June 18, 2024 • 26 mins
Holden Forest & Gardens is seeding Ohio's forested future through the Holden Seed Bank at the Holden Arboretum, which will soon celebrate its first anniversary. In this episode, we speak with Seed Bank Manager Kim Lessman about how this "restoration" seed bank works, how she became its manager, and how her work forms the core of new climate-fighting reforestation efforts across the region by eliminating a bottleneck in local tree planting efforts - the need for seeds. The Holden Seed Bank collects and processes seeds from native "workhorse" tree species like hickories, oaks, and hemlocks, which local nurseries grow into seedlings to support regional restoration projects and tree planting efforts. The work of the Holden Seed Bank is helping build resilient, biodiverse forests that can face our changing climate by providing thousands and thousands of seeds of local ecotype collected in our region. A Celebration of Seeds event will be held on August 8 at the Cleveland Botanical Garden and feature panelists from Holden Seed Bank, Cleveland Metroparks, the Pollinator Project, and Wild Ones Greater Cleveland to celebrate its one-year anniversary. Join us for all the tree-loving details.
Guest:
Kimberly Lessman, Manager, Holden Restoration Seed Bank - klessman@holdenfg.org
Resources:
About Holden Forest & Gardens
About the Holden Seed Bank
Celebration of Seeds - August 8 at the Cleveland Botanical Garden
Visit the Cleveland Botanical Garden and the Holden Arboretum
Follow us:
https://www.facebook.com/ecospeakscle
https://www.instagram.com/ecospeakscle
Contact us:
hello@ecospeakscle.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Diane Bickett (00:04):
You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, a podcast for
the eco-curious in NortheastOhio.
My name is Diane Bickett and myproducer is Greg Rotuno.
Together we speak with localsustainability leaders and
invite you to connect, learn andlive with our community and
planet in mind.
Hello friends, legend has itthat at the time of Ohio's
(00:25):
settlement, our state was sowildly forested that a squirrel
could travel from Lake Erie tothe Ohio River without ever
touching the ground.
Now, less than 30% of our stateis forested, but one local
organization, H holden Forestand Gardens, is making an
investment in Ohio's forestedfuture through the Holden Seed
Bank, and speaking with us todayis the manager of that seed
(00:48):
bank, Kim Lessman.
The Holden Seed Bank is nearingits one-year anniversary.
Please join us to hear how theseed bank works and how this
project forms the core of newclimate-fighting restoration
efforts across the region.
Welcome, Kim.
Hi Diane.
Thank you so much for having me.
Thanks for coming.
So, Kim, let's s tart bytalking about what a seed bank
(01:08):
is and what the Holden seed bankis.
You know, when I hear that term, I think of the Svalbard seed
bank in Norway, which is storingseeds in the permafrost in the
event of a global catastrophe.
So how is what you're doingdifferent?
Kim Lessman (01:23):
So that's a great place to start.
So a seed bank is a highlycontrolled space where seeds
from different plants are storedfor future use.
Seed bank facilities typicallyprovide all of the necessary
conditions that one would needto safely store seeds in
perpetuity.
So, for example, the HoldenRestoration Seed Bank.
(01:48):
We highly monitor the moisturecontent, the humidity, the
temperature and the circulationof that space, which is also
probably what all of these otherbig seed banks do, like the
Svalbard Seed Bank.
But what's different and what'sreally unique about the Holden
Restoration Seed Bank is thatit's in the name.
(02:10):
Actually it is a restorationseed bank, so I like to call it
an active seed bank or a dynamicspace.
Seeds are coming in and theyare going out just as quickly as
they come in, that's, asquickly as they're leaving.
And the way this is differentis that we are not necessarily
(02:33):
storing seeds for biologicalpreservation or for conservation
, much like the Svalbard is yourfocus is on trees.
Yes, that is what we areprimarily focused on.
Yeah, so the Holden Seed Bankis focused on collecting native
species, native seeds of nativespecies, with the end goal of
(02:58):
using those seeds to supportrestoration projects in
Northeast Ohio.
So a restoration seed bank isan active space.
Seeds are coming in, they'realso going out.
Versus a seed bank like thisfallboard seed vault, those
seeds are being stored reallylong term and I think something
(03:18):
interesting about that seed bankis that it's also working
toward preserving our globalfood supply.
And there's another seed bankit's called the Millennium Seed
Bank and that is over at theRoyal Botanic Gardens and
they're really focused onpreserving native seed species,
(03:39):
again in perpetuity.
So both of these seed banksthis traditional space is really
focused on small collections,keeping them long term and
really just trying to steward asmuch biodiversity and genetic
diversity as possible.
The Holden Seed Bank we'retrying to bring seeds in and
(04:00):
then push them right back out.
Diane Bickett (04:02):
So you're filling a need in the community to
support local tree plantingprograms, correct?
Kim Lessman (04:08):
Our seed bank is working to fill that niche.
One thing that we have foundover the last year is that there
are not enough native seedsstored anywhere to support
restoration efforts, which is ahuge.
There's a huge bottleneck inrestoration in our region, and
that being that there just isn'tenough seeds, and so something
(04:30):
we're really trying to addresswith our seed bank is having a
well-stocked facility.
So we want to make sure thatpartners who are looking for
tens of thousands of nativetrees in our region can get
(04:55):
those of local ecotype for theirprojects trees and shrubs and
then working with localbusinesses like Native Nurseries
to grow them into treeseedlings for restoration.
