We're excited to be taking part in this year's Seedy Sunday seed swap in Brighton - sharing our heritage vegetables seeds and conservation techniques with visitors.

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The seed swapping season has begun and we're off to Brighton on 4th February, for the largest and longest running seed swap, to meet gardeners, growers and seed savers.

Between 9am and 4.30pm we'll be showcasing seeds from our National Collection of Heritage Vegetables, some of which appear in the 2024 Heritage Seed Library Seed List. The list, which is available to members, contains 170 varieties this year, with 70 certified organic and 14 new varieties.

You can find out more about our conservation work and pick up some unique heritage varieties, and talk to the team about membership options.

"We're looking forward to sharing this important part of biodiversity, as well as the wonderful stories and people behind the seeds," said head of the Heritage Seed Library Catrina Fenton. "We'll also be on the lookout for rediscovered heritage varieties we can help conserve, so if you have something that little bit special to share, please come and see Terri and Marcin on our stand!"

Why seed swap?

Seed swapping is a fantastic low-cost, sustainable way to get a goody bag of new seeds. Better still, swapping helps increase plant diversity because it encourages you to try new things and grow more varieties. We love them, because they also help conserve heritage varieties and get people growing them!

At the heart of Seedy Sunday, based at the Open Market in Brighton, is the huge seed swap table where seeds are donated and swapped. This year, we've donated 500 packets of 37 different types of open-pollinated heritage varieties.

People at a seed swap stall — Seed swaps offer a low cost way to find unusual things to grow and boost biodiversity

Learn more about us

Our Heritage Seed Library (HSL), based at Garden Organic in Ryton, near Coventry, 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.

The seed library holds more than 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.

If you're looking for something special to grow this year, head to Seedy Sunday at Brighton Open Market and come at chat to us in the traders area. For more information about the event click here.