Plants Always Win – Details, episodes & analysis

Feeding humanity doesn’t need to come at the Earth’s expense. Elspeth Hay is here to talk nut trees, ecosystems, and humans as keystone species. 

In 2019, Elspeth was a local food writer who felt despondent about humans’ need to tear up nature in order to feed ourselves. When she discovered that acorns are edible—that they had, in fact, once been a central pillar of an abundant North American food system—she was electrified. This week she joins Erin to talk about the book that resulted from her all-consuming research into that subject, Feed Us with Trees: Nut Trees and the Future of Food.

If you have ever felt like human beings are rootless and adrift without our own habitat or wild food that can sustain us, this conversation will open your eyes and seize your heart. Erin and Elspeth discuss the oak savannas and chestnut trees that, managed by Indigenous peoples’ understanding of succession ecology, once fed the human and more-than-human life of a continent. They look at the still-living food culture of chestnuts in Switzerland, grieve over the politics that deliberately erased abundance at home, and embrace hope at the re-emergence of traditional land management practices in agroforestry and restoration agriculture. 

Join us in re-discovering our habitat and home. Who knows—maybe acorns will change your life, too. 

Find Elspeth Hay Online

Website: https://elspethhay.com/
Instagram: @elspethhay
The Local Food Report: https://www.capeandislands.org/podcast/the-local-food-report
Feed Us with Trees: https://newsociety.com/book/feed-us-with-trees/?aff=65 

Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? 

Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon. 

Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja
Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com
TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast
YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast
Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com 

Credits
Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin

Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays

License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH

Timestamps

00:14 Introduction
01:00 Feed Us with Trees: Nut Trees and The Future of Food 
01:48 Elspeth’s Career in Food and the Environment
02:41 The Lightbulb Moment: Humans Can Eat Acorns
03:27 It Never Made Sense to Me That We Didn’t Have a Habitat
07:39 The Chestnut Huts of Switzerland: A Living Food Culture
09:46 Our Grief and Homesickness for Connection to Place and Species
10:43 The Land of Opportunity Myth
13:07 Oak Savannas and Chestnut Groves: Pillars of an Indigenous Food System
14:39 Food is Politics: The Deliberate Dismantling of Abundance in North America
19:40 Trespass Laws Were Created to Control Formerly Enslaved Foragers
22:00 How Capitalism Makes Food Political
23:47 The Movement to Revive Perennial Food Ecosystems
26:50 Ecological Succession and Embracing Traditional Land Management
30:41 Oaks as the Tree of Life, Biodiversity Champions
32:00 Nature Preserves Are the Wrong Approach. The Land Needs Us.
34:17 Hazelnut Basketry and Kuruk Culture to Elspeth and Erin’s Willow Basketry
37:42 The New Forest in England: An Unenclosed English Farm
40:20 Elspeth’s Recommended Resources
41:50 Elspeth’s Shout-Outs
44:26 Parting Words of Wisdom
45:12 Outro and Contact Us

Kids ask the best nature questions!

For this episode, a class of elementary-school students prepared a list of questions about plants for Sean and Erin to answer. The best part, of course, is that these are questions few adults would think to ask, and they let our hosts explore all sorts of fascinating topics. How did plants come to be the way they are? Why did they evolve to have roots (or no roots!) and leaves and fruit? What makes one tree grow big leaves while another one has narrow needles? We talk evolutionary niches, the tree of life, food chains, and even how plants move water and sugar through their cells. 

Step into our plant-life classroom and see what you can learn from the curiosity of children!

Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? 

Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon. 

Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja
Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com
TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast
YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast
Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com 

Credits
Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin

Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays

License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH

Citations

Bryophytes and Tracheophytes? Categories of Plants With and Without Roots
Plant diversity. (n.d.). NatureWorks. https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/nwep14b.htm 

The Parts of a Leaf
Libretexts. (2022, May 4). 13.1: Leaf parts and arrangement. Biology LibreTexts. https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Botany/A_Photographic_Atlas_for_Botany_(Morrow)/13%3A_Leaves/13.01%3A_Leaf_Parts_and_Arrangement 

Making Paper from Plants at Home

Quillen, K. (2023, October 3). How to make paper from plants – Mother Earth news. Mother Earth News – the Original Guide to Living Wisely. https://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/making-paper-from-plants-zm0z17jjzqui/

Lipman, B. (2024, October 16). Paper from Iris and Daylily. https://www.handpapermaking.org/post/paper-from-iris-and-daylily 