So who's doing the?
Diane Bickett (05:12):
collecting of the seeds for you.
Kim Lessman (05:14):
That will be Holden .
That will be myself and ourteam of incredible volunteers
and potentially a few otherfolks next year.
Diane Bickett (05:24):
Okay.
Are you collecting them at theArboretum next year?
Okay, are you collecting themat the Arboretum?
We are Okay.
Kim Lessman (05:27):
Yeah, so we, yeah, we have.
Holden has roughly 3,000 acresof natural area that we can play
around with, and most of thespecies that we are looking to
collect and store in the seedbank can be found on Holden's
campus.
Diane Bickett (05:44):
So what are some of those?
Kim Lessman (05:46):
Some of those species.
I like to call them theworkhorse species, which is
definitely not my term, but itis a term that is widely used in
this world.
Some of those will be thehickories, white and red oaks.
Of course, a handful of birchesare used.
(06:06):
We also try to focus on a fewother species like ash and
hemlock and beech, but that'sfor research that I can mention
later.
Diane Bickett (06:18):
Okay, so you refer to them as workhorses.
Are they more resistant todisease?
Why is that?
Kim Lessman (06:36):
Yeah, so a workhorse species is.
How would I describe that?
It is a species that iscommonly found in some of our
native forests.
It typically has a lot ofbenefits to being in our forest,
so it's a food source forwildlife, for pollinators.
Perhaps it has a lot of stakein our natural area.
We'll put it that way.
Diane Bickett (06:53):
Are they fast growing too, then?
Kim Lessman (06:57):
I don't know about that.
I don't know if they'renecessarily fast growing, but
they're definitely most commonlyused.
Diane Bickett (07:02):
So you and your fellow seed collectors collect
the seeds from the arboretum.
Then what happens?
Kim Lessman (07:09):
Okay, so we collect the seeds.
For example, last year we hadfive to six five-gallon buckets
of black walnuts.
We bring all of those back tothe seed bank and this is kind
of where they begin theirprocessing and their cleaning
the seed bank and this is kindof where they begin their
processing and their cleaning.
So most of those buckets weactually just kind of sat them
(07:29):
in the seed bank and let thosehusks naturally decompose so
that we could easily process thenuts from those husks, and that
is the same.
I mean black walnut might notbe the best example here.
I mean black walnut might notbe the best example here, but
typically you know, any seedcomes into that seed bank and it
begins its process of beingcleaned and further stored.
Diane Bickett (07:59):
Do you do research on the seeds?
Kim Lessman (07:59):
themselves to ensure that they're going to be
viable.
Yeah, we do so.
There's a lot of really funtools and technology and
different pieces of equipment inthe seed bank that we get to
play around with, and some ofthose tools were monitoring the
moisture content of the seeds,making sure that, before we
store the seeds long term, theinterior moisture is exactly
(08:21):
where we want it, whichultimately will ensure its shelf
life.
We also have we have not done ityet, but this year we are going
to be doing a lot ofgermination testing and
viability testing on the seedthat we bring in the seed bank.
Okay, and I'm not performingresearch myself as the seed bank
(08:44):
manager, but there are ahandful of scientists who are
working with different speciesin the seed bank.
So, for example, one of mycolleagues is studying the
emerald ash borer, and so theseed bank right now is currently
stocked full of white and greenash seed, which she is then
(09:04):
sending out to other seed labsand researchers and scientists
in the country, and then we haveAre they doing, then, some
research to try to modify thoseseeds in some way so they're
resistant to the emerald ashborer?
They're not modifying the seed,so to speak, but what they're
doing is, if I'm not mistaken,they are studying, they're
(09:27):
trying to find out why thesetrees are resistant to that
emerald ash borer.
So they're not only studyingthe trees, but they are going to
start growing those seeds intoseedlings to see where in the
genetics these trees areresistant to the emerald ash
borer.
Diane Bickett (09:47):
Wow, that's really cool.
Kim Lessman (09:48):
Yeah, it's pretty impressive stuff over there, for
sure, for sure.
Diane Bickett (09:52):
So, coming up on your one-year anniversary of the
seed bank, congratulations.
What are you most proud of andwhat does the seed bank actually
look like, and who funded itand how did it come to be?
Kim Lessman (10:06):
Yeah, okay.
So I will paint you a pictureof what we're looking at when we
, when we visualize the seedbank.
Um, it is a bright, white,refurbished shipping container.
Um, and most of the time whenyou walk into so there's like a
double door to really keep thetemperature and the humidity and
(10:27):
the climate controlled in there.
So you walk through a doubleset of doors and as soon as you
open those big doors and walk in, I feel like the first comment
out of everybody's mouth is wow,this is really nice.
Diane Bickett (10:41):
It doesn't look like a shipping container at all
.
Kim Lessman (10:42):
It doesn't look like a shipping container at all
.
So on one side are a bunch oftypical cabinets, there is a
sink for cleaning and processing, there are four
restaurant-style shelving units,so imagine those like big metal
trays that get slid onto thosemovable carts.
(11:04):
We have a dehumidifier in there, a huge temperature unit on the
back wall and then on theright-hand side is just a bunch
of open shelves where we plan tostore containers and containers
and buckets of seeds.
Diane Bickett (11:19):
Okay, so what's the turnaround then?
From collection to when you'reable to distribute those to a
greenhouse or a garden centerthat can grow that into a
seedling.
Kim Lessman (11:29):
Great question.
