Seed Swap - Seedy Saturday

“When I went to my first seed swap in Brighton a few years back, it completely politicised me,” says Marina Pepper, Chair of the District Council, an environmental campaigner who has organised the first seed swap in Lewes. It’s called ‘Seedy Saturday’ and it’s taking place in Grange Gardens this weekend. “I mean I was politicised anyway,” she continues, “and banging on about waste and fuel and that, but then I realised that food was the main problem. Sort out food, and you’ve sorted it all out. Growing your own food has got to be the answer to our environmental problems.”

The main idea behind Seedy Saturday is the chance for growers of all shapes and sizes to come and swap their (non-GM, non-cross-fertilised) seeds with other growers, to thwart the multinational seed companies, which often sell environmentally damaging seeds. But it’s much more than just that. “There will be food stalls, Middle Farm will organise cider and perry tasting, Chaula is doing a stall and the Community Café is cooking local fresh organic food on a wood-burning stove in a 30-foot diameter yurt: any waste will be composted, and there will be demonstrations on how to do this.” Pretty much every angle is covered, even a literary one. “Lewes being Lewes, Grange Gardens was the childhood home of John Evelyn, who wrote the first gardening manual for the masses. His biographer, writer and broadcaster Maggie Campbell-Culver, is coming over from France to give a talk about his work." AG