Season 1
EPISODE 4
What if the path to a more nourishing life starts in your garden—and extends all the way to your breakfast plate?
In this episode, Land Language hosts Brit Sastrawidjaya and Bethany Rydmark welcome Willi Galloway, author of Grow Cook Eat and the newly released Veggies for Breakfast, to explore the intersection of organic gardening, edible landscapes, and creating daily rituals that connect us to the land.
“ If there aren't edible plants in the landscape, you're cutting off a little bit of that circle of connection.”
—Willi Galloway
This episode is a meditation on process: how landscape designers and builders can foster living systems through thoughtful decision-making, mindful construction, and continuous questioning. Xanthe offers wisdom on the poetry of design, the power of saying enough, and how regenerative practice starts with how we teach others to see and interact with land.
Willi shares her journey from managing test gardens at Organic Gardening Magazine to becoming a champion of accessible, quality-focused food growing. This conversation moves beyond traditional "yield-based" gardening advice to explore how to integrate edibles into ornamental landscapes, discover overlooked edible parts of plants, and build sustainable morning routines centered around fresh garden produce.
We explore:
Why growing food isn't about producing all your own food, it's about growing the food you love to eat, and growing it well
Practical strategies for integrating edible plants into ornamental landscapes without sacrificing beauty
How herbs serve as both our medicine cabinet and pollinators' medicine cabinet
The psychological benefits of gardening
Why companion planting rules might be overrated, and what matters more
Creative uses for trellises, containers, and unexpected spaces for food production
This is a foundational conversation about slowing down, cultivating mindfulness through food and gardens, and recognizing that growing something, even a single bean plant, is a radical act of care.
Willi Galloway is a garden writer, cookbook author, and lifelong plant enthusiast based in Seattle, Washington. After majoring in English and Literature, Willi began her career managing the test gardens at Organic Gardening Magazine on J.I. Rodale's historic farm in Pennsylvania, where she had access to an extensive library of organic gardening knowledge dating back to the early 20th century.
Her first book, Grow Cook Eat: A Food Lover's Guide to Vegetable Gardening, challenged conventional gardening wisdom by focusing on quality over yield and introducing readers to edible parts of plants often overlooked—like radish seed pods and broccoli flowers. Her latest book, Veggies for Breakfast, tackles the challenge of incorporating more vegetables into the busiest meal of the day through strategic prep and assembly-based recipes.
Beyond her books, Willi runs a popular Substack where she profiles gardeners, artists, and food lovers—from botanical illustrators on San Juan Island to monastery gardens in Italy. Her work emphasizes curiosity, accessibility, and the transformative power of growing your own food, no matter how small your space.
Willi also co-owns Perch Furniture with her husband and continues to champion open-pollinated, climate-adapted seed varieties from Pacific Northwest seed companies. She speaks regularly at events like the Northwest Garden Flower Festival, where she shares her favorite varieties and celebrates the work of independent seed growers.
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