The Seed Whisperer of Blackberry Farm: John Coykendall Is Saving the Seeds of the Past, for the Future

The luxury country inn is the ultimate pastoral getaway. But in the gardens, there’s urgent work happening: a race against time to preserve heirloom seeds—and their stories—for generations to come.

John Coykendall, renowned master gardener, seed saver, and classically trained artist. (Courtesy of Blackberry Farm)

Many luxury resorts have a master chef in their restaurant kitchen, but how about an on-site master gardener and seed savior?

At Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee, at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, John Coykendall has filled that role since 1999. An internationally renowned horticulturalist—and a classically trained artist—Coykendall oversees four acres of gardens, which provides produce used in the inn’s trademark “Foothills Cuisine,” a refined spin on traditional southern cooking, alongside ingredients sourced from nearby Appalachian farmers and producers.

Coykendall oversees four acres of gardens on Blackberry Farm's sprawling 4,200-acre estate. (Courtesy of Blackberry Farm)

Coykendall has also amassed a collection of 735 heirloom seeds, and he’s working to save several varieties from extinction.

“Much of what we grow is for propagating and preserving; on average, we are working on 30 crop varieties [at a time],” he said. “Separately, we grow around 100 seed varieties for Blackberry’s kitchen each year.”

Garden-grown produce is served at the inn's restaurants, sometimes just feet away. (Courtesy of Blackberry Farm)

Growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee, Coykendall learned to garden from his father. He visited Blackberry Farm with his grandfather, Congressman John Jennings, in 1953, when it was only a farmstead. In 1976, the Beall family acquired the farm, initially opening a six-room country inn, now considerably expanded within the property’s 4,200 acres. Coykendall was Blackberry Farm’s sole gardener for nearly four years. He now works with a team of six.

Coykendall works with organizations such as Seed Savers Exchange to find and plant endangered varieties to help regenerate them. He scours seed catalogs, attends seed swaps, and—when he’s able to—travels extensively to visit world-class gardens and conduct research. His legions of fans and the guests of Blackberry Farm also send him seeds.

Coykendall works with organizations such as Seed Savers Exchange to find and preserve near-extinct seeds. (Courtesy of Blackberry Farm)

“Some of the most prized seeds are the ones that have ... a story with them,” he said. “Among my favorites is the Red Calico Butterbean, which dates to 1794 from an upper east Tennessee family. They can document that butterbean back to that year through diaries and other documents. It’s amazing to think that with that seed, you’re going back to when Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, our Founding Fathers were around.

“It’s like a time capsule of living history, a chain with no links missing, coming down from that time to present day.”

Whippoorwill Southern pea seeds. (Courtesy of Blackberry Farm)

Coykendall has a treasured 1888 Burpee seed catalog.

“One of the beans in there is called the White Zulu. Snow white pods and jet-black seeds,“ he said. ”It’s a pole bean that’s always fascinated me. You could guess that it might be gone and no longer exists, but it could also be hiding somewhere in a foreign seed bank.”

Now 79, Coykendall enjoys sharing his knowledge of seed heritage, heirloom crops, and preservation with younger team members, as well as giving farm tours and lectures to guests.

In other words, he continues to sow his own seeds of wisdom for future generations.

Generous with his knowledge, Coykendall enjoys giving tours and lectures to visitors. (Courtesy of Blackberry Farm)

John Coykendall

Age: 79

Born: Knoxville, Tennessee

Hobbies: Landscape painting and growing old seed varieties

Favorite Season: Autumn during harvest (“It’s when seeds become mature and can be collected and shelled out.”)

Favorite Garden-to-Table Foods: “In the fall, I love purple top turnips, and those are the first things I remember pulling up with my grandfather on the farm. We'd take them home, and Mother would cook them up with butter, salt, and pepper. Simple as you can get. Another one of my favorite foods is potatoes. [I love] the thrill of taking that potato fork and rolling those first new potatoes out of the ground.”