Heritage Seeds

A recent article by Garden Organic focuses on heritage seed and the need to preserve our gardening heritage.

In 1973 the Seed (National List of Varieties) Act was introduced.  Its main aim was to stop unethical selling of sub standard varieties.  All seed had to be tested and registered, a cost which could only be borne by the major seed producers.

However well intentioned this seemed to be, the result was to instantly make hundreds of varieties unavailable to the public.

Local climate

Varieties which is some cases had evolved in a certain region making them ideal for the local climate.

Unlike commercial varieties, most of the heritage seeds produced crops at different times, avoiding gluts and giving a much longer harvest, the diversity in varieties giving a greater range of flavours, textures and colours.

The sale of unregistered seed is illegal and many heritage varieties cannot be registered due to the small quantities of seed existing.

Heritage seed library garden

Human nature being what it is, a canny solution was quickly seized upon.

The Heritage Seed Library was the first response.

It doesn't sell unregistered seed: it gives it away to members, who pay an annual subscription.

More recently, organisations such as Vida Verde, Kokopelli, and Beans and Herbs have begun operating in a similar way.

Heritage seed library

They are not museums; they constantly source and trial varieties from all over the world and some carry out their own breeding.

Members also save their own seed to swap with other members, in a heartening return to traditional distribution methods and so a dynamic, evolving and ever-growing library of gardeners' varieties is being maintained.

Many have been brought back from the brink of extinction, and are now grown across the country.

The wider the network, the safer the varieties are, and anyone with a tiny veg patch can join in.

View full article and details of where to source these exciting varieties.

More information

We have listed some suppliers of heritage seeds here >>
Maybe you know of others then please let us know via the contact us form.

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