News / Gardening
Growers unite for popular annual event
It’s an essential date in the calendar of anyone interested in gardening, food sovereignty, green spaces and the proliferation of plants.
Run by passionate volunteers for over 20 years, Bristol Seed Swap attracts hundreds of people to its annual event at Trinity Centre that embodies the sentiment ‘take what you need, give what you can’.
The event – called “the Glastonbury of seed swaps” by previous speaker Gerald Miles – encourages attendees to get out and growing, in whatever space – whether window box, guerilla plot, community garden or allotment – is available to them, and provides the means to do so, with seeds of all varieties available to take home for free.
is needed now More than ever
“We want as many people as possible to grow food and to get into gardening and believe that money should be no barrier to doing so,” say organisers.
A vibrant mix of seed tables, stalls and talks is designed to get people informed and ‘excited for the growing season ahead’.
Bristol Seed Swap attracts hundreds of people to its event which each year combines seed tables with talks, stalls, a kid’s area and refreshments
This year’s focus on community growing will be led by a panel of five speakers from local projects.
Representatives from Redcatch community garden, Garden Folk CIC – part of the Purple Patch creative collective – Horfield’s Goldenhill community garden, ALIVE Gardening and Incredible Edible Bristol will discuss ways for people without a garden to get involved in growing.
“With increasing numbers of people in precarious accommodation and more and more homes being built without gardens, as well as lengthy waiting lists for allotments, community growing spaces are providing an invaluable opportunity for many people to keep connected to the soil and the seasons,” said Guy Manchester of ALIVE which runs dementia-friendly gardens in Brentry and Brislington and a community garden at Barton Hill’s Wellspring Settlement as well as at various hospitals and care homes.
“Fortunately, Bristol has many such options – from Community Supported Agriculture schemes to community gardens centred on wellbeing – and this panel will be showcasing many of them”.
Elsewhere on the programme, Rhizome Community Herbal Clinic co-founder Becs Griffiths will share the benefits of herbs for energy, immunity and mood, and Seed Swap organisers Diane Holness and Daniel Fox will discuss how seed saving contributes to crop resilience, sharing notes from their projects the Mendip Rainbow broad bean and Bristol blight-free tomato.
The talks will be hosted by Raise the Bar’s Kat Lyons, Bristol City Poet 2022-24.
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Organisers have explained the importance of seed saving locally within a global context.
“In a rapidly changing world, saving seed from your favourite crops offers a little island of resilience,” Manchester, the event’s coordinator who is also secretary of Bristol Hops Collective.
“It’s also perfect for community-building because you typically get more seed than you can ever use – so why not share them? Seed swaps are just extensions of that ancient relationship.
“Seed is the source of all food. We all saw during the pandemic how our food supplies can be interrupted. Saving your seed and, just as importantly, sharing it, means your favourite crops will always be grown. And you’ll have stronger relationships, too. All your ancestors did it!
“Commercial companies don’t have money to license hundreds of varieties so caring for them is in the hands of individuals. Most of the seeds sold in the UK are sourced from overseas, so saving our own protects against supply issues and means we have seeds that are attuned to local growing conditions and are therefore likely to be more robust.”
The Swap is self-funded and based on a ‘take what you need, give what you can’ sentiment, with many people offering cakes for the cafe to sell to raise funds to host next year’s event
Bristol Seed Swap takes place from 12.30-4.30pm on February 23 at the Trinity Centre, BS2 0NW. Find out more at www.bristolseedswap.com and get involved via brisseedswapvols@gmail.com
All images: Guy Manchester
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