COMMUNITY GARDENING
Seeds for Scotland is a new seed company run by Haley Shepherd and Finlay Keiller, two young growers working from Evanton, near Dingwall. They opened for business in April this year and are the only seed company in Scotland who are selling open-pollinated seeds for heritage varieties – to help bring back some of our historic plants while increasing resilience and biodiversity.
Haley explains, “As the seed industry has grown we’ve exported the production of seeds to warmer climates, which makes sense for economies of scale.
But that means you lose the adaptation of seeds for Scotland, and the history of varieties that have been growing here in the past. We’re trying to keep them growing and to keep their stories alive.”
How many gardeners for example, know there is a Musselburgh Leek? And how proud would you be, if you lived in Musselburgh, to grow that leek? These are the questions that Haley and Seeds for Scotland are trying to answer. “I don’t think the average gardener knows that there are seeds and plants native to their area. There’s a big movement around local food but often the seeds are forgotten.”
Hayley and Finlay are just two figures in a burgeoning movement around saving and promoting local and heritage seed. All across the country there are seed libraries and swap events which encourage people to plant with seeds from their area, and then give back when their plants have grown to seed. That way, resilience and adaptability to local climate conditions is built in.
Seed libraries are active in many places, including the regular seed swaps in Dumfries and Galloway, operated by the South Machars Crop Swap. In Glasgow, a local arts centre hosts a seed library where growers can pick up or drop off seeds at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, as well as attend events on soil health and make use of starter seed packs every spring. And in Perthshire, the local council has merged regular libraries with seeds – so that those with a library card can also make use of a bank of locally-cultivated seeds to help them plant crops that are both organic and have been proven to thrive in the area. It costs just £5 to join.
Sinead Fortune works for Gaia Foundation, a charity which runs the Seed Sovereignty Programme, aimed at bringing back heritage seeds that make sense for Scotland’s distinct geography and climate. She’s excited by the way seed libraries are beginning to emerge.
“Most plant breeding happens in labs and is done privately – the aim is marketable produce rather than resilience for the common good. As a result, people are disconnected from seed.
Once you get people involved in the rich tapestry of seed swaps and seed initiatives, they rediscover their love for seed. There’s a growing interest in seed libraries – everywhere from Glasgow to Dingwall – and that’s fantastic. It’s all about education and empowerment.”
Find out more about the Gaia Foundation’s work on seeds at www.seedsovereignty.info. You can buy seeds for the Musselburgh Leek, the Ailsa Craig onion, and much more at www.seedsofscotland.com/.
If you would like to see your community or gardening group featured in a future edition of Scotland Grows magazine, please do get in touch to mail@scotlandgrowsmagazine.com - we would love to hear from you!
