{"title":"Adam Forbes","description":"\u003cp\u003eAdam is a farmer and educator from Philadelphia. For the past 10 years Adam has been working to support diverse communities to grow cultural crops. For Truelove Seeds, Adam is growing crops from the village in Greece that his grandparents and ancestors come from. The seeds are grown in Philadelphia with no chemical or sprays. Adam is culturally Greek and has travelled to the village of Elinitsa to learn about his family's heritage and history. Adam became passionate about seed saving in college and after graduating Adam was awarded the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. The Fellowship allowed Adam to spend over a year traveling in India, Peru, Ethiopia, Thailand, Italy, and Greece studying seed saving and biodiversity in food crops.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdam started the thriving \"Growing Home Gardens\" in South Philly. The gardens are in their 9th successful season, with over 95 refugee and immigrant families gardening. He also started \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/trueloveseeds.sbs\/collections\/novick-urban-farm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eNovick Urban Farm\u003c\/a\u003e and ran the farm for more than 3 years. In both of these projects, Adam worked to source cultural crops that refugee communities from Burma, Nepal, and Congo were looking for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdam has also focused on education and taught at schools throughout South Philly. He managed after school programs for over 150 youth through the PA Migrant Education Program while leading community classes for adults and children. He developed youth leaderships programs, oversaw college applications, and led outdoor adventure programs for refugee and immigrant youth. Currently, Adam is teaching ESOL at Mastery Charter Schools in Philadelphia. He is continuing to volunteer leading youth programs in the community and working to grow cultural crops in any space possible. Adam is working to start his own non-profit and connect more youth to nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"SGSpiceGallery\" id=\"SGSpiceGallery10147\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"elinitsa-chili-greece","title":"Elinitsa Chili (Greece)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese prolific hot peppers are named for the remote Village in Greece that they come from. They are a long-standing heirloom which has been grown in this village for more than 95 years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe peppers grow on squat extremely productive plants, so they grow very well in fairly small pots and urban spaces. Starting off a yellow color, their fruits ripen to a deep red and they grow vertically up towards the sky, making them easy to pick. They mature before jalapenos, habaneros, and most other hot peppers. Moderately spicy and delicious at any phase of ripening, with an excellent rich flavor that goes much beyond the spice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Elinitsa they are often made into hot sauce, pickled to preserve for the winter, or strung and dried. If you like peppers with a moderate kick but delicious flavor then you will quickly fall in love with this variety.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElinitsa is a small mountainous village in the Peloponnese section of Greece. Residents of this lush area fled during wars with Turkey as well as World War 2. Most resettled in the USA, Australia, or Athens. A small group of families remained in the village during the 1900's and continued to farm terraces and small fields scattered amongst the hills. Wildfires in the 1990s caused another major disturbance to Elinitsa. Villagers worked together to rebuild and preserve a small ancient town center and museum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdam, who grew these, has ancestral roots in this village. Only about 15 people remain and 95-year-old Giorgios is one of the last farmers in Elinitsa. Giorgios is the seed keeper who has preserved this variety for his entire adult life and he was kind enough to pass on a few seeds to Adam. Giorgis was thrilled to share these seeds and he hopes their story and cultural diversity is preserved. He uses these peppers in \u003cem\u003ebriam\u003c\/em\u003e (a traditional Greek summer vegetable dish) as well as in soups, stews, and even in grilled meats for the summer festivals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e50% of sales will go to support Together for Better Days - A project providing crucial life-saving assistance to refugees arriving to the Greek Islands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDays to maturity:\u003c\/strong\u003e 60-85 (depending on what stage you pick them)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSeeds per pack:\u003c\/strong\u003e 25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGermination rate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 93% on 02\/01\/2024\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003ePlanting \/ harvesting notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStart seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before the last frost and transplant into garden well after the danger of frost. Keep seedlings moist but do not overwater. Transplants should be initially watered in well, and plants will be most productive with regular irrigation and full sun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSeed keeping notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeppers are generally self-pollinating, though we isolate different varieties of the same species by at least 50 feet, in hopes that flying insects will not cross pollinate them unexpectedly. There are several important species of peppers, so check your scientific names! Pepper seeds are ripe when the fruits have turned their final fiery color - in this case, fully red. Cut the fruit, scrape out seeds, and lay them out to dry on a labeled screen or paper product in a ventilated place away from direct sunlight for a week or two. Drying the peppers before seed extraction can slightly lower your germination rates, but works fine for home seed saving as long as the peppers do not rot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"SGSpiceGallery\" id=\"SGSpiceGallery10147\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Adam Forbes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":37401701122206,"sku":"CAP-019","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2406\/3467\/products\/elinitsachili3.jpg?v=1610568749"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2406\/3467\/collections\/AdamForbes_familytree_sq.jpg?v=1612546659","url":"https:\/\/trueloveseeds.sbs\/collections\/adam-forbes.oembed","provider":"Truelove Seeds","version":"1.0","type":"link"}