Saturday 5 March 2016

Seed swapping













The shoe box of seeds came down from the shelf today. I sorted through it ruthlessly and made a pile of things I didn't need any more. Then I rounded up the children and headed off to Avon Wildlife Trust's Feed Bristol project. It's a community vegetable growing garden and it's absolutely fab.

Today was their annual seed swap. Hand in your packets of excess seeds and pick out something a bit different. There were stalls and homemade cakes, lots with vegetables in them and a fire to poke sticks into and a lovely little house made of all natural materials.

The whole site is sustainably run, it was such a pleasure to be around people who "get" the whole sustainable thing. Where we live it's hardly ever even considered sadly. I have one or two like-minded friends, but really on the whole people locally are just not into it. At Feed Bristol so many little details were attended to, it was a whole different vibe. Natural shelters that will just decompose back into the earth when the time comes, dozens of people arriving by bike, natural fibre clothing, organic whole food. It was really inspiring to see so many people so committed. 

The site is such a wonderful spot, I imagine it looks absolutely glorious in the summer. Not quite so excellent was the view out the back though.


Sadly a load of local allotments have been ripped out to put a city bus route through. The allotment holders did their very best to protest and hold on to their precious plots, but in the end the council won out and they were evicted. Disappointing isn't it.

While I'm on the subject, Wellywoman has a fantastic post up today about the ancient grazing wetlands that are the Gwent levels, on the other side of the river. Do have a read if you have a spare moment, it's such very precious land, and such an interesting post.

Back to the seeds. We had a good rummage and I picked out a fancy looking white patty pan squash, some radishes - you can never have too many radishes, okra and some pink mallow flowers amongst other things. I hung about the bee lady picking up tips. Oh how I would love to have bees. I picked up a couple of leaflets telling me which bees like which flowers.


And something new to me, a nice man gave the biggest boy a handful of oca tubers. They're from the Andes where they're second only to potatoes in popularity. You can eat them raw, apparently they're a bit lemony, or you can cook them just like a potato. I do like to try something new.


We need to pop them straight into pots on the windowsill and keep them frost-free. I'll keep you posted on their progress.

If there's a seed swap near you I can highly recommend it. It's great to find one or two different things to try and pass on your own stuff to someone who'll appreciate it. And there's cake.

33 comments:

  1. That sounds like a fascinating day out. And I'm very envious of your oca. I hadn't heard of it either until this year and now I really want to try it.

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  2. This looks like a fantastic place for a day out. I do like the idea of a seed swap. Those white squash things are nice to eat, we used to have them when I was a child. Cake is always a bonus! Enjoy your Sunday. xx

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    1. I forgot to say that there I have not heard of a similar place here but we do have the Children's Garden in the Botanics, where children can go after school, or during the day if they are younger, and learn how to garden, help in the gardens or just play amongst the fruit trees. It is fab for city kids. There is no cake. Sadly. x

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  3. I've never heard of oca tubers but they look really interesting - it's always fun to try new things. Your day out looks fantastic and what a good idea to swap seeds. R quite fancies bee keeping too, but doesn't really have the time at the moment. I think we may need to add it to the retirement list. Happy sowing. xx

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  4. Wonderful photos dear C.J., a fun way to spend the day talking to like-minded people who are putting sustainability into practice in their gardens and great to be able to swap seeds. I love attending school fetes as you can always find some interesting seedlings there.
    Happy Sunday!
    xoxoxo ♡

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  5. What a neat way to meet like-minded people. The ocas were neat. I knew the word oca from crosswords. :-) ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  6. Sadly, sustainable culture isn't very big here in Orlando either, but there are a core group of people trying to get the movement going.

    Looks like you had a wonderful day at the seed swap.

    My new blogs:

    http://pointylittlesticks.blogspot.com
    http://meanwhileinflorida.blogspot.com

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  7. I'm intrigued by the little house with bottles in the wall and slices of log(?) on the floor, and the little insect houses. What a fab place. Such a shame about the bus route. I think councils are often very unimaginative in their decision-making. Bees are on our list too. I'd love to have a hive or two. One day. Sam x

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  8. It looks and sounds like you had a most enjoyable, and worthwhile, time there. Good luck with the oca, which as you know I'm also trying this year so it'll be interesting to see how we both do with them.
    Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Flighty xx

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  9. Oh wow, that looks right up my street too! I'm doing an online seed swap this year, which is also pretty exciting. Am going to check out Feed Bristol and hopefully make a visit next time we're in the area...

