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{{short description|Author, (vegan) farmer, and seed collector}}
'''Will Bonsall''' is an American author, seed saver and veganic farmer who lives in Maine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://downeast.com/land-wildlife/rare-heirloom-seeds/|title=The Maine Farmer Saving the World's Rarest Heirloom Seeds|date=2020-03-31|website=Down East|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> He is a regular speaker about seed saving and veganic farming.<ref name=":2" /> ▼
{{Distinguish|}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Will Bonsall
| image =
| alt =
| caption = Bonsall in 2021
| birth_name = Will Bonsall
| alias =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|01|01}}
| birth_place = [[Waterville, Maine]], U.S.
| relatives =
| occupation = {{hlist|Author, (vegan) farmer, and seed collector}}
| years_active = Unknown–present
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Molly Thorkildsen]]|0000|2021|end=divorced}}
}}
▲'''Will Bonsall''' is an American author, seed saver and veganic farmer who lives in Maine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://downeast.com/land-wildlife/rare-heirloom-seeds/|title=The Maine Farmer Saving the World's Rarest Heirloom Seeds|date=2020-03-31|website=Down East|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/seeds-of-change-1.2769911|title=Seeds of change|last=Thompson|first=Sylvia|date=2016-08-27|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1986-12-30|title=Preserving 'heirloom' crops Down East|work=Christian Science Monitor|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1986/1230/hscat.html|access-date=2021-01-07|issn=0882-7729}}</ref> He is a regular speaker about [[seed saving]], [[organic farming]] and [[veganic farming]].<ref name=":2" />
== Biography ==
Bonsall was born in [[Waterville, Maine|Waterville]], [[Maine]] in
Bonsall
▲Bonsall is married to Molly Thorkildsen and has two grown sons.<ref>[https://www.nofanh.org/copy-2-of-draft-old-workshops-sched Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire]</ref><ref>[https://www.sustainablemarketfarming.com/tag/khadighar-farm/ Dawling P. Book Review: Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening. Sustainable Market Farming: Intensive Vegetable Production on a Few Acres (Blog)]</ref> He is a regular speaker about seed saving and veganic farming.<ref name=":2" /> He often writes for organic gardening publications<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bonsall|first=Will|date=January 1, 2016|title=Using Green Manure - Organic Gardening|url=https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/gardening-techniques/green-manure-ze0z1601zbay|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-12|website=Mother Earth News|language=en}}</ref> and shares vegan recipes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yacon – An Exciting 'Root' Crop from the Andes|url=https://www.mofga.org/Publications/The-Maine-Organic-Farmer-Gardener/Winter-2017-2018/Yacon|access-date=2020-05-16|website=www.mofga.org}}</ref>
== ''Will Bonsall's Essential Guide'' ==
In 2015, [[Chelsea Green Publishing|Chelsea Green]] published ''Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-reliant Gardening: Innovative Techniques for Growing Vegetables, Grains, and Perennial Food Crops with Minimal Fossil Fuel and Animal Inputs''.
== Seed saving ==
In 2014, Bonsall founded the Grassroots Seed Network and the ''[[Portland Press Herald]]'' reported: "Nationally and even internationally, Bonsall is known as the curator of a collection of both rare and common potato varieties. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sends him potatoes it thinks might interest him. Someone in Norway might send him a few samples."<ref name="Pols" />
In 2020, ''[[Down East (magazine)|
In 2020'', [[WCAI]] radio'' reporter Elspeth Hay reported: "Around 2013, Bonsall says his collections collapsed. He couldn’t get the funding or the labor he needed to keep growing so many thousands of seeds. He still has a lot—his potato collection for instance is down to 200 varieties—but remember it used to be 700, and for him, it’s a huge loss. He says he can get many of the seeds he had back—since he’s sent so many to other growers around the world. But he’s seventy. He doesn’t want to build up his collection again just to lose it—he wants to make it sustainable, to find a way to train young farmers and pass The Scatterseed Project on."<ref>{{Cite web|title=A World-Renowned Seed Saver Shares His Story|url=https://www.capeandislands.org/post/world-renowned-seed-saver-shares-his-story|last=Hay|first=Elspeth|date=April 2, 2020|website=WCAI NPR for the Cape, Coast & Islands|language=en
The ''[[Portland Press Herald]]'' awarded Bonsall the 2020 Source Seed Saver award. Portland Press Herald reporter Bob Keyes reported: "He has 1,100 varieties of peas and other [[legume]]s, including chickpeas, favas and runner beans. He has one of the largest [[Jerusalem artichoke]] seed collections in North America, and has more varieties of [[parsnip]] seeds than just about anybody anywhere".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Seed Saver|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2020/05/24/the-seed-saver/|last=Keyes|first=Bob|date=2020-05-24|website=Press Herald|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-05-28}}</ref>▼
== Veganic farming ==
Bonsall is a [[Veganism|vegan]] and a proponent of [[Vegan organic gardening|veganic farming]], which doesn't use animal products such as manure.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Glenza|first=Jessica|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/24/vegetables-vegan-organic-agriculture-farming|title=Are vegetables vegan? The man taking aim at animal products in organic farming|date=2019-12-24|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-02-12|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2018/06/20/ever-heard-of-veganic-farming-neither-had-we/|title=Ever heard of veganic farming? Neither had we|last=Kamila|first=Avery Yale|date=2018-06-20|website=Portland Press Herald
Bonsall
In 2019, ''[[The Guardian]]'' said of Bonsall's farming: "Bonsall’s is one of just 50 or so veganic farms in the United States, according to research by Professor Mona Seymour of Loyola Marymount University."<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Glenza|first=Jessica|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/24/vegetables-vegan-organic-agriculture-farming|title=Are vegetables vegan? The man taking aim at animal products in organic farming|date=2019-12-24|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-11|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
In 2019, Bonsall shared his recipe for [[succotash]] with [[PBS]] program Kitchen Vignettes. Host Aube Giroux said: "For his version of this traditional Native American dish, Will uses four main ingredients grown on his farm: corn, red pepper, zucchini, and the star of the show: shell beans."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Will Bonsall's Succotash {{!}} Kitchen Vignettes for PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/food/kitchen-vignettes/will-bonsalls-succotash/|last=Aube|first=Giroux|date=2019-08-21|website=PBS Food|language=en-US
He has been described as a "vegan homesteader."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-04-25|title=Food Autonomy: Will Bonsall on Vegan Homesteading & Radical Self Reliance|url=http://www.soleone.org/solecast/2019/4/25/food-autonomy-w-will-bonsall-on-vegan-homesteading-amp-radical-self-reliance|access-date=2021-05-09|website=SOLE|language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2020, Bonsall was interviewed by radio host Caryn Hartglass and he said that veganic farming is better than organic farming or permaculture farming because those systems "involve growing a lot of things from seed to an animal and then eat the animal. To me, that basically nullifies the main advantage of permaculture; not killing and all that kind of stuff. When you put that stuff through an animal then you loose so much of the efficiency of it, like 90% throwing away. I just don’t get it. I think there is something more organic than organic and I think there’s something more permaculture than permaculture. Those are the things I’m trying to aim at and discuss in a lot of my books."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Will Bonsall, Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening {{!}} RESPONSIBLE EATING AND LIVING|url=https://responsibleeatingandliving.com/favorites/will-bonsall-radical-self-reliant-gardening/|access-date=2020-08-20|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Vegetable claims ==
In 2019, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that Bonsall said most vegetables are "very un-vegan.”<ref name=":3" /> Bonsall has said he is one of the "few vegans in the world who actually eats a 100 percent plant-based diet" because he grows his own food and "can vouch that it’s animal-free."<ref>{{Cite web|last=LaVaux|first=Ari|date=2016-09-29|title=Vegan food may not be as "vegan" as you think|url=https://www.hcn.org/articles/meat-eaters-feel-the-heat-from-vegans|access-date=2021-03-20|website=High Country News|language=en-us}}</ref>
==Personal life==
In late 2021, Will briefly mentioned he was going through a divorce with his now-former wife, Molly Thorkildsen while teaching some students about composting. He also mentioned that he was 72 years old, although an exact date of birth is still unknown.
== Awards ==
▲In 2020, The ''[[Portland Press Herald]]'' awarded Bonsall the
== Selected works ==
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* ''Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-reliant Gardening: Innovative Techniques for Growing Vegetables, Grains, and Perennial Food Crops with Minimal Fossil Fuel and Animal Inputs'', 2015
* ''Through the Eyes of a Stranger (Yaro Tales),'' 2010
== See also==
* [[Compost]]
* [[Fertilizer]]
* [[Human waste|human manure]]
* [[Soil science]]
== References ==
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== External links ==
* [https://www.scatterseedproject.org/
*[https://www.fedcoseeds.com/moose/scatterseed.htm Fedco Seeds]
*[http://www.uniquemainefarms.com/Site/Khadighar_Farm.html Unique Maine Farms: Khadighar Farm]
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[[Category:Organic farmers]]
[[Category:People from Franklin County, Maine]]
[[Category:People from Waterville, Maine]]
[[Category:University of Maine alumni]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Vegan organic gardening]]
[[Category:Writers from Maine]]
[[Category:
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