Morecambe gardener joins veg-growing army battling to protect food security
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In the face of rapid climate change, emerging diseases, and the growth of industrial monocrops these volunteer ‘Seed Guardians’ have been tasked with growing heritage seed varieties by Garden Organic’s Heritage Seed Library.
The library, based at the charity’s headquarters at Ryton Gardens, holds the National Collection of Heritage Vegetables – more than 800 varieties of seeds - including rare landrace varieties adapted to specific growing conditions, heirloom varieties saved over generations and varieties no longer available to buy.
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Hide AdFrom the north coast of Scotland to the Kent countryside, 185 amateur gardeners – from all walks of life - grow heirloom beans, peas and many more notable vegetables to help protect biodiversity and the food of the future.
“Becoming a Seed Guardian was the first step in a whole new way of living for me,” said Nadia Mazza, who moved to the Morecambe Bay countryside in 2019 to become more self-sufficient. "Gardening and seed saving were top of my priority list.”
“As a scientist and mathematician, I love to learn new skills and do something with my hands to redress the balance between cerebral and physical activities!” said Nadia, who has been a seed guardian for seven years. “Seed growing has been a fantastic way to incorporate sustainability into my daily life - and becoming a seed guardian was the first step in a whole new way of living for me.”
In her Overton garden, Nadia has grown a range of crops for the Heritage Seed Library – but the climbing French beans have been a real success story.
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Hide Ad“My stripey tiger beans have been prolific, producing a huge amount of beans, which we’ll return to the library. It’s wet here, so I must shelter the seed pods under cover before they get too damp. You have to be patient – but it’s worth it. Where can you buy tiger beans in the shops? It’s amazing I’m able to grow these beautiful beans in the wet north west of the UK!”
In her 10 by 20 metre garden, Nadia grows all sorts of fruit, vegetables and flowers but there’s no formal structure or scheme. She likes to let nature take the lead.
“In my garden everything works together with nature, I don’t restrict one thing over another," she said. "I believe nature knows what to do much better than us, and we just need to let it get on and do its job.
“Increasing resilience and biodiversity, and keeping old seed varieties alive, is so important. If everyone grew the same vegetable varieties year-in, year-out and they got attacked by pests or diseases, we would have serious problems.”
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Hide AdTo find out more about the Heritage Seed Library or become a Seed Guardian go to gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl. If you join the library before the end of February you can choose your six free packets of Heritage Seeds from this year’s list.