The event began on Wednesday, October 15 at Doubleday Gardens to mark the 50th anniversary of the Heritage Seed Library (HSL).
Members of Braintree Organic Gardeners and Southeast Essex Organic Gardeners helped dispatch the seeds on the first leg of their journey.
The relay shares, sows, and saves heritage vegetable seeds across the country in a public celebration of community seed saving and its vital role in food security and genetic diversity.
The seed relay under way(Image: Garden Organic)
Fiona Taylor, chief executive of Garden Organic, which manages the HSL, said: “The Heritage Seed Library conserves seed by sharing it, and this work is a continual relay between places and generations to ensure the survival of heritage vegetables.
“Passing seed on to be grown by friends, neighbours, and future generations is a simple action that gardeners and growers can take to ensure our food crops adapt to climate change.
“Seed is a precious natural resource, and open-pollinated seed continually adapts to the conditions in which it is sown.
“This means by passing seed on and sowing it in a variety of places, we are allowing it to survive and thrive.”
The relay began in Bocking, where organic gardening pioneer Lawrence D. Hills first began his conservation work and where the HSL seed was first sown.
The first leg travelled more than 180 miles from Bocking to Ryton Gardens near Coventry, the current home of the HSL, with planned stops at Down House in Orpington and other key locations.
At each stop, a “seed champion” takes a packet of heritage seeds from the anniversary parcel to grow, harvest, and save, while passing the remaining seeds on to the next participant.
The HSL serves as the UK’s only living library of heritage vegetables, conserving food by sharing precious heritage seeds with gardeners and communities.
By growing and saving these seeds, each participant helps preserve genetic diversity and food security in the face of climate change and other global challenges.
Future legs of the relay will continue across Scotland and Wales in 2026, with a separate celebration planned in Ireland.
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