THE UK’s first ever ‘seed relay’ is being launched by the Warwickshire-based charity which looks after the National Collection of Heritage Vegetables.
The relay is underway.Garden Organic is marking its 50th anniversary with the relay, which will see heritage vegetable seeds shared, sown and saved across the country to highlight the work of the Heritage Seed Library (HSL) in safeguarding food security and genetic diversity.
The relay will have three parts: in England in 2025, Scotland and Wales in 2026, and a special celebration will take place in Ireland.
The first leg of the Seed Relay began last week in Bocking, Essex, where the seed of the HSL was first sown, and Garden Organic founder Lawrence D Hills began his groundbreaking organic gardening and conservation work.
During the giant 50th birthday ‘pass-the-parcel’ event, the heritage seeds will travel more than 180 miles to be shared among key individuals, organisations and communities across England, before finishing at Garden Organic.
At each stop-off point, supporting ‘seed champions’ will take a packet of seed from the golden anniversary parcel to grow – and eventually harvest and save – and pass the rest of the seeds onto the next destination.
A Garden Organic spokesperson said: “A changing climate and decline in insects including pollinators is making our food security more precarious. We need to conserve the widest variety of vegetable seeds as possible to ensure the survival of homegrown food crops.
“Add to this worldwide food shocks caused by pandemics, wars and disrupted trade routes and the urgent need to save our precious seed becomes a race against time.”
‘Seed champions’ will take a packet of seed from the golden anniversary parcel to grow – and eventually harvest and save.The HSL is the only living library of heritage vegetables in the UK, and the only seed library that conserves food by sharing heritage seeds with gardeners and communities.
By sharing and ‘growing out’ the seeds with community partners across the UK, the seeds become more resilient and better adapted to climate change and local conditions.
Fiona Taylor, CEO of Garden Organic, said: “The Heritage Seed Library conserves seed by sharing it, and this work is a continual relay between places and generations to ensure the survival of heritage vegetables.
“Passing seed on to be grown by friends, neighbours and future generations is a simple action that gardeners and growers can take to ensure our food crops adapt to climate change.
“Seed is a precious natural resource, and open pollinated seed continually adapts to the conditions in which it is sown. This means by passing seed on and sowing it in a variety of places, we are allowing it to survive and thrive.”
