As we approach Autumn of 2024 the Dundee Seed Savers make the most of the sunnier days to collect their final seeds of the growing year.
This year saw the beginning of the group, who met throughout the year at the Botanic Gardens and Dawson Park to discuss seed saving methods, plan what seeds to save and gathered to collect seeds at the end of the year. Many of us chose to save from simple crops, like tomatoes, peas and lettuce, but others were more adventurous and chose challenging seeds!
If you want to save your own seeds, it is really easy! The first step is to choose a variety that can produce reliable seeds that are true to their parent plant. Popular varieties like F1s do not do this, so avoid saving their seeds! A good place to start looking is at a local seed company, like Seeds of Scotland, or use the Heritage Seed Library to find a rare and unusual variety that needs your help to keep thriving!
Take care of your plants throughout the growing season and look out for the healthiest plants or tastiest vegetables. Save your seeds from these plants and avoid saving from plants that suffer from disease or failure to thrive. There are many brilliant guides to help you get started, but we really liked the resources from Real Seeds.
Once you've saved your seeds, look out for a local seed swap and take your spare seeds to share. We will be hosting a Dundee seed swap in January 2025, so keep a look out and bring your seeds along!
As more of us Dundee and Tayside growers gather to share seeds, we can find out what grows well in our area and save seeds that are more resilient to changes in our climate and increasingly unpredictable weather. We can also protect forgotten varieties like the beautiful "Scotland Yellow" tomato, or "Musselburgh" leek.
If you would like to join our small group of seed savers, email dundeeseedsavers@gmail.com
