Garden Organic, who operate the Heritage Seed Library down in England, have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the seed library and highlighting the importance of seed saving by relaying a package of seeds around the UK.
“Seed is a precious natural resource, and open pollinated seed continually adapts to the conditions in which it is sown. 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.” – Garden Organic
It reached Scotland in June, and we received the shiny golden envelope from Mimi at EATS Rosyth last week. The package contained several different kinds of peas, and a couple of varieties of beetroot. We chose MacGregor’s Favourite Beet to sow, using our brand new soil blockers. We’ll be saving seed from these to send back to Garden Organic, as well as to share with our local community in Fife through our own Seed Library (currently at the YMCA Gallatown Hub in Kirkcaldy, and due for a visit to St Andrews towards the end of summer).
We hopped on our bikes to take it to the next stop in the relay: Campy Growers in Dundee. We cycled about 18 miles in total, starting from Leuchars, along the Fife Coastal path which meanders through Tentsmuir Forest – where we encountered a large bird of prey, clouds of bright blue butterflies we’d never seen before, and some very early chanterelles. We fought the wind as we crossed the Tay, carrying the seeds over the county border and into Dundee. We followed the circular Greenway cycle path around the city centre, well marked and well paved, to Camperdown Country Park.
Campy Growers’ beautiful reclaimed land produces food for their local community, available at a market stall on site every Saturday, and through a CSA veg box. If you’re up that way, we recommend a visit to see their array of bright and overflowing polytunnels.
We love making connections with other growing and seed saving projects, and the Seed Relay provided a fab opportunity for us to reinforce our links with Dundee. Keep an eye on the Garden Organic social media to see where the golden envelope of seeds ends up next!
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