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In Defense of Plants Podcast

Ep. 552 - Native Plant Seed Supply Chain

In Defense of Plants Podcast

In Defense of Plants

Science & Medicine, Natural Sciences

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

One of the biggest hurdles to native plant gardening is sourcing native plants. Whereas nurseries are starting to fill the demand, it is nevertheless difficult to keep up with demand. Sourcing seed from the wild is a major part of this process, but how do we do it ethically? Stripping native plant populations of their seeds isn't good for the habitats they comprise so this is where groups like the Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank (MARSB) come in. Their mission is to conserve and wisely manage the Mid-Atlantic Region’s wild seed resources, through scientific sampling, ethical collection, banking, and curation, and to encourage and actively contribute to the development of the Native Plant Material supply chain throughout the region. Join me and their Native Seed Collection Coordinator John Price as we discuss the process behind what it takes to achieve this mission and some of the major struggles they face. This episode was produced in part by April, Dana, Lilith, Sanza, Eva, Yellowroot, Wisewren, Nadia, Heidi, Blake, Josh, Laure, R.J., Carly, Lucia, Dana, Sarah, Lauren, Strych Mind, Linda, Sylvan, Austin, Sarah, Ethan, Elle, Steve, Cassie, Chuck, Aaron, Gillian, Abi, Rich, Shad, Maddie, Owen, Linda, Alana, Sigma, Max, Richard, Maia, Rens, David, Robert, Thomas, Valerie, Joan, Mohsin Kazmi Photography, Cathy, Simon, Nick, Paul, Charis, EJ, Laura, Sung, NOK, Stephen, Heidi, Kristin, Luke, Sea, Shannon, Thomas, Will, Jamie, Waverly, Brent, Tanner, Rick, Kazys, Dorothy, Katherine, Emily, Theo, Nichole, Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Conversations like you're about to hear do not happen unless you support In Defensive Plants.

0:04.0

And now more than ever, we need conversations like this to reach as many ears as possible.

0:09.0

One of the best ways to help keep In Defensive Plants up and running is to become a patron over at patreon.com slash In Defensive Plants.

0:16.0

In return for a tiny bit of support each month, you will get access to a completely separate podcasts.

0:21.0

It explores a lot of really fun gardening topics, everything from seed collection and storage

0:25.2

to growing native plants, the struggles of trying to garden in different climates, and so much

0:30.2

more. It's a heck of a lot of fun. We're learning so much, and we're trying to share that with you.

0:34.5

So come on and join the Patreon over at patreon.com slash indefensive plants and help keep this show up and running in the process. I hope to see you over there. But in the meantime, on with the show. Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of indefensiveplants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week?

0:55.0

Today we are exploring the world of seed collection and all of it with the goal of getting

0:59.7

genetically diverse plants to people like you and I, gardeners, people that want to encourage

1:05.2

native plants in their gardens, restore their landscape, and give back to wildlife.

1:10.0

Joining us to talk about this is John Price from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank.

1:14.7

They face a lot of challenges in their work, but the efforts are so rewarding for the planet,

1:18.6

the people, and local economies. I don't want to steal any of John's thunder. This is such

1:22.5

an inspiring conversation, so let's just jump right into it. Without further ado, here's my

1:26.5

conversation with John Price price i hope you enjoy

1:28.7

all right john price welcome to the podcast. It is so great to have you here. I can't wait to pick your brain some more. But first, let's start off with an introduction. Tell everyone a little bit about who you are and what it is you do. Hey, thanks for having me. Yeah, so I'm John Price. I work for Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank,

2:03.0

Marsby, as we call it. I work as the seed collection coordinator. So I'm running our

2:10.1

seed collection program, collecting wild seeds across seven states. Nice. I hadn't honestly heard much about the Marsby scenario here,

2:21.4

but the more you dive in, the more you realize how amazing of a program it is, how essential

2:25.4

of a program it is. But what brought you to this? Were you always a seed-oriented person,

2:30.4

a plant-oriented person, or was it just kind of like nature obviously drew you to

...

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