Dove Stackhouse

Dove Stackhouse is an organic and regenerative farmer, seed saver, founding member of the Alabama Sustainable Agricultural Network (ASAN), and co-founder of the Sand Mountain Seedbank. Dove lives and farms in Geraldine, Alabama, on land she tends with her husband, Russell Stackhouse.

Dove has been farming and saving seeds for over 3 decades, and more than 20 years ago, she founded the Sand Mountain Seedbank along with fellow farmer and seed saving enthusiast, Charlotte Hagood of Albertville. The Seedbank has been a labor of love for them both, and they regard themselves as a regional seedbank whose goals are to collect, preserve and grow the cultural food heritage of the Southeast. Not only do they collect and carefully store the heirloom seeds, but they also collect the stories of the people who saved them so that the rich history of food and farming traditions in the Southern Appalachian region can be taught to future generations. Dove and Charlotte store the seeds in refrigeration and grow them out at least every 10 years to maintain the viability and integrity of the seeds. They are always looking for others who would like to contribute time, knowledge, and skills to their worthwhile cause, especially those who are interested in growing out heirloom seeds.

Dove’s photo (pictured also with Charlotte Haygood on the right) shows one of six refrigerators full of seeds that comprise the Sand Mountain Seedbank.

Dove has been supportive of AgroshareMD from the beginning. She traveled from Geraldine to Collinsville in order to contribute her organically grown produce to a Food Hub in Dr. Koe’s clinic so that patients and locals could easily access healthy food. She is eager to teach others about seed saving (how to do it and why you would want to) and will be involved in teaching at workshops hosted on Dr. Koe’s farm in the future. You can learn more about her farm, Whirlwind Farms, in the Featured Farm section of the website.