Seed Miles

[veggiechicken]

I expect most of us have heard of Food Miles - where you eat food that has been grown or produced locally, the closer to home the better.

I've been thinking about applying the same concept to Seed Miles - growing seeds that have been saved locally.

Like fruit and veg from the little shop at the end of the garden, seeds that I save from my own plants will have the lowest seed miles - measured in seed feet/metres.

Seeds from the Vine's own Seed circles may come next as they are all saved in the UK (unless they're from Grapes living in Europe).

Also HSL seeds or other UK seed exchanges.

Next would be seeds from UK producers/growers like Real Seeds and the Seed Cooperative.

After that, the waters become muddy - who grows the seeds that are sold by the major seed retailers - the T&Ms, MrFs, Marshalls, Dobies, Unwins and so forth?

What would we be unable to grow from seed, if we only grew local (UK) seed?
I can only think of the weird and wonderful seeds that some of us grow just for fun.
Can you think of anything?

[Thelma Sanders]

It's a difficult one because a lot of the veg we grow today came originally from other countries, so it's just as well that gardeners in previous centuries didn't restrict themselves to growing only local seeds.

Think about it - where did tomatoes, potatoes, courgettes, Calabrese and the like come from?

It's always worth saving seeds from the easy stuff, where possible, but at least if a harvest fails through bad weather or pest attack, we can always buy another packet, not so easy in days gone by.

[veggiechicken]

Its hard to imagine life before courgettes.
However, now that they're here, sort of adopted, could we buy UK produced seeds in preference to some that have been grown the other side of the world.
I've noticed how few seed packets state where they've been grown and I really would like to know.

[Thelma Sanders]

I think it's only Real Seeds that says theirs are all UK grown.
I often buy from Francchi and it's obvious that theirs aren't

[veggiechicken]

I do like Franchi as they produce their own seeds, even if they're not in the UK - and big packets too.

Seed Cooperative are another UK producer (I think?) https://seedcooperative.org.uk/

[veggiechicken]

A few more https://www.seedsovereignty.info/whe...his-christmas/

Irish Seed Savers
Brown Envelope Seeds
Vital Seeds
? Tamar Organics

[rary]

I like your idea VC especially as there seem to be more f1 coming on the market now, and though they produce good plants you have to purchase the seeds every year, for, as you know you don't get the same plants from any saved seeds

[kitty12345]

Good question I've wondered this before and I suspect alot of commercial seeds are from the Netherlands. Not that this is bad, obviously a good thing in failed harvests and provides us alot of choice of varieties.
Only proof I have though is that flower bulbs are almost always grown there, and when I lived in Greece we used to buy seed from the coop that had them in large wholesale bags. On the side would be printed the varieties and where it was grown, and it was always the same.

[Snadger]

Its a noble aspiration and does have a lot of positive sides. Microclimates can make a difference along with soil type. Over a period of time and through natural selection you should be able to grow plants that are most suited to your area.


I have already rebelled against F1's in favour of open pollinated varieties and this would be a natural progression along this route for me.

One of your less nutty ideas VC.

[toomanytommytoes]

After that, the waters become muddy - who grows the seeds that are sold by the major seed retailers - the T&Ms, MrFs, Marshalls, Dobies, Unwins and so forth?

I would guess a mixture of the 'big boys' and their growing partners and subsidiaries. There's an area in Holland between Enkhuizen and Warmenhuizen called 'Seed Valley' which is home to 40 seed producers. Some of the biggest in the world including Syngenta, Seminis (Monsanto), Hazera (Limagrain), Bejo Zaden and Enza Zaden have branches there. France, Italy, Poland, India and China also have large seed production areas.

Kings are apparently the only bigger company still producing seed in the UK, though just a fraction of their total catalogue.

Some other smaller UK grown seed shops:

https://vitalseeds.co.uk/
Ben's Seeds and Stuff

[Penellype]

An interesting idea VC. I'm afraid I am too fond of my F1s (and probably too lazy) to save my own seed, but I console myself with the thought that I haven't bought a single vegetable (except a few mushrooms and avocadoes) for about 4 years now. One packet of seeds lasts me years, except for parsnips, so I doubt my contribution to seed miles is very large and it is likely to be much more than offset by the total lack of veg miles - unless of course you count things like compost miles, and miles driven importing horse muck...

[Jungle Jane]

I mainly buy kings seeds since my melon seeds did well from there,they’re quite near me 5 miles maybe,the parent plants grew not far from where my seedlings grow. I think t & m are near me too but kings give more seeds per price I find regularly when I compare packets. It’s really nice growing the seeds from the seed circle on here,knowing who the plants originate from is special I wish I had space to grow them all!

[mcdood]

Hi Penellype, do you do anything special to keep the seeds viable once opened?

[SarrissUK]

Hi Penellype, do you do anything special to keep the seeds viable once opened?

Personally I seal my opened seed packets with the little food bag sealer clips that you can get very cheaply at the large swedish furniture store you may know and love

[Penellype]

Hi Penellype, do you do anything special to keep the seeds viable once opened?

Not really - I keep them in my cloakroom (the coolest room in the house) and just fold the packets down. Most seeds keep fine like this for a few years, depending on the type of seed. I do occasionally find that seeds don't germinate (corn salad seems to go after a couple of years and some lettuce can be temperamental), but things like tomatoes keep for ages. It will be interesting to see if the hot summer has caused any problems when I try to grow things next year.