<![CDATA[Chats About the Native Plant Nursery]]> https://acultivatedart.com/ Segments from several conversational sessions about how the A Cultivated Art runs a living wage, ecologically focused native plant nursery in Ottawa, Ontario

]]> RSS.com 2026.401.141116 Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:15:56 GMT en 1e2efb91-2c79-5d30-b4d8-4697ed432596 https://media.rss.com/about-the-native-plant-nursery/20260205_070242_75b8058495999188c961322fc3d2ab6f.jpg Chats About the Native Plant Nursery https://acultivatedart.com/ yes Sundaura Alford-Purvis Sundaura Alford-Purvis Sundaura Alford-Purvis false serial podcast Ontario, Canada Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Nursery chat 1, part one: The order filling process]]> I start by responding to a question about how my container-free packing works for various clients and how I handle and pack orders

I also get into a lot about the full ordering and fulfillment process, how I organize the nursery space for efficient planting and why I exclusively sell online.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 20, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2524748 f485198c-8e06-4c1e-a47a-066f6b02f692 473 full 1 1 1 1 false Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:10:17 GMT <![CDATA[Nursery chat 1, part two: Transplanting established seedlings and growing media at various stages]]> A question about moving seedlings from the small plug trays to the larger containers expands into an explanation about what I use for growing media at the various stages of growth and the importance of an ergonomic work space

I come back to the topic of peatmoss and alternatives in part five.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 20, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2524779 8ac1e903-0ee2-4455-aa22-f5cd1398b327 501 full 1 1 2 2 false Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:17:26 GMT <![CDATA[Nursery chat 1, part three: Why plug trays instead of pots and the challenges that come with that]]> I start by responding to a question about growing and selling in reused pots, which expands into a conversation about why I try to do without pots for the sales stage. -It isn’t just about the containers.

Why seedling plugs and in-person sales don’t really work well together

Challenges of selling plugs, ways that they can be overcome and the ecological costs of selling plants at larger sizes.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 20, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2524824 0d52d657-d122-4130-8501-046bf39d9aa5 647 full 1 1 3 3 false Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:17:29 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Nursery chat 1, part four: Plants don't owe us pretty; cultivating ecosystems first]]> Plants are living beings with complex relationships. Placing their appearance ahead of their relationships is part of what got us to this degree of ecological catastrophe.

Even now, we know so little about ecosystem relationships that we can’t plan a perfect ecosystem but there are ways to set the plant community you are working with up for success and get to healthy ecosystems more quickly.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 20, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2524903 0ea8c2c5-c4a3-4b2c-897e-b98791a03b3e 455 full 1 1 4 4 false Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:39:41 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Nursery chat 1, part five: Peatmoss, coconut coir and compost]]> Expanding on the topic of peatmoss from an extracted material standpoint, in comparison to coconut coir. We also chat about urban compost, yard waste compost biological diversity and including home compost in potting media.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 20, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2524921 b8667a85-320a-4dd3-84bc-b04d466655bc 418 full 1 1 5 5 false Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:48:45 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Nursery chat 1, part six: What the nursery and these chats are all about]]> A few final thoughts from the end of our first chat about the nursery documentation project and the reasons that I've been working to develop this business model.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 20, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2524934 ce23c82b-11f0-495a-9aaf-953e6c3b559a 228 full 1 1 6 6 false Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:57:32 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 2, part seven: How I keep track]]> How I use a rolling spreadsheet to track my winter sowing, seedling transplanting and seed gathering through the year.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 27, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2540373 747e4e3b-1566-4d98-945a-db5aff2ee178 368 full 1 1 7 7 false Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:43:04 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 2, part one: Sourcing and gathering seeds]]> Seeds for the nursery come from many sources: Roadside patches, seed libraries, gardens and growers; seeds for the nursery come from many sources and, happily, species diversity and availability is steadily increasing.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 27, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2539941 77e38f17-e910-46d9-83e6-a0ed05c17d32 277 full 2 2 1 1 false Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:42:36 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 2, part two: Sowing the seeds]]> How and when I sow seeds and why I dense sow in pots rather than sowing individual seeds into plug trays.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 27, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2539954 9bab2fb6-7e16-4123-8371-acab80a7fe77 867 full 2 2 2 2 false Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:42:39 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 2, part three: Washing pots and managing disease cycles]]> Finding a balance between trying to sterilize a space that will never be sterile ad letting the plants and all the other life that would like to eat them battle it out, with a few notes on disease lifecycles.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 27, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2539968 f36ce123-d5bf-4c06-8513-b922a6bc7910 615 full 2 2 3 3 false Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:42:48 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 2, part four: Containers and plant prices]]> Where I source containers for the various sizes of seedling plugs I offer.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 27, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2540335 ede94561-62e2-498b-8c20-1e01aeaaff50 346 full 2 2 4 4 false Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:42:57 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 2, part five: Packing orders and organizing the nursery]]> Almost all of my plant sales are online (I'll cover this in a later chat). This is how I pack the orders once they come in and how I organize the nursery space to support being able to do this in an efficient way.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 27, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2540347 e3385b40-e950-4d3e-8814-d7e5d1482c6c 283 full 2 2 5 5 false Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:42:59 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 2, part six: Going into winter]]> Preparing the nursery and the plants for winter, including how I cover the trays to protect them from excessive freeze-thaw cycles or drying out.

