One of the main (and most fun!) objectives of the Seed Sovereignty Programme is to support the development of localised seed hubs – connecting clusters of enthusiasts to make seed magic happen!
Off the back of 2024’s ‘Growing to Seed’ practical seed training and mental wellbeing project, the progression of previous year-long trainees, and the aspirations of one of the Programme’s most experienced seed producers, Hans of Esk Seeds and Plants, the newly created Teesside and North Yorkshire Seed Hub met for the first time in late February.
Seed hubs take many forms, from informal groups of savers that come together around pub tables to the likes of the formidable Wales Seed Hub, which has created a successful and inspiring business selling locally-adapted open pollinated seeds to hundreds of growers each year. There are no set objectives, and consequently the Teesside and North Yorkshire Seed Hub-bers met to co-create their group without a fixed agenda.
Esk Seeds was the perfect location to begin those chats. In the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors, in the tiny hamlet of Botton Village (itself the home of a Camphill community), Hans carefully dries and cleans seeds he has grown in the nearby village of Ainthorpe, and packages these together with a selection of the best quality organic and biodynamic seeds from other seed producers to be delivered to growers across the UK. Although Esk Seeds is a new venture for Hans, he was a founding member of both Stormy Hall Seeds and the Seed Cooperative and has years of expertise he’s only too willing to kindly share.
We spent a morning learning more about Esk Seeds’ operations, Hans explaining how the machinery he has installed in his small warehouse works, and introducing the Hub members, who are currently growing on the smallest scale with kitchen table processing tools, to the next level of possibilities.
After a shared lunch, we widened the discussions to include where we’d like to focus our energies for 2025. Mapping current locations and
activities, an important task, was aided with a road atlas and sticky dots and it was good to see how wide the geographic spread was, from Stockton in the north to Filey in the south, but also to note the gaps in distribution, mainly to the west. Hub members chipped in with those varieties that they felt had a particular history or connection with the region, including Stokesley and Cleveland peas, the Irish Preans that have been saved for decades at Saltburn, the Darlington Jack runner bean, and several types of French beans, lettuce and flowers which are known to perform well locally. We agreed to bulk up the amount of seeds of each we have this year. Hans kindly agreed to cold store these precious seeds at Botton to make sure they’re preserved for the future.
And there was interest in deeper research too. The group would like to contact gardens locally where seeds and their stories might be kept, as well as archives at Middlesbrough, Northallerton and Ryedale Folk Museum and local allotment sites. A simple first step was to create a Google drive with shared access where any photos, anecdotes and records could be kept.
We closed with gratitude and fortitude, preparing for the very steep ascent out of the valley and up onto Blakey Ridge to home! We’ll meet again in a few months, having followed up on key actions, and in the meanwhile, use a WhatsApp group to communicate updates, thoughts and ideas. We might have bought some seeds on the way out…
The Teesside and North Yorkshire Seed Hub currently numbers 13 members but would always welcome other local seed growers who would be interested in joining. The group is also *really* interested in hearing about any varieties, stories or shenanigans relating to seed that they can further explore!
To join, or to share, please contact Catherine, Regional Coordinator for the north of England, by email – catherine@gaianet.org.
Esk Seeds and Plants are available at https://eskseeds.co.uk/
Wales Seed Hub can be found here: https://www.seedhub.wales/
If you’re interested in forming a seed hub, please contact your regional coordinator (seedsovereignty@gaianet.org). You may also wish to read our ‘So you want to start a seed co-op’ guide here too.
