Name: Brittany Stone and Aimee Callahan of Seed Simple Organics
Seed Simple leases a half acre of garden space from Agrarian Acres’ Paolo Scardina (aka Farmer P).
Products: Fresh Local, Organic Produce – greens, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, herbs, corn, cabbage, and garlic available seasonally.
Biographical Snapshot: Aimee: “I was born and raised in Christiansburg. I graduated from High School early and went to New River Community College on and off. Now I go to Virginia Tech; I’m studying philosophy, international politics, and Russian. I like a lot of outdoors activities like hiking, rock climbing, gardening, and snowboarding. I like cooking. I recently joined an APA Pool League and hope to be playing for money by the end of the summer. I work in downtown Blacksburg at Gillies and Bollo’s Cafe and Bakery. I want to move to Russia after graduation and really learn the language. Maybe when I live in Russia I’ll grow organic beets and cabbage – A borscht garden! I’ll be in town for the next 2 years and I want to keep the garden going. I’d like to make it better and better each year and hopefully pass it down to someone.”
Brittany: “I’m originally from Florida; my family now lives in Floyd. I’m a Senior at Tech in Civil Engineering. I really like to know how things work. I recently took a personality test and found that I have the same personality as Abraham Lincoln and Albert Enstien – it’s a pretty rare personality type! I enjoy knitting, crocheting, baking, cooking, drawing, and making lists in my planner. I work a lot in the garden and at my job at Gillies and Bollo’s. I eventually want to homestead and teach people how to set up their own ways of self sustaining. Basically, my career goal is to NOT work in a cubicle. I plan to move to Hawaii in December and live there for a year.”
How did you get started with gardening and growing for the Radford Market?
Aimee: “Well, I knew Farmer P through my boyfriend and he encouraged me to grow local and organic produce for the Radford Market. He said that it would be a labor of love and I likely wouldn’t make much money, but would be making a difference here at the market. I liked the idea but was kind of whimsical about it. It wasn’t until Brittany got involved that things really started to happen.”
Brittany: “I knew Aimee and had Farmer P as a professor. I really wanted to have a Market garden and was a bit of a ‘tyrannical freak’ for a while there. We really didn’t know what to expect and my approach was to plan everything to death. Things are planless now and a new experience. We both had grown just for ourselves before, but a Market garden is totally different. We had virtually no money and just wanted to make the most of what we had. We wanted to show people that if a rag tag bunch of kids could have a successful market garden than anyone could!”
What’s the best thing about the Radford Farmer’s Market? “Farmer P and his overalls.”
