Seedy Sunday, seed stores and seed sorting

In the interests of transparency, and because it's been asked, it's about time I explained some of the behind-the-scenes workings of Seedy Sunday. People want to know more about what happens with the seeds, where they come from and how they get looked after.

There's an entire ecosystem of seeds that keep Seedy Sunday running. And explaining it all may show you the depth of my madness. But because this is a community event I think it's good to have a bit of clarity around what happens.

• Anna's seed collection

I have this thing for seeds. I grow them, I collect them, I process and store them. Some I swap, some are given to me and some are bought. This little seed fetish is how Seedy Sunday started; not just to feed my maniacal collecting frenzy, but because the value of seeds and sharing and community building became more and more apparent.

• Seedy Sunday's pot of gold

To prepare for a Seedy Sunday I donate a pot of seeds for each event; usually about 50 packets. This ensures that everyone who comes gets something and adds some variety to the table. Other people bring seeds and whatever is left after an event is safely stored away in an air-tight tin can until the next one.

• A growing opportunity

Some of that seed may be grown out by myself or given to experienced gardeners to keep the seedline going. This builds up stores of seed to be giving out at Seedy Sunday or to go into a community chest. That's a project I'm calling the Kapiti Seed Store.

• Funding the growth

LovePlantLife seeds are a separate thing entirely, but still an important part of this ecosystem. Most are bought in but some lines are grown by me under careful conditions and checked for strong viability. These act as the fundraising arm for these activities. I'd like to keep Seedy Sunday and the Seed Store as self-funding projects and not apply for already overstretched Kapiti community grants.

LovePlantLife lets this happen by paying the bills - marketing, hall hire, printing, consumables etc. The donation at events usually covers afternoon tea and a bottle of wine for the speakers. None of the seeds I've received through Seedy Sunday have gone on to be sold.

So what do I get out of all this?

I get to put together something pretty special. Seedy Sundays have been really popular, educational and social. Some great things have come out of it, some great friends even. I'm doing work I feel is really important. And I actually really enjoy harvesting, processing and packaging seed. I guess it's what you would call enjoying the little things in life :)

~ Anna

How to get your garden beds worked by a keen team for free : Seedy Sunday Spring

Seedy Sunday is back with a Spring Seed Swap

Seed saving for Daylight Saving: Come and share local seeds and gardening knowledge.

We'll tell you the secrets of worm farming. Imagine thousands of worms digging over your beds and providing nutrients for your veges. And you won't have to pay them a cent!

3pm, Sunday 25 September - Kapiti Community Centre, Ngahina St, Paraparaumu (near Library).

Bring: seeds (labelled, please), seedlings and garden produce, questions and gold coin donation.

Hannah Zwartz, Green Gardener and garden writer, will talk about worm farming - where to get worms, what sort, how to house them, what to feed them, and why they make such good livestock.

Seedy Sunday Discussion Group

Seedy Sunday is on hiatus right now - let's call it maternity leave. But in order to keep in contact, a web-based discussion group has been started and we'd love for you to join in the conversation.

The discussion is powered by Google Groups and you will need to head over there to sign up. You can either use the web-interface to see what is happening or receive emails. You can change your settings to receive emails as they are posted or get periodic digests.

So come and join in the conversation, ask questions, introduce yourself or see if anyone has those herb cuttings or vege seeds you're after.

Click here to check out the Seedy Sunday Kapiti Google Group.

Edible Backyard Spring Festival - 8 October

Home Garden Workshops with Peter Proctor and Rachel Pomeroy

Biodynamic gurus Peter Proctor and Rachel Pomeroy are set to deliver a series of Home Garden workshops this week in Kapiti. For more details please click the images below. 

Watch the trailer for One Man, One Cow, One Planet
This film looks at biodynamic agriculture, a Rudolph Steiner-inspired system of organic farming. The film focuses on proponent Peter Proctor, a worm-obsessed Kiwi gardener; and his work promoting biodynamics worldwide, particularly in India, where he argues that modern industrial agriculture (eg. artificial chemicals, GM seeds) has made soil and plants toxic, and farming unsustainable. Proctor's simple recipe to save the planet? One man and a bucket of cow dung.