Eco Hub • Seeds of change

The speaker at the April Eco Hub was Nick Fosbery of Guildford Seed Bank, which he described as:

The group’s mission is to preserve a wide diversity of plants, by growing, saving and sharing seeds – especially heritage and local varieties. It also aims to help teach and encourage others to save seeds and grow their own food. 

Why save seeds? 

Nick told us that there are five reasons for saving seeds: preserving biodiversity, safeguarding heirloom and rare plant varieties, living sustainably, saving money, and food security. “We believe everyone should have access to seed to grow their own food, even if it is just a few herbs in a window box,” he said. 

Less experienced gardeners may be concerned about what seeds to save. We were told that they should be distinctive (with traits that we want to preserve for the next growing season, or seeds from a plant in danger of being lost) and open pollinated (insect or wind pollinated, not the product of enforced pollination or inbreeding). If we are growing food, we should save seeds from a plant that tastes good and is reliable, particularly in terms of coping well with local weather conditions. 

Easy seeds to save

For those of us who haven’t saved seeds before, Nick suggested starting with easier types of plant. Peas and beans are a good place to start but should be allowed to dry out fully before saving. To save tomato seeds, start with an open pollinated variety (not a variety). Chilli seeds need to be isolated, so that they don’t cross with other chillies and peppers. Each flower seeds to save include foxgloves, scabious, cosmos, nigella and aquilegia. 

Some useful resources:

Thank you to Nick and the team from Guildford Seed Bank.

Launching the Dorking Seed Library

It was a very well attended Eco Hub, with participants of all ages chatting, swapping books, enjoying refreshments, doing crafts, and of course swapping seeds.

Well done to Katherine who also launched the Dorking Seed Library at the April Eco Hub. Nick of Guildford Seed Library worked closely with Katherine and we are delighted to see this amazing collaboration start to grow (sorry could not resist the pun!).

The Dorking Seed Library is now situated in the Dorking Library where you can pop-in to collect a pack of seeds to grow.

Thank you to author Tara Craig
with an addition by Wendy Saunders

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