Membership
Guildford Seed Bank
A community project dedicated to saving and swapping open pollinated seeds in the Guildford, Godalming and Farnham areas to preserve as wide a diversity of plants as possible, by growing, saving and sharing – ensuring they are accessible to all. Our first growing season was 2022, and since then we have distributed thousands of packets of locally saved seed including rare and heirloom varieties.
Nick and Pippa giving a talk about the Guildford Seed Bank at the Dorking Eco Hub.
What is a seed bank?
A community seed bank, sometimes known as a seed library, is geared toward protecting biodiversity, is a way for people to save seed, and share locally-adapted seed. Unlike the massive seed banks which keep seed in cold temperatures for decades, a community seed bank is all about saving and using the seed in the next growing season – a renewing cycle each season.
Guildford Seed Bank Aims
The aims of Guildford Seed Bank can be summarised in the following six points:
- Growing and saving seed with an aim to preserve biodiversity and maintain heritage/heirloom varieties – especially those with a local connection and those which may no longer be commercially available, to develop and maintain locally adapted, resilient varieties.
- Sharing seed, plants and cuttings between ourselves and the wider community through the running of an annual seed swap event in Guildford
- Distributing spare seed from local growers and from seed companies, avoiding waste, through the seed libraries in the local area.
- Outreach to promote awareness through events, social media and collaborating with other local and national seed saving organisations.
- Education on practical seed saving, propagating plants and understanding and experimenting on how we adapt to growing plants in a changing climate and recording and disseminating the results of our trials.
- Promote diversity and inclusion in our activities to ensure all people have an opportunity to contribute and participate in the aims of Guildford Seed Bank, free from barriers or discrimination.
