Seedy Sunday takes root

The National Botanic Garden of Wales is holding its second community seed swap event on Sunday February 22nd.

Organisers of ‘Seedy Sunday’ are hoping to bring together seed savers, herb and home-grown veg enthusiasts, local gardening, allotment and community groups as well as organisations campaigning for sustainable food production and biodiversity.

Head of Marketing at the Garden, David Hardy said: “This is an open invitation to everyone to come along and exchange locally-grown, traditional variety vegetable seeds with other enthusiasts.”

The centrepiece of the day will be a ‘Table Top Seed Swap’ area but there will also be experts on hand to talk about what seed to save and how to save it, heritage seed varieties and other related movements such as Banc Organics, Tools For Self Reliance and Growing the Future. There will be fun family activities around the topic of seeds, too.

Experts from the Garden’s Growing the Future project will be giving two talks during the day. At 12 noon, the subject is ‘Success with Seeds’ – how to ensure you get the best results from your home grown seeds: and, at 2pm, there is a talk entitled ‘Saving Your Own Seed’, with tips on how to select the best seed and what conditions to keep it in.

David added: “To encourage folk to bring something to put on the Seed Swap Table Top we are making admission to the Garden on the day FREE to anyone who brings along some seeds to swap.”

* All seeds should come from local gardeners and growers who grow open-pollinated varieties. Please put seeds into a brown envelope which should be carefully and clearly labelled with what’s inside and the year it was harvested.

* The National Botanic Garden is open from 10am until 4.30pm. For more information, go to www.gardenofwales.org.uk, email info@gardenofwales.org.uk or call 01558 667149.