The seedy season is upon us, with grain already ripened and harvested, we’re collecting dried pea and broad bean pods, as well as harvesting seed from last year’s kale crops, and more. For us, September to February is when we get busy with seed. We have been paying attention to which crops have done well – we save seeds from thriving plants, to help ensure a good crop for next year, and to share with the wider community.

At the farm, we save seed in a number of ways… There are crops that we are growing mainly for their seed. This includes seed that we have been commissioned to grow for Seeds of Scotland, as well as crops that we are growing as part of The Gaia Foundation’s Seed Sovereignty crowd-breeding project. Then there’s the crops we grow for eating. We don’t pick everything from every plant. We let some of the best ones go to seed, so we can save those seeds and sow again. As we grow, save and re-sow seeds in our soils, the seed and the resulting crop will become better and better suited to our particular location. They learn how to thrive in this  place – with its own soil microbiome, climate, predators and fellow crops.

We also save seed to stock the Seed Kist, to giveaway to our community at our seed shares. We are keen to see more and more people in our community saving their own seed and sharing it with others. This is the basis of a resilient food system. We run workshops on how to save seeds, and are always happy to have a chat about it at the Community Garden drop-ins, seed shares and other seed events.

Autumn & Winter Seed Programme

Join us for a series of Seedy events, workshops and volunteering opportunities across this autumn and winter to find out more about the power of saving seeds, and get involved with seed saving in north Edinburgh…

Click here to go the events calendar for details and booking links

Look out for…

Our Seeds: Kale Threshing Party 
Friday 5 September
(volunteering session)

Our Grains: Threshing Time
Friday 12 September
with Granton Community Gardeners
(volunteering session)

Our Seeds: Introduction to Seed Saving (one day workshop)
Friday 26 September
(paid, ticketed workshop)

 Our Seeds: Sow a History of Wheat Plot
!!DATE CHANGE Thursday 2 October!!
with Granton Community Gardeners
(free, ticketed event)

Beans, Peas & Carrots ~ Seed Threshing and Cleaning
Friday 24 October
(volunteering session)

Our Seeds: Introduction to Seed Saving (one day workshop)
Saturday 8 November
(paid, ticketed workshop)

Our Seeds: Restocking the Seed Kist
dates in December and January to be confirmed
(volunteering session)

Our Seeds: Seed Swap and Share
three dates to be confirmed in February, March & April 2026
(free drop-in event)

All details and booking links will appear on the events calendar when confirmed

Plus, we are looking to start a North Edinburgh Community Seed-Saving initiative. We will aim to gather together an interested group for three meetings over the winter, perhaps in October, November and January (location could rotate).  If you’re interested in being part of this, please contact us

We’re looking forward to this whole season of saving and sharing our amazing, resilient, powerful seeds, which contain all our hopes for future harvests. Join in if you can.

~ Our Seeds: All Seeds Are Migrants, Every Seed Has a Story ~