I’m nearly ready to plant some seeds. I am restricted to containers at the moment as I realise that dogs and small gardens don’t go well together, it’s a bit of a mud bath and the only things growing are in places where the dogs don’t sit, run and fight, which doesn’t leave many places.
I’m doing my best to steer away from the big companies that produce sterile hybrid seeds and shop more locally with people who are concentrating on developing heirloom seeds. I think these are more suited to our climate and adaptable enough to give us good quality fertile seed for the years ahead. I find the seed business quite a complicated issue, but there are a few companies specialising in conserving our plant stocks, the most prolific one in Ireland being Irish Seed Savers based in Scariff, County Clare. Irish Seed Savers promote agricultural biodiversity for food security in the future.
Seed Savers specialise in:
Preserving Irish Biodiversity
Irish Seed Savers have over 600 varieties of heritage, open pollinated vegetable varieties from Ireland and from gene banks around the world.
Seed Bank
Their latest project is the construction of a new Seed Bank and processing and drying facility.
Native Irish Apple Collection
There is a unique orchard of over 33 self rooting varieties of apple trees that require no grafting for propagation. This is probably the largest collection of this type of apple tree in the world.
Research Projects
Irish Seed Savers Association has been involved in a variety of research projects over the last 15 years. Research into apples, plums, grains and vegetables are ongoing. Some of the research has included the antioxidant properties of some of the old apple varieties and the omega contents of native flax seed. They are particularly proud of the Education Project, which is aimed at educating the young in the importance of biodiversity.
Grain Project
Before the introduction of the potato, Irish people included grain as a dietary mainstay, particularly oats. Oats were used in breads, desserts, drinks, medicines and cosmetics . Ongoing research is bringing back field planting strong of strong varieties. To date, many native Irish oats and several wheat, barley and ryes have been re-established. The varieties of grain that are available for farmers to grow today have steadily decreased over the years and the potential for these native grains as a reliable food source is great.
Preserving Native Trees
They have devoted over 2 acres of land to a native Irish woodland and wildlife sanctuary. Some of the varieties in our Native Irish Woodland are Alder, Ash, Silver Birch, Bird Cherry, Hazel, Holly, Rowan, Oak, Scots Pine, White beam, Spindle and Willow.
Heirloom seeds Definition
A lot of the seeds at Irish Seed Savers can be classed as Heirloom seeds.
The definition of Heirloom Seeds is “A cultivar of a vegetable or fruit that is open-pollinated and is not grown widely for commercial purposes. An heirloom often exhibits a distinctive characteristic such as superior flavour or unusual colouration.”
Apart from being very enjoyable, what else does saving our own seeds achieve?
• Create new varieties adapted to your growing conditions and your tastes.
• Save money by saving your own seeds and/or trading with other seed-savers.
• Preserve the genetic diversity of our heirloom food plants.
• Empower your own personal breeding goals instead of the commercial goals of agribusiness seed breeders.
• Helps to retain the plants vigour as well as pest and disease resistance.
• A garden is not just for working in, make it a pleasurable peaceful place for sitting and relaxing, enjoy it!
GreenFriends Europe - Seed Saving Project
The interest for saving seeds is wide and recently the worldwide Amma Group have set up seed banks around the world saving heirloom non hybrid seeds, three of them are being set up in Ireland and will complement the ‘Get Growing courses that have already started, which are designed to teach people the important skills of organic growing and are taught free of charge. The seeds will have the proper vigour to grow without the dependency on chemical fertilisers and can be replanted continuously. Her message was clear: These heritage, non-hybrid varieties are very precious and worth saving. They will have the strength to carry on, even if chemical fertilisers should be no longer available, by just using traditional organic methods. Furthermore, they produce plants that keep on being true to their parent plants over generations, which means their seeds can be saved year after year. Amma said these non-hybrid heirloom seeds will become very important for our food production in the future.
To produce the seeds for the seed bank, three large organic gardens in Ireland are now dedicated to that purpose. Additionally, GreenFriends Ireland is working on a manual and workshops to instruct people on the proper way of saving seeds - the ‘Seeds of Life’ project. For more information contact: David Maloney, GF coordinator, phone no: 0863350202, e-mail: greenfriends.irl@gmail.com
‘Children, one of our priorities should be to preserve Nature. We must put an end to the practice of destroying the environment for money, for our selfish short-term needs. Each family should grow trees and plants in their yard.’ - Amma
