Introduction to Seed Saving with the Heritage Seed Library

Posted:28 September 2014

What better way to make your garden productive in the autumn than by seed saving now in readiness for next year look out for our seed saving workshop on Saturday 18 October 2014.

The Garden House is pleased to welcome Sally Cunningham of the Heritage Seed Library to give a talk on seed saving. A lifetime professional gardener, Sally worked at Ryton Gardens in Coventry for over 15 years in a number of roles from advisor to deputy head gardener for the Sowing New Seeds project; she was also responsible for the planting and design of the Exotic Garden.

Previously Sally worked with Kew and Leicester Museums; she is author of Asian Vegetables and Ecological Gardening, and writes for a variety of magazines including Grow Your Own and The Organic Way. At present she is teaching with the WEA (Workers Educational Association) in Leicester and continuing to explore exotic crop potential in the UK.

Sally will find out what sort of seeds are being saved already (at The Garden House and by participants), what the group wants to know more about, and how she can help.

 

Why save seed? – Sally will discuss the increased number of seed companies, EU legislation and how Heritage Seed Library came into being; why you should all try to keep your own seeds going; difference between live and frozen-in-time seed libraries.  Also about the politics of seed saving: about out-breeders and in-breeders and the practical problems between them.

Methods of saving seed – Sally will highlight the importance of isolating plants to keep seed strains true to type; how many plants do you need to save seed from and how do you select the best; wet saving (tomatoes and cucurbits) and drying (beans, peas and others).

Cost: £25 – to include light lunch and refreshments.  11am to 2.30pm.

Location: The Garden House, 5 Warleigh Road, Brighton BN1 4NT.