Timestamps

00:13 Introduction
01:13 What’s Growing On: Sean’s Seed Saving
02:56 What’s Growing On: Erin’s Season Extension
05:53 Do All Plants Have Roots? Let’s Talk Bryophytes
06:08 Plants’ Vascular Systems: Xylem and Phloem
08:40 Why Do Plants Need Roots?
11:15 Many Types of Roots
12:29 What is the Blade on a Leaf?
14:40 Why do Oak Leaves Get So Big?
20:22 How Fast Can Some Flowers Grow?
26:17 Why Do Plants Grow Food?
32:51 How Do Plants Survive the Winter?
41:38 Erin’s New Picture Book: If You Go Walking
42:58 How Do You Make Paper with Plants?
46:10 Paper Recycling Tangent
47:06 Making Paper from Daylilies and Iris
54:33 Outro and Contact Us

Are you finding yourself thirsty for a little soda pop this summer? How about for some botanical knowledge about soda pop’s history?In this plant face-off episode, Erin and Sean put some fizz into the competition with the plants behind two iconic flavours: the cola nut that gives cola its kick, and the sassafras that puts the root in root beer. Or, at least, the plants that did serve those roles before the advent of artificial flavouring. Erin takes the first swig with a dramatic overview of the North American Sassafras albidum, an aromatic tree with a long history of use for medicine, food, furniture, and one nautical beverage that almost saw it hunted to extinction. She peers into the muddy waters surrounding its first use in root beer and, later, its controversial ban by the FDA, speculates about Choctaw influence on its use in gumbo, and delights over the Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) name, wenhákeras, meaning “smelly thing.”  Sean takes his kick at the can with the cola nut, the key ingredient behind the flavour and caffeine of cola beverages. He discusses the flavourful Malvaceae family tree of the West African cola tree (also spelled kola) (Cola nitida and Cola acuminata) and its surprising identity as a broad-leaf evergreen before serving up some knowledge about the fruit’s growing habits and its cultural history as a stimulant and a beverage ingredient. After some medical meanderings and a look at modern-day distribution, we wrap up Coca-Cola origins and its present-day ingredients.Who had the most interesting facts to share today? Vote for your favourite by tagging us on social media and using the hashtag #PAWFaceOff. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? Email us (mailto:plantsalwaysinpodcast@gmail.com), reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast). Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja (https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja) Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com (https://bsky.app/profile/plantsalwayswin.com)

This week we’re celebrating the difference that can be made when a regional government supports its people and businesses in taking climate action. Get inspired by impactful local initiati...

This week we talk about the activism embedded in native plant gardening and the creation of pollinator habitat with Lorraine Johnson.Lorraine styles herself as a “cultivation activist”. It’s a term she came up with to describe the common purpose at the intersection of everything she does, from writing books to giving talks to supporting the fight against harmful grass and weed bylaws. This episode is for anyone who:* feels guilt or overwhelm when they think about gardening, native plants, and invasive species* feels anger or frustration about garden centres promoting invasive plants* needs tools and resources to fight bylaws that make it hard to grow ecologically responsible gardens (even in cities that have signed pollinator pledges and are investing in flood protection!)* wants to feel re-energized about the value of gardening as activismYou can find Lorraine online at https://lorrainejohnson.ca (https://lorrainejohnson.ca/), where she shares her bibliography, her presentation topics, a blog with lots of updates on native-plant advocacy, and a (sometimes up-to-date) list of upcoming events where she’ll be presenting. Here are the resources Lorraine shared for bylaw advocacy:Network of Nature’s interactive map for finding a native plant nursery near you: https://networkofnature.org/where-to-buy.htm/ (https://networkofnature.org/where-to-buy.htm/) Ecological Design Lab’s Bylaws for Biodiversity toolkit for municipalities: https://ecologicaldesignlab.ca/site/uploads/2024/07/EDL_Bylaws-Biodiversity_ToolkitforMunicipalities.pdf (https://ecologicaldesignlab.ca/site/uploads/2024/07/EDL_Bylaws-Biodiversity_ToolkitforMunicipalities.pdf)The David Suzuki Foundation Action Alert Bylaw toolhttps://davidsuzuki.org/action/bylaws-for-biodiversity/ (https://davidsuzuki.org/action/bylaws-for-biodiversity/) The 1000 Islands Master Gardeners’ post about the Kingston, Ontario bylaw reform on which they collaborated: https://1000islandsmastergardeners.ca/2024/07/29/prohibited-plants-in-kingstons-new-bylaw/ (https://1000islandsmastergardeners.ca/2024/07/29/prohibited-plants-in-kingstons-new-bylaw/)A news story about Kyla Moore’s advocacy on Thunder Bay, Ontario’s bylaw change: https://www.tbnewswatch.

