We would like to focus on the seed swap for now (grow outs and distribution will hopefully come later).
Starting small, aiming to centralise seeds by the end of March, to have them repackaged and sent back to you by mid-April.
Crop choices and quantities still to be discussed so feel free to give ideas!
Get in touch if you’d like to take part.
Short-term, I would like us to have easy access to the diversity we have available.
Just sending in your own seeds and receiving a mix back will be enough for some people. Others might want to get more involved and send seeds back at the end. Some people might want to collaborate on a certain crop. It’s all good. To me, the first step is to get that first packet of diverse seeds.
Medium-Long term, it’s also important to preserve the germplasm available. On top of keeping a few long term back-ups, some of it could go in the seed train, be shared again with the group, seed libraries, schools (another dream project…) etc.
The ultimate goal would be to make the seeds freely available to anyone.
Funny you mention the Incredible Seed Library. I actually emailed Maggie, who founded it. It would be fantastic to have mixes available alongside heirloom varieties. I’m keeping my fingers crossed she is interested… Otherwise, yes, it is exactly what I have in mind, but it’s not something I can (nor do I wish to) do on my own…
It would be good to distribute excess seeds to people who know what they’re doing. We currently donate our excess after swapping and growing ourselves to our local seed library, but I fear quite a lot of it goes to waste.
Hi Sonja,
I know what you mean… I set up a small seed library to share my excess seeds. It’s very popular but the system has its pros and cons… People are happy to take seeds but very few return seeds. It’s not a sustainable system to scale up. I love sharing seeds though, so I will carry on as much as I can!
eta: Having a group of people working on grow outs would solve the problem for seed libraries. There are many benefits for the group too: diverse mix of seeds, first pick of rarer germplasm etc
I thought I’d emailed Maggie too, because I wasn’t sure if they’d like some of my saved seeds being as they are a deliberate mix, not a pure open pollinated strain. I didn’t get a reply back, so good luck.
I think having a central source for seed reserves would be a great idea. I for one am happy with just a few seeds to mix in with my experiments - just enough to give a flavour so to speak. Having some of my seed in reserve would also give peace of mind. I have had some l;uck with local seed swaps though I gave away my carrot seeds last year and was very happy because I had issues with mine (scratched up by birds and eaten by slugs due to rubbish summer weather) but one of the people I’d given seed to gave me carrots back - so I can still save some seeds from those next year.
I suspect that this sort of thing could probably get funding too if required - if we need containers, freezers (?running costs) postage there might be help for this from 'green funds of some sort. I’ll have a dig around, it might come in for next year if we need it.
Hi Nancy,
Good luck with your carrot seeds! It’s great you have some local back up.
I’m really hoping that we can join forces with the Incredible Seed Library. It would ease people into seed saving with open pollinated populations and then, if they so wish, go into conservation of heirloom varieties, when they have a bit more experience and confidence. Win Win!
Anyway… Thank you very much for offering to look into funding etc.
Fingers crossed we can get a small group going soon to add a pinch of diversity to our projects.
I gave away my carrot seeds last year and was very happy because I had issues with mine (scratched up by birds and eaten by slugs due to rubbish summer weather) but one of the people I’d given seed to gave me carrots back - so I can still save some seeds from those next year.