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Southampton’s First "Seedy Saturday" 4th March 2006 saw what was possibly Southampton's first seed swap take place at the Edmund Kell Unitarian Hall 10am-2pm.(It wasn’t the first seed swap in Hampshire - that credit is due to Hants HDRA for their seed swap table at the Potato Weekend at the end of January.) "Seedy Saturday" was inspired by the very successful "Seedy Sunday" event held annually in Brighton. The idea behind it is to encourage local people to save local varieties of seeds (fruit, veg, flowers, herbs etc) to help protect local biodiversity and to keep local varieties from vanishing. In addition to lots of seed swapping, the event was supported by a number of other stalls including:
Refreshments were being served and Chris Kennett of Nature's Treats was busy making fresh hemp seed smoothies!! Even if you did not have any seeds to swap there was the option to donate 30p per packet or £1 for 4 packets. Such bargains helped to ensure that seeds were available to anyone interested in growing their own veg. The event helped to raise awareness of wider issues associated with seed saving, GM seeds and who controls our food supplies. Seed swaps are also, of course, all about people - swapping knowledge, know-how, valuable growing hints and tips, keeping in touch with fellow gardeners and encouraging new ones, exchanging information and news of the latest developments…all good components of sustainable lifestyles… I look forward to co-running the next one in 2007! Attendance was good at around 100-150 people and we raised a total of £174 in donations. £100 went to Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Allotments Cooperative Association Ltd, £54 to the Heritage Seed Library and £10 each to our main seed donors Tamar Organics and the Agroforestry Research Trust. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the event a happy and special one. For photos of the event please visit our web site www.octoberbooks.org/seedysaturday/gallery2006.htm Ziggy Woodward Member of Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Allotments Cooperative Association Ltd, Volunteer for Active Arts Community & October Books. Seedy Saturday was organised by the Active Arts Community - a not-for-profit community group based in Southampton. The emphasis is on promoting healthy living and ecologically sustainable lifestyles through the arts. Working with the wider community, we create inspiring, family-friendly activities and events, using our skills as a group in African Drumming, Arts & Crafts, Poetry, Drama, Story telling, Dance, Cooking, Circus skills, Tai Chi, Self Care, Singing and Visual arts. We (Active Arts Community) are looking to organise a Compassionate Living Fair, which will fall sometime in October! |