As a Growing Network we held our first seed swap at the start of 2025 at Campy Growers. The seed swap was designed to encourage swapping of excess saved seed and excess bought seed. As a group we have been experimenting with saving our own seed from a number of flowers like Cosmos and Calendula plus Tomatoes and chillies. All the seeds are open pollinated so there are no guarantees that they will be exactly what you expect but that can be part of the fun. We had a great turn out from all sorts of folk, some new beginners and some experienced growers. There was plenty to share as well as the seeds!
Seed saving preserves and increases genetic diversity. It makes our community more climate resilient and over time we can adapt varieties to our local growing conditions. We rely less on large expensive seed companies.
As seed savers we hope to set up a home for our seed library- possibly at Dundee Botanic gardens.
-We will run a tomato grow-along, sharing progress, comparing yield and flavour and saving seeds.
-We will host a seed get together at the end of the season with skill sharing workshops, seed processing and seed swapping.
If you want to learn more about seed saving the Gaia foundation offer a good course.
We have an active, friendly whats app group where we share all our tips and questions so if you would like to find out more locally in Dundee please get in touch with growdundee@gmail.com