It really depends on thespecies and on the need whether
or not that seed is going tohave a long shelf life in our
seed bank.
From the moment a seed comesinto the seed bank, I would say
it has about five to six weeksbefore it is vacuum sealed and
stored in one of ourrefrigerators.
(11:49):
So it's pretty quick.
The goal of that space is tobring seeds in and to dry them
to their desired moisturecontent and then seal them for
the following year.
That being said, seeds could bein the seed bank for a year.
They could be in there for fiveyears.
(12:10):
We have capacity to store for10 or plus years but again, with
a restoration seed bank we'rereally hoping to bring high
quality, high volume seed in andthen redistribute it to our
project partners in thecommunity.
Diane Bickett (12:27):
So who are some of those project partners then,
who are doing the tree plantingwork?
Well, I guess We've interviewedsome of them on this podcast.
I'm sure you have.
Kim Lessman (12:39):
You know.
So one of the first things Idid when I took this role as
seed bank manager was I tried toget everybody who was a
stakeholder of the seed bank tothe table for a conversation.
So we brought in lots ofdifferent conservation
organizations, a couple of folksfrom different universities.
(12:59):
We've also been communicatingwith local, state and federal
government agencies and justtrying to get as many people in
the conversation as possible.
Specifically, what I can speakon is we have a pretty fun
project coming up with theCleveland Museum of Natural
History where we're going tohelp support their Ashtabula
(13:22):
River restoration project.
They're going to plant 10,000trees in 2025.
And since we're new in thisworld of collecting seed and
growing them into trees, weagreed to provide 1,000 trees in
2026.
So for a given restorationproject, you might have 10%
(13:47):
casualties.
Yeah, 10%, I think, is thatwhat it is.
10% to 15% of those trees mightnot survive the following year.
So we agreed to work with themto provide those trees the
following year.
We've also been in conversationwith the Nature Conservancy to
kind of work with them in asimilar capacity.
Diane Bickett (14:09):
Okay.
Kim Lessman (14:12):
Yeah, cleveland Metro Parks.
We are definitely inconversation with Cleveland
Metro Parks as well.
Diane Bickett (14:17):
Good.
Cleveland Tree Coalition Yep.
Kim Lessman (14:19):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Who else?
We've been in good conversationwith Summit Metro Parks, lake
Metro Parks, cleveland Erie, aswell as Toledo Metro Parks.
Diane Bickett (14:32):
Yeah, that's great.
I think you know we talk abouttree planting a lot, but we
never really hear about wherethe trees come from, where the
seeds come from, and it's hereor it will be, so that's really
exciting, or it will be, sothat's really exciting.
I want to talk about how you'reworking to prepare the region
(14:53):
for future threats to our treesthrough your seed bank, by
providing more diverse speciesor helping grow trees that are
more resistant to stress.
So can you talk about that?
Yeah, definitely.
Kim Lessman (15:13):
I feel like this is a really good time to mention
this golden word, or goldenwords local ecotype New one,
yeah, a new one, a new buzzword.
It's been on my radar for thelast year that I've been in this
role and so I'll start withthat.
So a local ecotype is a speciesthat has been adapted to a
(15:34):
specific geographic environmentand, as a result, has evolved to
be genetically different fromother members of the same
species found in any otherenvironment, from other members
of the same species found in anyother environment.
So in simple terms, that meansit is as local as it gets.
So if we collect seed fromwhite oak trees in the Lake Erie
(15:57):
region, those are going to begenetically different than
something we might collect fromAtlanta, georgia, for example.
And something we really want todo with this seed bank is we
want to provide all of ourpartners and stakeholders in the
region who are working onrestoration and reforestation.
(16:17):
We want to make sure that theyhave the opportunity to source
native plant materials of localecotype.
Right now, most folks who areplanting these 10,000 trees, for
example, have to source themfrom a different part of our
country, so to speak.
Maybe not necessarily adifferent ecoregion, but these
(16:41):
are not always coming from seedthat was collected in our region
, and so that's really whatwe're trying to address.
Diane Bickett (16:50):
So local ecotype.
Kim Lessman (16:52):
Local ecotype.
It's as local as it gets.
Diane Bickett (16:54):
Local as it gets best able to adapt.
I mean, it's already adapted togrowing here, so it's probably
going to live Exactly.
Kim Lessman (17:02):
It's already hardwired for our region.
It knows what is happening here.
Diane Bickett (17:07):
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you
came to be a seed bank manager.
That's not like a title thatyou ever study in college,
definitely not.
But you do have a coolbackground.
You're A bobcat fellow bobcat.
Kim Lessman (17:18):
I am a bobcat, I always have to call those out.
Diane Bickett (17:22):
I also read you're an urban farmer.
You used to work for theCleveland Seed Bank.
Tell us a little bit about yourjourney.
Kim Lessman (17:27):
Yeah, it's definitely a fun journey.
I would say it's the road lesstraveled.
You know from start to finish.
Let's see, I am a bobcat and Ioriginally studied to be a
middle school teacher.
And I originally studied to bea middle school teacher and when
I finished school back in 2013,I wasn't necessarily fully
(17:53):
interested in jumping into atraditional classroom, but I was
very much enamored withgardening and homesteading and
learning how to feed myself, andso I made this list in my local
library and I sat down and said, okay, how can I do?
Yes, I want to work with kidsteaching, but I also want to
work with food and gardens, andI found the farm to school
(18:14):
movement and I worked and slowlystarted working my way into the
food and farming community overthe last 10 years.
