William Ritter

William Ritter (he/him) describes himself as a “dedicated evangelizer for traditional, community-sourced seed saving,” the practice of preserving seeds and roots from one year’s crop for future planting. As William describes, seed saving is “a central component of the traditional garden and dinner table, but also a locus for a sense of place, familial pride, social trust, and a crucial component of past and future community health and resiliency.” “In order to best ‘save seed,’” William explains, “one must be well-versed in garden practices, knowledgeable about plant isolation, and seed and root storage”—skills he was first introduced to in his family’s garden growing up and has continued to learn from other Western North Carolina farmers.

In addition to seed saving, William is an accomplished musician and music educator with the Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program and the North Carolina Arts Council Traditional Arts Programs for Students (TAPS). He understands the cultural connections between traditional music and the land. These connections inspired him to found Song-to-Seed—a project advocating for both seed saving and music traditions through community events such as seed swaps, potlucks, and music jams. In 2020, as part of his apprenticeship with the late ballad singer Bobby McMillon, William developed the “Bean-String Ballad-Sing,” an event that showcased ballads in their traditional context as work songs, sung while snapping beans.

William will put his Emerging Traditional Artists Program award toward developing a Song-to-Seed podcast, where he will share seed saving resources, conversations with other tradition bearers, and “ethnobotanical” songs he writes about heirloom crops and traditional foodways.

“As a practice, the tradition of seed-saving largely continues as a means by which community members can connect with their ancestors, family, and neighbors,” William says. “In planting ‘Granny's’ seeds, one is able to maintain a link to their historic and culinary heritage. Seed saving, like other traditional arts, offers an important means by which we can bridge the growing gulfs and fissures in our communities. I don't just want to get seeds to people, I want to give them tools and roots to grow their local social capital.”