms; All Rights Reserved.


If you enjoyed this program, you might also enjoy these


JOIN US again next week: Andrew Fisher Tomlin is the founding director of the internationally renowned London College of Garden Design in London and Melbourne, He joins us next week to share thoughts on Cultivating Place well from the perspective of his The New Professional Planting Designer. That's right here, next week. Listen in!


Cultivating Place is made possible in part by listeners like you and by generous support

from

in honor of Bailey Shaw


supporting initiatives that empower women and help preserve the planet through the intersection of environmental advocacy, social justice, and creativity.


We are also made possible through support from HEIRLOOM, a fabulous source for roses and so much more to cultivate the garden of your dreams.






Thinking out loud this week...


Hey, it's Ben—


Earlier this week the Cultivating Place team was gathered for a virtual staff meeting. As each of us were checking in, I made a comment that I’ve been noticing Cultivating Place listeners stopping into Botany & Co. over the past few months, and I wondered if that’s ever happened to anyone else...


Quickly, I realized this was unique to me for a few reasons: Jennifer’s “day job” as Director of the Foundation takes her far and wide, to be sure, but when not on the road, she’s at home enjoying her personal garden. Abra’s day-job at Oakland Cemetery is certainly public in nature, however she made a good point that it might be hard for someone to track her down over 200+ acres of plantings.


Botany & Co. is very different, and more often than not, when the Shop is open, I’m there, too. So, naturally, I suppose, it would follow that if you’ve enjoyed my conversations these past few months and have felt motivated to stop by and check us out – thank you. Sincerely. And, it’s also been a joy to discover who among our Botany customer base was a Cultivating Place fan before I came into the fold.


I’m realizing this is a shared experience among many of my fellow local and independent business owners, especially those of us with a pronounced commitment to community building as an essential output to what we do. As Susan said, you get to know your neighbors working in an urban farm – you can’t NOT. It’s a built-in part of the job. You get to know your customers, and in the most wonderful of circumstances, customers also become friends.


If Cultivating Place is about celebrating Gardeners with a capital G as a keystone species – critical lynchpins of vibrant communities – then local

and independent businesses and by association, their founders and owners, are in many ways doing the same thing. Especially those of us working with plants.


Anyway, all of this to say – if you’ve been thinking about visiting us and you’re in the region, check our website to find our hours and come on over. We’re about 2-3 hours from Chicago, Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Indianapolis. If I’m around, I’d love to say hello.


And, more than anything, I’d love for you to discover our entire neighborhood, because there’s something special growing here…


Which reminds me, if you haven’t saved the date for the first Power of Gardeners Symposium hosted by Cultivating Place with Botany &Co. on September 25 and 26… please do. I’ll share a bit more at the end of today’s conversation. For now, add it to your calendar.


As I continue sharing these South Bend stories with you, I’m also realizing how many additional stories there are to share here, in this place. Truth be told, I could probably fill an entire season – or more – with stories from a five-mile radius. Going back to that Cultivating Place staff meeting I mentioned earlier, in that same conversation, I also made a comment about how the southern edge of South Bend is cradled by the North/South Continental Divide – a powerful hydrological feature of our earth, something so vast and expansive it’s far beyond what our senses can comprehend.


If you’re not familiar with the term, essentially it means that anything north of this line flows into the great lakes, while anything south flows toward the Mississippi River. What made me think of this random factoid was driving along a highway and noticing a sign which announced said divide. It’s about two miles away from where I grew up here. It feels strange to just now be grasping the scope, scale, and importance of this feature, and how the same road side sign I’ve been seeing for years suddenly hit different this time, thanks in large part to my time and experiences here with Cultivating Place.


I mention because while it may not be something perceptible to us at ground-level, the divide and the movement it creates remain a powerful undercurrent of energy, intention, and flow through our ecosystem. We’ve also been experiencing record-setting rainfall this year, in addition to a flurry of tornados and damaging winds – the thrashing and bucking of climate change, in essence.


All of this leads me to suddenly be curious to learn more about our local

hydrology, which reminds me I’m also overdue to buy a rain gauge for our back yard.


Anyway – all of this relates to considering the idea of place in a deeper way, appreciating the ebbs and flows of nature and seasons, hydrology, soils, forests and swamps, rivers and bioswales, rain gardens and flood plains, and the interconnected role they all play in years like this. And especially, the role WE Gardeners and cultivators play. Just today’s reflection of cultivating place WELL, I suppose…


Earlier, I promised to tell you the story of how Susan is the reason we’re able to cultivate our own urban farm through Botany &Co. In May of 2024, Botany was looking for a place to put down permanent roots, and we nearly chose a different location than where we are now – which to be clear, is where we opened our first permanent brick and mortar storefront a few years prior.