This audio is an imperfect recording, excerpted from an unscripted Zoom chat, recorded on March 27, 2025

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2540370 a4433a3c-7eed-4e69-b5a2-7ab00c69cc01 323 full 2 2 6 6 false Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:43:01 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 3, Part one, Indoor vs. outdoor germination and greenhouse space]]> A conversation about germinating seedlings in an unheated greenhouse, working out how much greenhouse space you might want, overwintering seedlings and whether a greenhouse is needed at all depending on your plans.

Recorded on April 24th, 2025

These are excerpts from a conversation that took place on Zoom, with the audio quality that goes with that :-)

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2594775 4443d7c7-7684-428b-ad8b-e7276a968500 759 full 3 3 1 1 false Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:27:22 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 3, Part two: Sourcing containers and trays, including used ones]]> Sourcing containers can be a challenge. These are a few of the places I have sources containers from and some possible sources for used trays.

Recorded on April 24th, 2025

These are excerpts from a conversation that took place on Zoom, with the audio quality that goes with that :-)

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2594789 5cf72751-2434-4b1a-a863-8e3a79dbbb97 412 full 3 3 2 2 false Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:27:25 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 3, part three: Potting materials, peatmoss, leaves, coir and compost]]> Growing media options, including sourcing and working with reclaimed and composted materials in urban settings.

I also mention organic fertilizers and worm castings.

Recorded on April 24th, 2025

These are excerpts from a conversation that took place on Zoom, with the audio quality that goes with that :-)

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2594843 2bd83e57-d487-4fcf-bfe3-3d685ea0c352 711 full 3 3 3 3 false Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:27:27 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 3, part four: Labels, markers and packing paper]]> Making labels from yogurt containers, the best permanent markers for writing on them (Staedtler Permanent Lumocolor Pens – 0.3mm – Black) and the paper I use for packing the seedlings for pickup.

Recorded on April 24th, 2025

These are excerpts from a conversation that took place on Zoom, with the audio quality that goes with that :-)

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2594878 d85591cc-6282-44ec-8aec-0e5b3cf01aa8 362 full 3 3 4 4 false Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:27:28 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 3, Part five: Creating a grower's network and other possible work]]> There is a definite need for a peer support network for small native plant nurseries and other ecological landscape service providers. I toss out a few ideas and possibilities about that in this segment, as well as a pitch for field growing plants.

Recorded on April 24th, 2025

These are excerpts from a conversation that took place on Zoom, with the audio quality that goes with that :-)

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2594926 f6414e4d-09c4-41c0-8820-0baa2a783aad 521 full 3 3 5 5 false Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:27:30 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada <![CDATA[Chat 3, part six: Healthy limits, responsibility and community]]> Establishing our own limits of growth for our own wellbeing, responsibility, maximizing access to livelihood work in caring for land and how that work can ripple out to other aspects of community.

Recorded on April 24th, 2025

These are excerpts from a conversation that took place on Zoom, with the audio quality that goes with that :-)

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/about-the-native-plant-nursery/2594972 1e18d7c9-758d-406f-8365-31c23e6de872 543 full 3 3 6 6 false Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:27:32 GMT Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada