JAN 21

Caring for Champions: Veterinarian John Mayo on Rokeby Farm and Paul Mellon

In this episode, we sit down with veterinarian John Mayo, who served as the primary veterinarian for Rokeby Farm, the legendary horse breeding and racing operation owned by Paul Mellon, from 1962 to 1997. Across more than three decades, Dr. Mayo played a central role in the care, training, and long-term health of some of America’s most significant Thoroughbred horses. Drawing on firsthand experience, Dr. Mayo reflects on what it meant to practice veterinary medicine at one of the most respected horse farms in the United States during the golden era of American Thoroughbred racing. He shares stories from daily life at Rokeby Farm, insights into breeding and racing practices, and the evolving standards of equine veterinary care over the latter half of the twentieth century. Listeners will gain a rare behind-the-scenes perspective on the relationship between veterinarians, breeders, trainers, and horses, as well as Paul Mellon’s approach to stewardship, animal welfare, and excellence. This conversation also touches on the broader cultural and historical significance of horse racing in Virginia and the legacy of Rokeby Farm. Whether you’re interested in equine veterinary medicine, horse racing history, Thoroughbred breeding, or the human stories behind iconic sporting institutions, this episode offers a thoughtful and compelling oral history from someone who lived it. Host: Chris Stafford Oak Spring website: https://www.osgf.org/ Subscribe to the Oak Spring Newsletter: Email: program@osgf.org Instagram: @oakspringgardenfoundation Twitter: @oak_spring Facebook: Oak Spring Garden Foundation

48 min

12/15/2025

Planting the Framework: How Oak Spring Became a Public-Facing Institution

In this episode of the Oak Spring Podcast, host Chris Stafford explores the formative years of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation and the people who helped transform it from Bunny Mellon's private residence into a dynamic nonprofit dedicated to serving the public good. Chris first speaks with Marguerite Harden, Oak Spring’s inaugural Program Manager. She followed Sir Peter Crane, OSGF's President, from the Yale School of the Environment – where she received her Master's degree and where he had served as Dean – to Upperville, Virginia, in 2016 to establish a program at the burgeoning foundation. Marguerite reflects on the unique challenges and rewards of building programs from the ground up, navigating legal structures, shaping institutional culture, and translating a private vision into a mission-driven organization that serves scholars, artists, scientists, and the wider public. Her conversation offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how Oak Spring’s modern structure took shape during its earliest years. In the second half of the episode, Chris is joined by Danielle Eady, Oak Spring’s current Program Director, who discusses how those foundational ideas evolved into the programs we see today. Danielle shares insights into the development of Oak Spring’s interdisciplinary residency program, the introduction of fellowships for scientists and conservationists, the expansion of multi-day short courses, and the creative use of Oak Spring’s gallery spaces for exhibitions that connect plants, people, art, and science. Together, these conversations trace Oak Spring’s evolution from concept to institution, highlighting the vision, experimentation, and collaboration required to build a modern cultural and educational foundation rooted in plants, landscapes, and ideas. Whether you’re interested in nonprofit leadership, program design, environmental humanities, or the inner workings of cultural institutions, this episode offers thoughtful reflections on how lasting public programs are imagined, built, and sustained. Keywords: Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Oak Spring Podcast, Oak Spring programs, Bunny Mellon, nonprofit program development, cultural institution leadership, interdisciplinary residency programs, environmental humanities. Host: Chris Stafford Oak Spring website: https://www.osgf.org/ Subscribe to the Oak Spring Newsletter: Email: program@osgf.org Instagram: @oakspringgardenfoundation Twitter: @oak_spring Facebook: Oak Spring Garden Foundation

41 min

11/17/2025

Shaping Light: The Past and Present of Oak Spring's Trees

In this episode, we explore the evolving landscape of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, beginning with a conversation with Clif Brown, who has been stewarding the land since 1988. Clif reflects on his early years working for Mrs. Mellon, when the property was still shaped by horse meadows and Thoroughbred breeding. He shares how Mrs. Mellon taught him to see trees not just as plantings, but as sculptural forms—guiding him in pruning techniques that shaped light, avoided harsh silhouettes, and prevented heavy, dark spaces in the canopy. His stories offer a rare glimpse into a historic landscape in transition, and into the horticultural philosophies that continue to inform Oak Spring today. The episode then turns to landscape architect Thomas Rainer of Phyto Studio, who collaborated with Peter Crane and the Oak Spring team to design the ambitious Oak Spring Arboretum that will grow to contain over 400 trees. Since 2024, more than 150 trees have been planted on Rokeby—about 80% of them native to Virginia. The remaining selections include East Asian disjuncts, close relatives of North American species with shared evolutionary histories. Thomas discusses his plant-centric design approach, the ecological thinking behind the arboretum, and the emotional framework he brings to his work—one rooted in both grief for environmental loss and optimism for what thoughtful stewardship can cultivate. Together, these conversations illuminate Oak Spring’s past, present, and future through the voices of those shaping its living landscape. Host: Chris Stafford Oak Spring website: https://www.osgf.org/ Subscribe to the Oak Spring Newsletter: Email: program@osgf.org Instagram: @oakspringgardenfoundation Twitter: @oak_spring Facebook: Oak Spring Garden Foundation

1h 6m

10/27/2025

Step Inside the Library

Mrs. Mellon's library is at the heart of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, driving much of the research conducted by Oak Spring's residents and fellows, and providing resources and materials that help inform the foundation's gardens and programming. Its collection comprises over 19,000 objects, including 10,000 reference books, 2,000 rare books, over 200 unpublished manuscripts, and various other works of art and decorative objects. The collection is guided by Mrs. Mellon's personal interests in plants, gardens, and landscapes, and as she once wrote, "these books about the outdoors live not in dusty darkness, but behind simple, pale oak doors, easily opened to the world they tell about." In this episode, we bring you inside the Oak Spring Garden Library for a conversation with Tony Willis, Oak Spring's Head Librarian, and Carter Hulinsky, Oak Spring's Metadata Librarian and Special Collections Cataloger. Tony grew up locally and has been working at the library since 1980, when he was brought on as an assistant during the initial development of the library building. Carter has worked in the library since 2023, but first came to Oak Spring in 2022 as a participant in one of the library's short courses. Together they speak with Chris Stafford about the history of Oak Spring's incredible collection and how the foundation is working today to activate its materials among researchers on-site and to the broader public through online outreach. Host: Chris Stafford Oak Spring website: https://www.osgf.org Subscribe to the Oak Spring Newsletter: https://www.osgf.org Instagram: @oakspringgardenfoundation Twitter: @oak_spring Facebook: Oak Spring Garden Foundation

41 min

09/09/2025

Narratives in Nature - Fall Reading List

In this episode, we begin with Aleya Fraser, author of Caribbean Herbalism, who shares the rich traditions of plant medicine rooted in Caribbean communities. Aleya discusses ancestral knowledge, everyday remedies, and the cultural practices that have kept this wisdom alive across generations. Her work highlights how plants nurture resilience, connection, and healing. We then turn to Storying Plant Communication, a book that uses narrative and storytelling to shift our understanding of plant behavior. Through this conversation, we consider how plants communicate, interact, and shape the world around us in ways that often go unnoticed, and why language and story matter for making those connections visible. Together, these interviews invite us to see plants as both healers and communicators, bridging science, story, and tradition. Book links: Carribean Herbalism by Aleya Fraser Storying Plant Communication by Mariko Thomas Links to tickets and information about Oak Spring Programs: Threads of Oak Spring Quilters Competition, apply by November 18th, 2025 Rokeby Community Festival, Saturday, September 27th, 10:00am - 4:00pm Host: Chris Stafford Oak Spring website: https://www.osgf.org/ Subscribe to the Oak Spring Newsletter: https://www.osgf.org/ Email: program@osgf.org Instagram: @oakspringgardenfoundation Twitter: @oak_spring Facebook: Oak Spring Garden Foundation

55 min

08/11/2025

From Seed to Sovereignty

In this episode, we explore the deep connections between land, seed, and self-determination through conversations with two inspiring women who have dedicated their lives to sustainable agriculture, community building, and creative expression. We begin with Ira Wallace, a seed saver, educator, and author who has been a lifelong advocate for food sovereignty. Ira is a key member of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, where she works to preserve genetic diversity in food crops and empower gardeners and small farmers to reclaim control over their seeds. Drawing from her childhood in Florida, her early activism in the organic movement, and decades of experience living in intentional communities, Ira reflects on the importance of seed saving, ecological stewardship, and intergenerational knowledge-sharing. Her insights offer a powerful vision for how local food systems can shape a more equitable and resilient future. We also speak with Melissa DeSa, an ecologist, farmer, and artist whose work bridges the worlds of agriculture, seed saving, and botanical pigments. Melissa shares how a residency at Oak Spring Garden Foundation unexpectedly transformed her artistic practice—introducing her to the world of plant-based pigments and botanical dyes. Melissa's interests in seeds led her to co-found a nonprofit, Working Food, which aims to cultivate and sustain a resilient local food community in North Central Florida through collaboration, economic opportunity, education, and seed stewardship. Host: Chris Stafford Oak Spring website: https://www.osgf.org/ Subscribe to the Oak Spring Newsletter: https://www.osgf.org/ Email: program@osgf.org Instagram: @oakspringgardenfoundation Twitter: @oak_spring Facebook: Oak Spring Garden Foundation

58 min

07/08/2025

Belonging and Becoming: Conversations on Place

In this episode, we sit down with Maxim Loskutoff, a writer whose fiction and essays explore the evolving landscapes and identities of the American West. From an early age, Max was drawn to stories, and he made a conscious effort to devote many years of his life to living and working in places and ways that would support his writing. Drawing from his upbringing in Missoula, Montana, he reflects on witnessing the region’s shift from a logging-based economy to one centered around outdoor recreation, and how this transformation shaped his own sense of belonging and the identities of those around him. His insights reveal the complex intersections of place, culture, and change. We also talk with Gretchen E. Henderson, a writer and educator whose work invites us to reconsider our relationship with the natural world. She discusses her project Dear Body of Water, which encourages communities nationwide to honor water as a collaborator and living peer, rather than merely a commodity or threat. Gretchen also shares some of her pedagogical philosophies that inform her teaching, including the two courses she leads at Oak Spring, where she helps participants engage deeply with place and the environment through creative practice. Both Max and Gretchen open up about their personal journeys into writing, offering listeners a glimpse into the experiences, questions, and passions that led them to their creative paths today. Gretchen's classes at Oak Spring include Literary Ecologies: Reading to Reinhabit the World, and Writing the Landscape. Host: Chris Stafford Oak Spring website: https://www.osgf.org/ Subscribe to the Oak Spring Newsletter: https://www.osgf.org/ Email: program@osgf.org Instagram: @oakspringgardenfoundation Twitter: @oak_spring Facebook: Oak Spring Garden Foundation

1 hr

06/16/2025

Roots and Rhythms: A Conversation with Michael Donoghue

In this episode, we speak with evolutionary biologist and Oak Spring board member Michael Donoghue. Michael specializes in the plant genus Viburnum and has spent his career researching the history of plant genetics and evolution. He shares stories from his unconventional path into biology—shaped in part by his anthropologist parents and his mother’s later venture into sheep farming. Michael reflects on how his longtime connection with Oak Spring’s President, Peter Crane, beginning in the 1980s, led to his invitation to join the board. In addition to his scientific work, Michael is also a devoted old-time musician. He helped pilot Oak Spring’s new music residency and performed with his band at the Rokeby Community Festival this past fall. He shares his enthusiasm for bridging science, agriculture, and the arts as Oak Spring continues to grow its vibrant interdisciplinary community. Hear music recorded at Oak Spring by the Far Flung Stringband here. Learn more about Oak Spring's Music Residency here. Host: Chris Stafford Oak Spring website: https://www.osgf.org/ Subscribe to the Oak Spring Newsletter: https://www.osgf.org/ Email: program@osgf.org Instagram: @oakspringgardenfoundation Twitter: @oak_spring Facebook: Oak Spring Garden Foundation

37 min

The Oak Spring Podcast

Caring for Champions: Veterinarian John Mayo on Rokeby Farm and Paul Mellon

Planting the Framework: How Oak Spring Became a Public-Facing Institution

Shaping Light: The Past and Present of Oak Spring's Trees

Step Inside the Library

Narratives in Nature - Fall Reading List

From Seed to Sovereignty

Belonging and Becoming: Conversations on Place

Roots and Rhythms: A Conversation with Michael Donoghue

Trailer

Introducing Oak Spring Garden Foundation

Ratings & Reviews

About

Information

The Oak Spring Podcast

Episodes

Caring for Champions: Veterinarian John Mayo on Rokeby Farm and Paul Mellon

Planting the Framework: How Oak Spring Became a Public-Facing Institution

Shaping Light: The Past and Present of Oak Spring's Trees

Step Inside the Library

Narratives in Nature - Fall Reading List

From Seed to Sovereignty

Belonging and Becoming: Conversations on Place

Roots and Rhythms: A Conversation with Michael Donoghue

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

About

Information