Brighton's Seedy Sunday
Brighton's largest and longest established seed swap event is back for its 11th year and is expected to be even bigger than previous years.
Seedy Sunday 2012 will be on Sunday 5th February at Hove Town Hall.
The event will open at 11am and run until 5pm and is expected 
to see more than 2000 people swapping and buying seed.
Entry is just £2 with all proceeds ploughed back into the event.
A full programme of speakers will be announced nearer the time.
It is expected to include seed, food and organic campaigners, writers and activists, plus an ever-popular question time session to help those new to sowing and growing or wanting advice on everything from varieties to grow to improving the soil.
Hove Town Hall will also play host to a wide range of stalls from specialist nurseries and seed sellers to community groups and charities.
The emphasis will be on local organisations or those with a focus on sustainability, biodiversity, healthy living and community activity.
Chairman of the organising committee, Alan Phillips, says Seedy Sunday is now an important part of the gardening year for many of those attending:
We know that many gardeners and allotment holders view Seedy Sunday as their main annual opportunity to acquire new seed. Many will save seed from their own crops to bring along and swap, but of course if you've no seed to swap you can still enjoy the enormous range of seeds on offer, including some from the Millennium Seed Bank swap, by making a donation per pack. Seedy Sunday also raises awareness of the issues of biodiversity and food sovereignty as well as the benefits of growing and eating your own food. It's also an amazing community event with everyone from diehard organic types to complete newcomers looking to sow their first ever seeds coming along.
For more information including advice on saving seed, visit www.seedysunday.org
Seeds, politics and campaigning examined at UK's largest seed swap
An exciting programme of talks and discussions has been announced for Seedy Sunday.
Topics under discussion range from the horticultural to the political and are designed to educate, stimulate and challenge visitors to the UK's largest seed swap event.
Horticultural topics will include planning your vegetable plot or allotment to ensure you have year round vegetables; saving and storing vegetable seeds to sow or swap next year and the ever-popular Gardeners’ Question Time, when visitors can ask a panel of experts for advice on any gardening and growing topic. The final session of the day will cover bee-keeping for beginners.
The more political and campaigning sessions include an examination of the issue of food sovereignty, looking at who owns the food supply chain and how we can ensure it’s not controlled by big business; the need for a global as well as local approach to saving and storing seed to ensure future generations have access to as wide a range of fruit and vegetables as possible, to ensure continuing biodiversity and a discussion about starting a Seed Circle in Brighton - a plan to save and protect local varieties of seeds, and discussing the human stories behind those seeds.
Speakers will include representatives of organisations including Brighton and Hove Organic Gardening Group, The Whitehawk Community Food Project, The Heritage Seed Library, Garden Organic and The UK Food Group.
The full programme including timings for each session can be found on seedysunday.org.
As well as the talks programme and community seed swap, the event will also play host to a wide range of stalls from specialist nurseries and seed sellers to community groups and charities, with an emphasis on local organisations or those with a focus on sustainability, biodiversity, healthy living and community activity.
Seedy Sunday will be held on Sunday 5th February at Hove Town Hall. The event will open at 10am and run until 4.30pm and is expected to see more than 2000 people swapping and buying seed. Seedy Sunday is sponsored by Infinity Foods and supported by Garden Organic and The Millennium Seed Bank.
For more information including advice on saving seed, visit www.seedysunday.org.