Join our new seed saving and sowing webinars
We’ve had a busy couple of months with our Sowing your Seeds project, made possible by the National Heritage Lottery - taking part in lots of seed saving workshops and raising awareness of the wider work of the Heritage Seed Library.
One of the highlights in September was visiting Worcester Community Garden to run a workshop with their volunteers. This visit felt extra special as Worcester Community Garden have been growing Heritage Seed Library varieties throughout the year, including some beautiful red orach, one of the project varieties.
We had the pleasure of picking the veg to save the seed directly from the garden with workshop participants, before heading back to the polytunnel to process them together.
There was also an unexpected bonus: we were given some chickpeas, saved year-on-year by one of their trustees. We’ll be checking and testing to see whether it’s a unique variety that’s not commercially available with a view to including them as a new variety to conserve for future seasons.
Helping communities build skills 🔗
We delivered a hands-on seed saving workshop at Growing Roots Allotment in Earlsdon. This inclusive project supports asylum seekers, refugees and newly arrived communities to access green space, improve wellbeing and build new skills.
And at Fircroft College of Adult Education, we led a workshop for students on the Mother Garden Bootcamp. We also had a stall where we were giving out free seed from the Heritage Seed Library and providing advice on growing and saving heritage seeds to people visiting the college throughout the day, as part of Bournville Heritage Open Days.
We learned about a potential interesting variety from someone who moved to the Midlands from Ukraine. She only has 10 seeds of her pole bean variety, but she plans to grow more next year to bulk up the supplies and will send us seeds. Keep your eyes peeled for future updates.
Our upcoming webinars 🔗
All our webinars run from 6pm-7.30pm online, unless otherwise specified
17 November: Getting Started with Seed Saving
Discover the joys of saving your own seeds! This introductory session will cover the basics of seed saving, from understanding how seeds develop and mature, to harvesting, cleaning, drying and storing them successfully.
15 December: Planning Your Growing Space
Good seed saving starts with a little planning. Join us to explore how to plan your growing space with seed saving in mind, from choosing suitable crops and varieties to thinking about space, plant relationships and the practicalities of growing plants for seed.
19 January, 6pm-8pm: Seed Saving Made Simple - booking link coming soon
Ready to save seeds from some of your favourite crops? This practical, extended session will explore how to save seeds from peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers and lettuces – a great starting point for building your seed-saving skills. Learn when and how to collect seeds, how to prepare them for storage, and what to consider when growing different crops for seed.
16 February: Seeds with Stories – Unusual and Culturally Important Crops - booking link coming soon
Every seed has a story. This session celebrates the interesting crops growing through the Sowing Your Seeds Project, such as quinoa, red orach and callaloo. Combining practical seed-saving knowledge with stories from the people who grow, share and care for these varieties, we’ll explore how seeds connect us to food traditions, cultural identities, personal histories and places. Come and discover the importance of keeping diverse crops and their stories alive for future generations.
DATE TBC: Community Seed Saving Q&A - booking link coming soon
Bring your questions, share your experiences and celebrate what we’ve learned together! Join a panel of growers, seed savers, Seed Guardians and Sowing Your Seeds project participants for an open Q&A exploring the challenges, successes and surprises of saving seeds. Whether you’re wondering how to harvest a particular crop, how to store seeds, or how to keep special varieties growing for years to come, this is an opportunity to learn from one another, exchange ideas and strengthen our seed-saving community. Everyone is welcome, from complete beginners to experienced growers.
The Sowing Your Seeds Project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, celebrates the diversity of seeds, the knowledge of the people who grow them, and the cultural stories and traditions they carry. Through practical workshops, shared experiences and community participation, the project aims to help keep seed-saving skills and living seed heritage thriving for future generations.
If you have a variety which you think could be included in the project, please click here. Or email Hannah Watkins. You can also subscribe for project updates and to hear more about our upcoming webinars.