So, what changed my mind – what made me want stay and commit to 909 Portage Avenue? Space to grow into. You see, at the time, Susan was remaking her own business (now for the third time thanks to Pandemic-related pivots), and she had been farming the two lots behind our Shop for several years. She had built those human-scale rows, amended the soil, built compost piles, and… she wasn’t sure what to do with it for the long-term. She had a short-term idea to plant some pumpkins for a neighborhood pumpkin patch, but the calendar was ticking away. It was also the furthest plot away from the Sunchoke

homestead, and as Susan was reshaping what she grew and how, it was harder to justify.


I, on the other hand, was literally hours away from signing a lease at a different space when I happened to glance across the street and noticed the Sunchoke fields still looked unplanted. I texted Susan and asked what she was planning to grow, and she invited me down to chat while she was working in the field, newborn nearby.


Thirty minutes later, we had a field – a space to grow into. Susan gave me a chance to try my hand at this flower farming thing, and a few days later, the few seedlings I’d managed to keep alive hit the ground. I filled two and half of the 10 existing rows. A few months later, our neighbor Tyler, from last month’s episode, through his new community development company ReGen South Bend, helped us ensure land tenure so I could begin to really dream about a long-term plan for this space.


I’m now in my third year of growing at the field, and while the ultimate program and plan for this place is still shaping up, some big pieces have started to take shape in 2026, including an edible flower program, a plant breeding experiment, a new willow and juniper collection, and way more garlic than I know what to do with.


It's no understatement to say this space and experience of learning how to be a farmer has been some of the most peaceful, grounding, and rewarding hours spent growing our business of Botany & Co. here, in this place. It’s kept me sane, even in the most stressful moments.


Every day I get to work the rows I’m grateful to Susan for the time she spent investing in the soil before I took over, and more so, for the way she helped open this door to farming for me. It’s been the absolute best adventure, and by far a highlight of this tumultuous journey of owning and operating a local and independent business.


When Susan and I were standing outside back in May of 2024, chatting in her field, I’ll never forget what she said to me. She said, “Ben, I can trace this moment back to that very first kitchen table coffee meeting when you came over to ask me about the neighborhood.” Core memory.


Really, all of this is the power of plants, and community, and I hope you

recognize moments like this in your own Gardening life.


Susan and her farm, along with Botany & Co. and our field, are just a few of the many people and places you can look forward to discovering in person when you join us for the first Power of Gardeners Symposium, happening right here in South Bend September 25 and 26 and hosted in collaboration between Cultivating Place and Botany & Co. Our neighborhood will be the nexus for an inspiring two days of storytelling, connection, and garden tours.


Advance and discounted tickets will open exclusively for purchase by sustaining members of Cultivating Place on August 1, and the general public on August 15. If you’re not already a sustaining member and wish to join and support our growing work, I would encourage you to sign up now so you don’t miss out.


I’m so grateful to Susan, and to Cultivating Place, for the opportunity to

share our story with all of you, both in our conversation today, and through the September Symposium.


I can’t wait to welcome you to this place we call home and to share all of the, hopeful, and beautiful things growing here.


Until then – happy gardening, plant lovers, and enjoy the cultivation of your place.

WAYS TO SUPPORT CULTIVATING PLACE

Cultivating Place is a co-production of North State Public Radio, licensed to Chico State Enterprises. Cultivating Place is made possible in part listeners just like you through the support button at the top right-hand corner of every page at Cultivating Place.org


The CP team includes producer and engineer Matt Fidler, with weekly tech and web support from Angel Huracha, weekly communications support by Sheila Stern and Carley Bruckner, and regular hosting by Founder, Jennifer Jewell, as well as Abra Lee in Atlanta, Georgia, and Ben Futa in South Bend, Indiana. We’re based on the traditional and present homelands of the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of the Chico Rancheria. Original theme music is by Ma Muse..


SHARE the podcast with friends: If you enjoy these conversations about these things we love and which connect us, please share them forward with others. Thank you in advance!

RATE the podcast on iTunes: Or wherever you get your podcast feed: Please submit a ranking and a review of the program on Itunes! To do so follow this link: iTunes Review and Rate (once there, click View In Itunes and go to Ratings and Reviews)

DONATE: Cultivating Place is a listener-supported co-production of North State Public Radio. To make your listener contribution – please click the donate button below. Thank you in advance for your help making these valuable conversations grow.

Or, make checks payable to: Cultivating Place Foundation EIN #33-1665277

PO Box 37

Durham, CA 95938


bottom of page