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HSL Climbing Bean Jembo Polish

The Heritage Seed Library

The Heritage Seed Library (HSL) maintains the national collection of heritage vegetables and aims to conserve vegetable varieties that are not widely available, sharing seed with our members to grow and enjoy.
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Get involved with HSL

Home growers, schools, communities, organisations and public gardens can support the work of the Heritage Seed Library by becoming a seed guardian and growing seed for us. You can also support us by becoming a Garden Organic HSL member and get free seed every year!

Introducing the Heritage Seed Library

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    How to request seeds from the Heritage Seed Library Seed List

    Ordering your heritage seeds from our annual Seed List is easy, but here we outline some troubleshooting measures in case you run into problems.

  2. Book of heritage seeds

    Why we grow heritage seeds

    The Heritage Seed Library is a vital resource to connect people with seed, keep our heritage alive and increase biodiversity.

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    How the seed library works

    The seed library holds over 800 varieties of seeds, including rare landrace varieties adapted to specific growing conditions, heirloom varieties saved over generations and varieties no longer available to buy.

A bunch of 7 carrots laid flat on the ground, these carrots have a purple tinge to them and bright green stems

Become a Variety Champion

Our heritage varieties are a vital part of our genetic past and, with your help, we can ensure they will be available for future generations. If you would be willing to consider becoming a Variety Champion, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Find out more

Requesting your seeds from the 2025 Seed List

  • The 2025 Heritage Seed Library Seed List opens at midday on Wednesday 11 December 2024 and closes on Friday 28 February 2025.

  • To gain access to the Heritage Seed Library Seed List, you must become a member of Garden Organic and the Heritage Seed Library.

    Garden Organic Membership starts at £3.25 a month, and Heritage Seed Library is an additional £1.75. You can join at www.gardenorganic.org.uk/join

  • If you're a Garden Organic and Heritage Seed Library member, log in to your members area and visit www.gardenorganic.org.uk/shop/seeds. You will be able to browse the seed list and submit your request.

  • If you are struggling to log in to your member dashboard, please reset your password at www.gardenorganic.org.uk/members/login. You'll receive an email asking you to reset your password. If you're still unable to log in, contact our membership team: [email protected].

  • Individual Heritage Seed Library members can order 6 packets of seed. Group members can order 12 packets of seed.

  • Please try refreshing the membership dashboard page. If your details still aren't up to date, please contact our membership team on [email protected].

  • We get a lot of traffic to our website in the first few days of the seed list launching! If the Seed List isn't loading for you, or is coming up with a 505 error, please try again later.