At some point I worked for afarm in the Puget Sound and they
were a seed production farm,and so that was the first time I
really got my hands on what itmeans to plant a seed and then
(18:36):
wait seven months and harvestseed again.
When I moved back home toCleveland Ohio in 2018, I set
out on a little personal passionproject mission to start an
urban farm to address foodinsecurity and to work within a
food desert and try to see how Ican support this region in that
(18:56):
capacity.
Diane Bickett (18:59):
What was the name of your farm.
Kim Lessman (19:00):
Otherhand.
Okay, where was it?
Uh, it's on the west side ofcleveland, on west 61st street.
Um, still alive and thriving aswe speak so that's your farm
still, yeah, that is still.
That's still my passion project.
Just have all of the what is it?
All of the rungs and all theirons in the fire I've got all
the rungs in the fire.
(19:22):
But when I moved home toCleveland, I stumbled across the
Cleveland Seed Bank and it wasreally exciting to find an
organization who was not onlyworking with trying to build a
regional seed network, but theywere really passionate about
addressing food insecurity.
So it was a match made inheaven and they really invested
(19:44):
in my personal knowledge and myprofessional development of
becoming a seed expert inNortheast Ohio, so to speak.
And combine your educationbackground too combination of
(20:06):
wanting to be a teacher toreally just understand our world
and help people understand andslowly walking this path until I
found myself in the world ofseeds Wow, Very much embedded in
there.
Diane Bickett (20:14):
Wow, Just follow your passions.
People Take you where you needto be.
The Cleveland Seed Bank is alittle bit different than the
Holden Seed Bank.
You said before we startedrecording that they're more
focused on crops and seedsharing.
Is there like red tape or anyobstacles that prevent the free
(20:40):
exchange of seeds among peopleand organizations in Ohio?
Kim Lessman (20:43):
Yeah, there actually is.
So every state has their ownset of seed laws, and Ohio's
seed laws are a little bitprotective when it comes to open
sourced seed sharing, and soyou know, things like seed
libraries are actually a littletricky to facilitate in our
(21:04):
community, same with the openexchange of certain native
species like milkweed orironweed and certain grasses,
and so there's actually a groupof folks right now who are
working on something calledHouse Bill 364.
Okay, and they're hoping tomake- that's in.
(21:25):
Ohio.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
It's in Proposed Ohio law.
Kim Lessman (21:27):
Yeah, it's a proposed Ohio law and I believe
it is up for a vote soon, maybeby the end of July.
Oh okay, which is superexciting.
And this proposed legislationwould essentially make seed
exchanging through seedlibraries legal.
Diane Bickett (21:44):
Okay, Well that's good to know.
Are other states following asimilar path, or are they
already there?
Kim Lessman (21:52):
That's a good question.
There are a lot.
There are a handful of stateswho are already there and they
always have been.
Okay, not surprising, notsurprising, yeah.
Diane Bickett (22:01):
Okay, well, I want to talk about your one-year
anniversary event.
To celebrate the one-yearanniversary of the Seed Bank,
you're hosting a celebration ofseeds event, which I am honored
to have been asked to facilitatea panel discussion.
So can you tell us more aboutthat?
Kim Lessman (22:21):
Yeah, absolutely, it's on August 8th.
It's on August 8th, I guess Icould start there.
So it will be hosted at theCleveland Botanical Garden on
August 8th from 6 to 8.30 PM.
The cost is going to be $10 perticket and you can register
online.
Those are the logistics, thefun part about this event.
(22:42):
So my cog league, jen, and Ihave been working on figuring
out a way that we could honorone year of Northeast Ohio
having a seed bank, one yearbeing in operation, and really
just kind of highlight all ofthe folks in Northeast Ohio who
are working with native seedsand who are working in
restoration in some capacity.
Diane Bickett (23:04):
I'm looking forward to it and meeting the
panelists.
Who do you have on the panel?
Kim Lessman (23:08):
Yeah.
So we're going to have ahandful of experts in our region
.
We are going to have myselfrepresenting Holden Forests and
Gardens.
We are going to have apollinator project, who we are
working extensively with thissummer.
Pollinator Project, who we areworking extensively with this
summer.
We are also going to havesomebody from the Cleveland
Metro Parks and GreaterCleveland Wild Ones as well.
So it should be, a really goodconversation, All right sign up.
Diane Bickett (23:31):
And for those of you who are not familiar, the
Cleveland Botanical Garden inCleveland and the Holden
Arboretum in Kirtland make upthe Holden Forest and Gardens.
Yeah, you got it correctly.
When did that merger happen?
Like 10 years ago or so?
Yeah, about 10 years ago, thesetwo institutions merged
(23:53):
together to form Holden Forestand Gardens.
Yeah, and the Holden Arboretumis an absolute treasure.
For those who are unfamiliar,it is located about 30 minutes
east of the city, 30 minuteseast of downtown Cleveland, and
it is comprised of 3,500 acres,more or less.
(24:16):
About this is not only isHolden Arboretum one of the
largest arboretum in the country, but 3,000 acres.
Of that, 3,500 is actually highquality forested natural area
(24:36):
that we can visit and walkthrough Absolutely.
Yeah, we have a few naturalareas Stebbins, gulch and Little
Mountain, to name a few, andthe Canopy Walk too,
Walk and the Canopy Walk and theEmerg.
Absolutely, those are must-sees.
