Giant yellow tomatoes will soon be growing at a community garden thanks to the Heritage Seed Library
Volunteers at The Hive and members of NLOG at the seed relay event
An Enfield gardening group has taken part in a “seed relay” and will now be growing “giant” yellow tomatoes next year.
The Heritage Seed Library (HSL), based at charity Garden Organic, is celebrating 50 years of seed conservation this year with its unique seed relay across the UK.
Members of Garden Organic – including North London Organic Gardeners (NLOG) who meet in Winchmore Hill – receive a golden envelope containing heritage seed varieties, which they can select from before sending the envelope on to the next member in the relay.
Former Blue Peter gardener and well-known horticulturalist Chris Collins was on hand at The Hive Community Garden next to Ridge Avenue Library in Enfield to chat to NLOG gardeners and primary school children from the Busy Bees Gardening and Nature Club.
Chris is a Garden Organic gardener who lives in Palmers Green and provides regular blogs about his local allotment. He will be passing the seed relay on to the next stop at Hampton Court Palace.
Sue Davies, part of the NLOG committee, said: “We’ve been supporting the Heritage Seed Library for more than 30 years and it’s fantastic to be part of this project to celebrate its 50th birthday.
“Saving seeds is essential if we are not to lose many heritage varieties that are adapted to the UK – and its changing climate. People send their long-cultivated seeds to this living library for safekeeping, so they can be shared with other gardeners.”
HSL is the only living library of heritage vegetables in the UK. By sharing and ‘growing out’ the seeds with community partners across the UK, the seeds become more resilient and better adapted to climate change and local conditions.
NLOG offered their seed packet to The Hive gardeners, who chose the heritage tomato ‘Dixie Golden Giant’, from the HSL’s National Collection of Heritage Vegetables. It produces very large deep yellow-orange fruits.
Devina Rishi, founder of the community garden, said: “The children are going to be so excited to see this giant yellow tomato getting bigger… and bigger!
“We’ll also be learning how to save the seeds and send them back to the library.”
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