It’s Part II of the nightshade party!Sean and Erin plunge back in with tomatoes and peppers, covering cultural hi...

In this shady plant face-off, Sean and Erin explore two of the gardening world’s favourite nightshades: tomatoes and peppers. Both are members of the family Solanaceae, and have plenty of traits in common, so rather than splitting the episode in half our two hosts try a livelier approach this week, passing the stage back and forth to talk about their chosen plant’s botany, etymology, growing habits, and pest and disease management. Prepare for a wealth of interesting information (did you know the Spanish word for tomato references an old belief in their aphrodisiac qualities?) alongside practical gardening tips (make sure you don’t feed your pepper plant too late in the season). And what about our other usual categories of cultural history, culinary and medical uses, and fascinating facts? Well, there’s just so much to say about these delicious horticultural staples that you’ll have to tune in next week to hear the rest. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon. Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcastWebsite: www.plantsalwayswin.com CreditsWebsite Design and Illustration by Sophia AlladinIntro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-playsLicense code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PHCitationsTomato overview and etymologySolanum lycopersicum (Tomato, Tomatoes). (n.d.). North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/solanum-lycopersicum/#:~:text=The%20genus%20name%2C%20Solanum%2C%20is,when%20they%20came%20to%20EuropeA History of TomatoesThe University of Vermont. (n.d.). A History of Tomatoes. University of Vermont Extension. https://www.uvm.edu/extension/news/history-tomatoes#:~:text=Tomatoes%20have%20undergone%20centuries%20of,Andes%20of%20western%20South%20America Heirloom VegetablesHeirloom vegetables. (n.d.). Wisconsin Horticulture. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/heirloom-vegetables/ Adventitious Roots on TomatoesGrant, A. (2021, June 19). Bumpy tomato stems: Learn about white growths on tomato plants. Gardening Know How. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/white-growths-on-tomato-plants.

Smart hydroponics pioneer Jennifer Holston grows a living pantry in her home through all seasons. And so can you. When most of us hear the word “hydroponics,” we picture sprawling operations in a warehouse or basement, possibly constructed from home-drilled PVC pipes and buckets. We might also have a very specific idea of the kind of plants that are grown hydroponically. But over the last decade, attractive, compact, and easy-to-use home-scale hydroponic systems have become available. This week’s guest, Jennifer Holston, was an early adopter and she uses her bookshelf-sized indoor garden to grow everything from the expected herbs and lettuce to tomatoes, cucumbers, and even an experimental pumpkin. Jennifer wants everyone to feel comfortable embracing hydroponic gardening—not necessarily as a replacement for growing plants in soil, but as a complement to it. She explains how the technology in today’s hydroponic systems (including AI features in some) has taught her to be more sensitive to her plants’ needs, and how this kind of gardening is both surprisingly sustainable and prodigiously productive. The conversation addresses nutrient management, plant care, disease prevention, maintenance, and resources where listeners can learn more (see below for that list). Jennifer is working on the first comprehensive book for home hydroponic gardeners, Arable: Modern Indoor Hydroponics to Sustain and Fulfill (coming in 2026). Stay tuned for announcements (and read Jennifer’s blog posts) on her website at www.Gardening-anywhere.com (http://www.gardening-anywhere.com/).You can also find Jennifer on social media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GardeningAnywhere (https://www.facebook.com/GardeningAnywhere)Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gardeninganywhere (https://www.instagram.com/gardeninganywhere)Online ResourcesCornell University—Agriculture and Life Sciences, www.greenhouse.cornell.edu (http://www.greenhouse.cornell.edu) University of Arizona—www.ag.arizona.edu/hydroponic (http://www.ag.arizona.edu/hydroponic) U.S. Department of Agriculture—www.usda.gov (http://www.usda.gov) National Library of Medicine (search here for studies about hydroponics)—

We’re berry excited for this extra delicious plant face-off. In this week’s shrub showdown, our hosts go head to ...

Cole Imperi is known for her trailblazing work in thanatology, the study of death, dying and grief. But she’s also a master gardener: someone who helps others learn how to make life flouri...