Yeah, yeah, you have anincredible view of Lake Erie
from the Emergent Tower.
It's absolutely worth a climb.
So, of all the tools we have for fighting
(24:58):
climate change, how would yourank the importance of
reforestation?
Kim Lessman (25:03):
Reforestation is the number one natural solution
to mitigate climate change.
Diane Bickett (25:29):
Well we all appreciate your work.
I hope that this model can bereplicated in other communities
to keep that you know the treeplanting going, and I really
want to thank you for joining uson the podcast today to talk
about your work, and I saw aquote.
I don't know who to attributeit to, but it's never
(25:49):
underestimate the power of aplanted seed.
Kim Lessman (25:53):
Thank you, Kim.
Thank you so much, Diane.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
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Stay tuned for more importantand inspiring stories to come.
You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, a podcast for
the eco-curious in NortheastOhio.
My name is Diane Bickett and myproducer is Greg Rotuno.
Together we speak with localsustainability leaders and
invite you to connect, learn andlive with our community and
planet in mind.
Hello friends, legend has itthat at the time of Ohio's
(00:25):
settlement, our state was sowildly forested that a squirrel
could travel from Lake Erie tothe Ohio River without ever
touching the ground.
Now, less than 30% of our stateis forested, but one local
organization, H holden Forestand Gardens, is making an
investment in Ohio's forestedfuture through the Holden Seed
Bank, and speaking with us todayis the manager of that seed
(00:48):
bank, Kim Lessman.
The Holden Seed Bank is nearingits one-year anniversary.
Please join us to hear how theseed bank works and how this
project forms the core of newclimate-fighting restoration
efforts across the region.
Welcome, Kim.
Hi Diane.
Thank you so much for having me.
Thanks for coming.
So, Kim, let's s tart bytalking about what a seed bank
(01:08):
is and what the Holden seed bankis.
You know, when I hear that term, I think of the Svalbard seed
bank in Norway, which is storingseeds in the permafrost in the
event of a global catastrophe.
So how is what you're doingdifferent?
Kim Lessman (01:23):
So that's a great place to start.
So a seed bank is a highlycontrolled space where seeds
from different plants are storedfor future use.
Seed bank facilities typicallyprovide all of the necessary
conditions that one would needto safely store seeds in
perpetuity.
So, for example, the HoldenRestoration Seed Bank.
(01:48):
We highly monitor the moisturecontent, the humidity, the
temperature and the circulationof that space, which is also
probably what all of these otherbig seed banks do, like the
Svalbard Seed Bank.
But what's different and what'sreally unique about the Holden
Restoration Seed Bank is thatit's in the name.
(02:10):
Actually it is a restorationseed bank, so I like to call it
an active seed bank or a dynamicspace.
Seeds are coming in and theyare going out just as quickly as
they come in, that's, asquickly as they're leaving.
And the way this is differentis that we are not necessarily
(02:33):
storing seeds for biologicalpreservation or for conservation
, much like the Svalbard is yourfocus is on trees.
Yes, that is what we areprimarily focused on.
Yeah, so the Holden Seed Bankis focused on collecting native
species, native seeds of nativespecies, with the end goal of
(02:58):
using those seeds to supportrestoration projects in
Northeast Ohio.
So a restoration seed bank isan active space.
Seeds are coming in, they'realso going out.
Versus a seed bank like thisfallboard seed vault, those
seeds are being stored reallylong term and I think something
(03:18):
interesting about that seed bankis that it's also working
toward preserving our globalfood supply.
And there's another seed bankit's called the Millennium Seed
Bank and that is over at theRoyal Botanic Gardens and
they're really focused onpreserving native seed species,
(03:39):
again in perpetuity.
So both of these seed banksthis traditional space is really
focused on small collections,keeping them long term and
really just trying to steward asmuch biodiversity and genetic
diversity as possible.
The Holden Seed Bank we'retrying to bring seeds in and
(04:00):
then push them right back out.
Diane Bickett (04:02):
So you're filling a need in the community to
support local tree plantingprograms, correct?
Kim Lessman (04:08):
Our seed bank is working to fill that niche.
One thing that we have foundover the last year is that there
are not enough native seedsstored anywhere to support
restoration efforts, which is ahuge.
There's a huge bottleneck inrestoration in our region, and
that being that there just isn'tenough seeds, and so something
(04:30):
we're really trying to addresswith our seed bank is having a
well-stocked facility.
So we want to make sure thatpartners who are looking for
tens of thousands of nativetrees in our region can get
(04:55):
those of local ecotype for theirprojects trees and shrubs and
then working with localbusinesses like Native Nurseries
to grow them into treeseedlings for restoration.
So who's doing the?
Diane Bickett (05:12):
collecting of the seeds for you.
Kim Lessman (05:14):
That will be Holden .
That will be myself and ourteam of incredible volunteers
and potentially a few otherfolks next year.
Diane Bickett (05:24):
Okay.
Are you collecting them at theArboretum next year?
Okay, are you collecting themat the Arboretum?
We are Okay.
Kim Lessman (05:27):
Yeah, so we, yeah, we have.
Holden has roughly 3,000 acresof natural area that we can play
around with, and most of thespecies that we are looking to
collect and store in the seedbank can be found on Holden's
campus.
Diane Bickett (05:44):
So what are some of those?
Kim Lessman (05:46):
Some of those species.
I like to call them theworkhorse species, which is
definitely not my term, but itis a term that is widely used in
this world.
Some of those will be thehickories, white and red oaks.
Of course, a handful of birchesare used.
(06:06):
We also try to focus on a fewother species like ash and
hemlock and beech, but that'sfor research that I can mention
later.
Diane Bickett (06:18):
Okay, so you refer to them as workhorses.
Are they more resistant todisease?
Why is that?
Kim Lessman (06:36):
Yeah, so a workhorse species is.
How would I describe that?
It is a species that iscommonly found in some of our
native forests.
It typically has a lot ofbenefits to being in our forest,
so it's a food source forwildlife, for pollinators.
Perhaps it has a lot of stakein our natural area.
We'll put it that way.
Diane Bickett (06:53):
Are they fast growing too, then?
Kim Lessman (06:57):
I don't know about that.
I don't know if they'renecessarily fast growing, but
they're definitely most commonlyused.
Diane Bickett (07:02):
So you and your fellow seed collectors collect
the seeds from the arboretum.
Then what happens?
Kim Lessman (07:09):
Okay, so we collect the seeds.
For example, last year we hadfive to six five-gallon buckets
of black walnuts.
We bring all of those back tothe seed bank and this is kind
of where they begin theirprocessing and their cleaning
the seed bank and this is kindof where they begin their
processing and their cleaning.
So most of those buckets weactually just kind of sat them
(07:29):
in the seed bank and let thosehusks naturally decompose so
that we could easily process thenuts from those husks, and that
is the same.
I mean black walnut might notbe the best example here.
I mean black walnut might notbe the best example here, but
typically you know, any seedcomes into that seed bank and it
begins its process of beingcleaned and further stored.
Diane Bickett (07:59):
Do you do research on the seeds?
Kim Lessman (07:59):
themselves to ensure that they're going to be
viable.
Yeah, we do so.
There's a lot of really funtools and technology and
different pieces of equipment inthe seed bank that we get to
play around with, and some ofthose tools were monitoring the
moisture content of the seeds,making sure that, before we
store the seeds long term, theinterior moisture is exactly
(08:21):
where we want it, whichultimately will ensure its shelf
life.
We also have we have not done ityet, but this year we are going
to be doing a lot ofgermination testing and
viability testing on the seedthat we bring in the seed bank.
Okay, and I'm not performingresearch myself as the seed bank
(08:44):
manager, but there are ahandful of scientists who are
working with different speciesin the seed bank.
So, for example, one of mycolleagues is studying the
emerald ash borer, and so theseed bank right now is currently
stocked full of white and greenash seed, which she is then
(09:04):
sending out to other seed labsand researchers and scientists
in the country, and then we haveAre they doing, then, some
research to try to modify thoseseeds in some way so they're
resistant to the emerald ashborer?
They're not modifying the seed,so to speak, but what they're
doing is, if I'm not mistaken,they are studying, they're
(09:27):
trying to find out why thesetrees are resistant to that
emerald ash borer.
So they're not only studyingthe trees, but they are going to
start growing those seeds intoseedlings to see where in the
genetics these trees areresistant to the emerald ash
borer.
Diane Bickett (09:47):
Wow, that's really cool.
Kim Lessman (09:48):
Yeah, it's pretty impressive stuff over there, for
sure, for sure.
Diane Bickett (09:52):
So, coming up on your one-year anniversary of the
seed bank, congratulations.
What are you most proud of andwhat does the seed bank actually
look like, and who funded itand how did it come to be?
Kim Lessman (10:06):
Yeah, okay.
So I will paint you a pictureof what we're looking at when we
, when we visualize the seedbank.
Um, it is a bright, white,refurbished shipping container.
Um, and most of the time whenyou walk into so there's like a
double door to really keep thetemperature and the humidity and
(10:27):
the climate controlled in there.
So you walk through a doubleset of doors and as soon as you
open those big doors and walk in, I feel like the first comment
out of everybody's mouth is wow,this is really nice.
Diane Bickett (10:41):
It doesn't look like a shipping container at all
.
Kim Lessman (10:42):
It doesn't look like a shipping container at all
.
So on one side are a bunch oftypical cabinets, there is a
sink for cleaning and processing, there are four
restaurant-style shelving units,so imagine those like big metal
trays that get slid onto thosemovable carts.
(11:04):
We have a dehumidifier in there, a huge temperature unit on the
back wall and then on theright-hand side is just a bunch
of open shelves where we plan tostore containers and containers
and buckets of seeds.
Diane Bickett (11:19):
Okay, so what's the turnaround then?
From collection to when you'reable to distribute those to a
greenhouse or a garden centerthat can grow that into a
seedling.
Kim Lessman (11:29):
Great question.
It really depends on thespecies and on the need whether
or not that seed is going tohave a long shelf life in our
seed bank.
From the moment a seed comesinto the seed bank, I would say
it has about five to six weeksbefore it is vacuum sealed and
stored in one of ourrefrigerators.
(11:49):
So it's pretty quick.
The goal of that space is tobring seeds in and to dry them
to their desired moisturecontent and then seal them for
the following year.
That being said, seeds could bein the seed bank for a year.
They could be in there for fiveyears.
(12:10):
We have capacity to store for10 or plus years but again, with
a restoration seed bank we'rereally hoping to bring high
quality, high volume seed in andthen redistribute it to our
project partners in thecommunity.
Diane Bickett (12:27):
So who are some of those project partners then,
who are doing the tree plantingwork?
Well, I guess We've interviewedsome of them on this podcast.
I'm sure you have.
Kim Lessman (12:39):
You know.
So one of the first things Idid when I took this role as
seed bank manager was I tried toget everybody who was a
stakeholder of the seed bank tothe table for a conversation.
So we brought in lots ofdifferent conservation
organizations, a couple of folksfrom different universities.
(12:59):
We've also been communicatingwith local, state and federal
government agencies and justtrying to get as many people in
the conversation as possible.
Specifically, what I can speakon is we have a pretty fun
project coming up with theCleveland Museum of Natural
History where we're going tohelp support their Ashtabula
(13:22):
River restoration project.
They're going to plant 10,000trees in 2025.
And since we're new in thisworld of collecting seed and
growing them into trees, weagreed to provide 1,000 trees in
2026.
So for a given restorationproject, you might have 10%
(13:47):
casualties.
Yeah, 10%, I think, is thatwhat it is.
10% to 15% of those trees mightnot survive the following year.
So we agreed to work with themto provide those trees the
following year.
We've also been in conversationwith the Nature Conservancy to
kind of work with them in asimilar capacity.
Diane Bickett (14:09):
Okay.
Kim Lessman (14:12):
Yeah, cleveland Metro Parks.
We are definitely inconversation with Cleveland
Metro Parks as well.
Diane Bickett (14:17):
Good.
Cleveland Tree Coalition Yep.
Kim Lessman (14:19):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Who else?
We've been in good conversationwith Summit Metro Parks, lake
Metro Parks, cleveland Erie, aswell as Toledo Metro Parks.
Diane Bickett (14:32):
Yeah, that's great.
I think you know we talk abouttree planting a lot, but we
never really hear about wherethe trees come from, where the
seeds come from, and it's hereor it will be, so that's really
exciting, or it will be, sothat's really exciting.
I want to talk about how you'reworking to prepare the region
(14:53):
for future threats to our treesthrough your seed bank, by
providing more diverse speciesor helping grow trees that are
more resistant to stress.
So can you talk about that?
Yeah, definitely.
Kim Lessman (15:13):
I feel like this is a really good time to mention
this golden word, or goldenwords local ecotype New one,
yeah, a new one, a new buzzword.
It's been on my radar for thelast year that I've been in this
role and so I'll start withthat.
So a local ecotype is a speciesthat has been adapted to a
(15:34):
specific geographic environmentand, as a result, has evolved to
be genetically different fromother members of the same
species found in any otherenvironment, from other members
of the same species found in anyother environment.
So in simple terms, that meansit is as local as it gets.
So if we collect seed fromwhite oak trees in the Lake Erie
(15:57):
region, those are going to begenetically different than
something we might collect fromAtlanta, georgia, for example.
And something we really want todo with this seed bank is we
want to provide all of ourpartners and stakeholders in the
region who are working onrestoration and reforestation.
(16:17):
We want to make sure that theyhave the opportunity to source
native plant materials of localecotype.
Right now, most folks who areplanting these 10,000 trees, for
example, have to source themfrom a different part of our
country, so to speak.
Maybe not necessarily adifferent ecoregion, but these
(16:41):
are not always coming from seedthat was collected in our region
, and so that's really whatwe're trying to address.
Diane Bickett (16:50):
So local ecotype.
Kim Lessman (16:52):
Local ecotype.
It's as local as it gets.
Diane Bickett (16:54):
Local as it gets best able to adapt.
I mean, it's already adapted togrowing here, so it's probably
going to live Exactly.
Kim Lessman (17:02):
It's already hardwired for our region.
It knows what is happening here.
Diane Bickett (17:07):
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you
came to be a seed bank manager.
That's not like a title thatyou ever study in college,
definitely not.
But you do have a coolbackground.
You're A bobcat fellow bobcat.
Kim Lessman (17:18):
I am a bobcat, I always have to call those out.
Diane Bickett (17:22):
I also read you're an urban farmer.
You used to work for theCleveland Seed Bank.
Tell us a little bit about yourjourney.
Kim Lessman (17:27):
Yeah, it's definitely a fun journey.
I would say it's the road lesstraveled.
You know from start to finish.
Let's see, I am a bobcat and Ioriginally studied to be a
middle school teacher.
And I originally studied to bea middle school teacher and when
I finished school back in 2013,I wasn't necessarily fully
(17:53):
interested in jumping into atraditional classroom, but I was
very much enamored withgardening and homesteading and
learning how to feed myself, andso I made this list in my local
library and I sat down and said, okay, how can I do?
Yes, I want to work with kidsteaching, but I also want to
work with food and gardens, andI found the farm to school
(18:14):
movement and I worked and slowlystarted working my way into the
food and farming community overthe last 10 years.
At some point I worked for afarm in the Puget Sound and they
were a seed production farm,and so that was the first time I
really got my hands on what itmeans to plant a seed and then
(18:36):
wait seven months and harvestseed again.
When I moved back home toCleveland Ohio in 2018, I set
out on a little personal passionproject mission to start an
urban farm to address foodinsecurity and to work within a
food desert and try to see how Ican support this region in that
(18:56):
capacity.
Diane Bickett (18:59):
What was the name of your farm.
Kim Lessman (19:00):
Otherhand.
Okay, where was it?
Uh, it's on the west side ofcleveland, on west 61st street.
Um, still alive and thriving aswe speak so that's your farm
still, yeah, that is still.
That's still my passion project.
Just have all of the what is it?
All of the rungs and all theirons in the fire I've got all
the rungs in the fire.
(19:22):
But when I moved home toCleveland, I stumbled across the
Cleveland Seed Bank and it wasreally exciting to find an
organization who was not onlyworking with trying to build a
regional seed network, but theywere really passionate about
addressing food insecurity.
So it was a match made inheaven and they really invested
(19:44):
in my personal knowledge and myprofessional development of
becoming a seed expert inNortheast Ohio, so to speak.
And combine your educationbackground too combination of
(20:06):
wanting to be a teacher toreally just understand our world
and help people understand andslowly walking this path until I
found myself in the world ofseeds Wow, Very much embedded in
there.
Diane Bickett (20:14):
Wow, Just follow your passions.
People Take you where you needto be.
The Cleveland Seed Bank is alittle bit different than the
Holden Seed Bank.
You said before we startedrecording that they're more
focused on crops and seedsharing.
Is there like red tape or anyobstacles that prevent the free
(20:40):
exchange of seeds among peopleand organizations in Ohio?
Kim Lessman (20:43):
Yeah, there actually is.
So every state has their ownset of seed laws, and Ohio's
seed laws are a little bitprotective when it comes to open
sourced seed sharing, and soyou know, things like seed
libraries are actually a littletricky to facilitate in our
(21:04):
community, same with the openexchange of certain native
species like milkweed orironweed and certain grasses,
and so there's actually a groupof folks right now who are
working on something calledHouse Bill 364.
Okay, and they're hoping tomake- that's in.
(21:25):
Ohio.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
It's in Proposed Ohio law.
Kim Lessman (21:27):
Yeah, it's a proposed Ohio law and I believe
it is up for a vote soon, maybeby the end of July.
Oh okay, which is superexciting.
And this proposed legislationwould essentially make seed
exchanging through seedlibraries legal.
Diane Bickett (21:44):
Okay, Well that's good to know.
Are other states following asimilar path, or are they
already there?
Kim Lessman (21:52):
That's a good question.
There are a lot.
There are a handful of stateswho are already there and they
always have been.
Okay, not surprising, notsurprising, yeah.
Diane Bickett (22:01):
Okay, well, I want to talk about your one-year
anniversary event.
To celebrate the one-yearanniversary of the Seed Bank,
you're hosting a celebration ofseeds event, which I am honored
to have been asked to facilitatea panel discussion.
So can you tell us more aboutthat?
Kim Lessman (22:21):
Yeah, absolutely, it's on August 8th.
It's on August 8th, I guess Icould start there.
So it will be hosted at theCleveland Botanical Garden on
August 8th from 6 to 8.30 PM.
The cost is going to be $10 perticket and you can register
online.
Those are the logistics, thefun part about this event.
(22:42):
So my cog league, jen, and Ihave been working on figuring
out a way that we could honorone year of Northeast Ohio
having a seed bank, one yearbeing in operation, and really
just kind of highlight all ofthe folks in Northeast Ohio who
are working with native seedsand who are working in
restoration in some capacity.
Diane Bickett (23:04):
I'm looking forward to it and meeting the
panelists.
Who do you have on the panel?
Kim Lessman (23:08):
Yeah.
So we're going to have ahandful of experts in our region
.
We are going to have myselfrepresenting Holden Forests and
Gardens.
We are going to have apollinator project, who we are
working extensively with thissummer.
Pollinator Project, who we areworking extensively with this
summer.
We are also going to havesomebody from the Cleveland
Metro Parks and GreaterCleveland Wild Ones as well.
So it should be, a really goodconversation, All right sign up.
Diane Bickett (23:31):
And for those of you who are not familiar, the
Cleveland Botanical Garden inCleveland and the Holden
Arboretum in Kirtland make upthe Holden Forest and Gardens.
Yeah, you got it correctly.
When did that merger happen?
Like 10 years ago or so?
Yeah, about 10 years ago, thesetwo institutions merged
(23:53):
together to form Holden Forestand Gardens.
Yeah, and the Holden Arboretumis an absolute treasure.
For those who are unfamiliar,it is located about 30 minutes
east of the city, 30 minuteseast of downtown Cleveland, and
it is comprised of 3,500 acres,more or less.
(24:16):
About this is not only isHolden Arboretum one of the
largest arboretum in the country, but 3,000 acres.
Of that, 3,500 is actually highquality forested natural area
(24:36):
that we can visit and walkthrough Absolutely.
Yeah, we have a few naturalareas Stebbins, gulch and Little
Mountain, to name a few, andthe Canopy Walk too,
Walk and the Canopy Walk and theEmerg.
Absolutely, those are must-sees.
Yeah, yeah, you have anincredible view of Lake Erie
from the Emergent Tower.
It's absolutely worth a climb.
So, of all the tools we have for fighting
(24:58):
climate change, how would yourank the importance of
reforestation?
Kim Lessman (25:03):
Reforestation is the number one natural solution
to mitigate climate change.
Diane Bickett (25:29):
Well we all appreciate your work.
I hope that this model can bereplicated in other communities
to keep that you know the treeplanting going, and I really
want to thank you for joining uson the podcast today to talk
about your work, and I saw aquote.
I don't know who to attributeit to, but it's never
(25:49):
underestimate the power of aplanted seed.
Kim Lessman (25:53):
Thank you, Kim.
Thank you so much, Diane.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of EcoSpeak
CLE.
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Podcasts or wherever you getyour podcasts.
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