    As for the oca tubers, please report back!

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  10. What a fabulous idea..I love the look of that stove. I'm still hunting for seed and cutting compost, never mind seeds! It's definitely something Jersey should start. Have a good Mother's Day. B x

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  11. I was sent some oca tubers by a blog friend so we will be able to compare notes.

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  12. What a great way to spend a day and a fantastic initiative by your local wildlife trust. I love events like these, the opening of your eyes to new ways and the ideas they are promoting will become more normal I'm sure. Just think how vegetarianism and even cycling are almost mainstream now. 40 years ago you were considered weird and as for having an allotment - well now everyone wants one! If everyone took one or two baby steps every day towards a more sustainable future just think how much better our world and its people will feel. I've never heard of oca so will watch your progress with interest.

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  13. I think it is a fascinating way to spend your Saturday. The boys will have learned so much. Such a shame about all of those lovely people losing their allotments.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  14. Fantastic! I shall keep eyes open for similar here. Xx

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  15. Love this seed swapping idea...boo to so called council progress though! :) xxx

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  16. Sounds wonderful, there is nothing similar locally that I know of but such a great idea.

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  17. Exciting times ahead! We will look forward to hearing about your progress, especially with the oca! xx

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  18. What a great idea. I especially love those magnificent 'bug hotels'.

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  19. Feed Bristol looks like a fun event - we are lucky to live in a very liberal, sustainable minded area and have great organic food options. We sometimes take it for granted.

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  20. I think you are going the correct way. It is good idea to save the environment so it will be here for future generations. It is great to be able to get good organic food.

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  21. This looks like a lot of fun and such a great idea. I was just watching a show that discussed the storage of seeds from all over the world in a sort of seed library in Norway, I think it was, and they can study which seeds grow well and where they grow best, which fungi can attack them, etc. I would enjoy a seed swap. Maybe they'll do it here someday. In the meantime, I enjoyed seeing yours.

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  22. In Nebraska, my niece and her family have been involved with seed swaps and trying heirloom seeds in their gardens. We have learned some from their experience and are encouraged to do more by their good example...and now yours. Thanks for posting! xx

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  23. what a wonderfully inspiring place. x

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  24. Read that oca can be planted out in the plot after early potatoes and that the tubers form in autumn. Good luck with yours.

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  25. What a great idea seed swapping is CJ - and I love the house made from natural materials, reminds me of one I saw on Grand Designs. I've never heard of oca so I look forward to seeing how the tubers grow in the coming months.
    Caz xx

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  26. http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/all-cams/ Hi C.J. I enjoy reading your blog and wondered if you and your family have been watching the live webcams mounted to capture nesting birds. The above is a good link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's site. (You may have to copy and paste).

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  27. Wow that sounds so good and it must be wonderful to see all those great ideas. We picked up some seed from others and the garden club. We also we given some wild flower seeds to grow on and take back to a grow in a community meadow. That oca sounds a fun experiment too! Sarah x

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  28. What a lovely event! And I love the beautiful bright red tubers! I hope your seeds produce a very good haul for you. As a child I loved my mother's green beans and pepper plants. I still have fond memories of her cherry tomatoes in the garden and the smell of basil.

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  29. Looks like a fun day. I tend to find more like-minded people on the internet than in real life unfortunately! Sometimes I forget and talk about butchering chickens and keeping bees with people at work, I get some shocked looks :)

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  30. What a great idea and place to go, looks like your had a great time :)

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  31. Hey CJ,
    A marathon blog catch up here. I'm all behind (ahem). I did enjoy this post, and I love the look of this place. I've not seen anything like that in this neck of the woods, but I do swap seeds with like minded people. And my neighbour Sandra is forever giving me seeds, and seedling and cuttings. I always think there are no folk nicer than gardeners.
    Leanne xx

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