Welcome to our community seed bank project! We are a team of volunteer seed guardians growing vegetables, herbs and flowers for seeds in the back gardens, allotments and community plots of Stroud. After our first successful and productive experimental year in 2016 we have been expanding both our team and the range of seeds we grow.
Click here to view our 2024 Seed Catalogue
If you’d like to see our Seed Catalogue’s from 2016-2021, let us know!
Beans grown by seed guardians in 2016
Why save seed?
Farmers and gardeners have saved and shared their own seeds for thousands of years, but with the rise of global agribusiness, F1 hybrids and GM seed, many delicious heirloom and locally adapted varieties are being lost, and genetic diversity is being eroded. By growing our own seed we can help to turn the tide and make our own communities more resilient. Seed growing can be great fun and deeply satisfying – and anyone can do it. Click for more…
View our Stroud Community Seed Bank VISION here
How to save seed?
Seed saving doesn’t have to be difficult, but growing good seed does require a bit of knowledge, planning and attention beyond the basics of ordinary vegetable growing, and some vegetables are more challenging than others! There is loads of great information available free online to get you started.
For more information on how to start Seed Saving, please read our Stroud Community Seed Bank Network – Resource Booklet which has lots of links to videos, websites, books and more!
Donating
We are a part of a not-for-profit organisation which means that we offer our seeds to you for a donation only.
If you’d like to donate towards a packet(s) of seed that you’ve picked up from one of our distribution points, please do so, using the reference ‘seed bank’. Thank you for your support.
Seed saving at Cainscross allotments
Get involved!
We would love you to join us on this seed saving adventure and there’s plenty of scope to get involved or help out. Through the year we run occasional workshops and film screenings on seed growing, and in late winter our annual seed catalogue is released. Our seeds are available in exchange for donations in late winter and early spring, from the Down to Earth stall at Stroud farmers market, and at other local events. We are always keen to recruit more seed guardians to help us scale up the seed bank and grow more seed locally – and anyone can do it! Click for more…
Get in touch
Swapping seeds and stories
If you would like to know more about the Seed Bank, our seeds, or any of our events, please get in touch! We would also be delighted to hear from you if you think you might be able to help out in any way, or have ideas about how the seed bank could develop in to the future.
Say hello to us and keep up to date with news and developments on Facebook: www.facebook.com/stroudcommunityseedbank
For more info and to join in, email : seedbank@downtoearthstroud.co.uk
Watch this lovely short video of Jessie, Megan & Finley saving their Cherokee beans in October 2018: