Join Transition Horsham for a Seedy Saturday

There will be the usual seed tables and a variety of other stalls to interest local gardeners, beginners and experienced alike.

If you have collected your own seeds which you want to swap, then put them generously in an envelope, and label with what it is, the variety if known, and approximately when and where it was gathered. It’s a straight swap, so for one packet of your own seed you can take one you want, or if you don’t have seed then a donation of about 50p is fine, so in addition to swapping seed it is a valuable way of obtaining locally grown seed that you want for a minimal outlay. Information sheets on seed collecting and growing will also be available as the more people who get involved in seed collecting, the more seed we have to swap each year.

Courtesy of Newbridge Nurseries we do have some packets of older seed which you can pick up, no guarantees re germination but always worth a try, seeds are remarkably resilient, apart from the notoriously short-lived parsnip and onion.

Apart from the seed tables there will be a variety of stalls including the local horticultural societies, Horsham, Southwater and Horsham Organic Gardeners, not forgetting representatives from Horsham in Bloom and the Museum garden.

Brinsbury College will have a stall with information about horticultural courses, plus Carrie Cort’s Green Living stall, all about recycling, Transition Horsham will be promoting its Community Allotment project at the Chesworth site which we hope will inspire interest. This year we have Mid Sussex Beekeeping Association, Warnham Nature Reserve and The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, and are hoping to be joined by Chesworth Farm, all of interest to budding naturalists.

Following the success of the raffle we will be having it again, well worth a ticket. As a new venture we are introducing a gardening book and magazine swap, bring gardening books and magazines you have read and no longer want, and pick up some new inspiring ones.

Tea, coffee and homemade cakes will be available, as well as savoury items, so do drop by, have a chat about growing things with other keen gardeners and pick up good advice and, of course, some seed.

Why do we swap seeds? Growing locally acclimatised and traditional older plant varieties is fun, and interesting. It preserves bio-diversity, which is the survival of lots of different plants, insects and bees, and encourages community independence and strength. Access to good seed means successful plants, good nutrition and a healthy happy community. Come and join in.

The event takes place between 10am and 4pm.

Report and picture of last year’s event contributed by Dr Maggie Weir-Wilson.