Seed saving project grows at Sharpham
9th July, 2026
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Volunteer Coordinator Kat White writes here about her passion-project: the ancient craft of saving seeds
Alongside my role Volunteer Coordinator at Sharpham, I am also interning with Exeter Seed Bank as part of a Food Studies Master’s course at the University of Exeter. Thanks to the amazing garden team and volunteers, I have been able to bring these passion projects together, and Sharpham is now one of many sites in the region taking part in a ‘crowd breeding’ project which aims to restore the ancient craft of seed saving across Devon communities.
We are stewarding a crop of mixed kale and broad beans which will be encouraged to cross-pollinate, creating a genetic ‘explosion’ that will in time create a resilient and diverse variety adapted to our local soils and climate, called a ‘landrace’. Each seed holds something unique; perhaps a plant that is resistant to certain pests, can withstand high winds, cope with wet weather, or produce particularly tasty leaves. Allowing different varieties to cross-pollinate over time allows these diverse and favourable characteristics to mix and produce new varieties.
Careful cultivation across multiple seasons and sites will give us the best chance of creating a variety that can thrive in different conditions. This kind of growing helps us produce food crops that are resilient in our changing climate, rather than planting genetically uniform crops which have a heightened chance of being completely wiped out by a singular problem. Nature provides us with the best solutions to these challenges, so long as we work with her!
I was so excited when Co-Head Gardener Emily suggested we could prepare a bed for the kale and broad beans in the walled garden, adding another layer of practical and skills-based learning opportunities to our volunteers’ experience. Of course it makes perfect sense - the Sharpham garden team always focuses on growing in the most environmentally friendly way possible. We completely avoid the use of weed killers, pesticides or chemical fertilisers, instead using integrated pest management (i.e., the controlled release of predatory insects to tackle pests affecting plants), as well as making our own compost from weeds, kitchen waste, and leaf mould, supplemented by peat free compost from Coastal Organics, and promoting biodiversity through practices such as polyculture. Landrace gardening goes hand in hand with environmentally conscious growing since allowing seeds to adapt to their local environment means they respond well to low-input systems.
After harvesting and drying the seeds, they will be given back to Exeter Seed Bank who will mix them up again with all the saved seeds cared for by other growers taking part in the project, ready to be grown and saved again. As growers we can select seeds from the most robust plants to ensure that those which go back into the community stock are the ones that have the best chance of surviving going forward.
We have lost 75% of genetic diversity in our crops over the last century. At Sharpham we will ensure that we play a part, however modest, in restoring some of this lost diversity. It is heartening to know that we are just one part of a whole community of people dedicated to this work, making a big impact!
A massive thank you to Emily, Emma, Carla, Kate N, Kate H, and of course our wonderful team of garden volunteers for helping me with this project.