What is a Seed Bank?

We’re sure you have questions, and the first one is possibly, “What is a seed bank?”

A seed bank is a collection of seeds which can be taken and used by anyone. The simple aim of a seed bank is to share and disseminate viable seed, especially heirloom and local varieties that might otherwise be lost. Our seed banks are  free and open to all.

The second question you might have is, “Why bother?”

I have been curating the Huntly Seed Bank since early 2019, and it has gone from strength to strength with hundreds of seed packets being disseminated free of charge every year. In fact, since I started, we have given away over 3000 packets of seeds in just Huntly alone. During the 2020 lockdown we shared over 400 packets of seeds with our community free of charge. This meant that we were all able to grow food and produce for our own tables. There was a huge upsurge in interest in growing for the table and we very much hope that that interest will continue to grow.  The pattern has continued since then, and we’ve been able to support families and schools with their growing to help us develop a plot to plate understanding of the food we eat. During challenging times for all of us it became apparent just how important purposeful time outdoors is to both physical and mental health. Growing food for your own table is deeply satisfying, and we would love everyone to have the opportunity to experience that.

One of the first barriers people face when they are getting started growing veg is the cost. Seed can be very expensive and if your plants fail you have literally thrown your money in the dirt. This means that you might not want to take the risk. You might have even tried before and not achieved the results you expected and decided to not try again. With access to a free seed bank that costly risk is gone and all you are giving up is some soil and some time.

Other barriers that people face are things like knowledge and equipment. To help with that we have made sure that all the varieties we have chosen for the Aberdeenshire Libraries Seed Banks are straightforward and uncomplicated to grow. You won’t need any fancy equipment or tools, and you won’t need a huge, dedicated vegetable patch, all you need is some soil and some patience.

We can even  help out with any knowledge gaps too with the Greener Huntly Growing Hub. This is an online interactive group where your veg growing questions will be answered by our team. You can find support and conversation with other people in our region who are growing the same varieties at the same time. 

Over the coming year you’ll find updates and blogs from our team, and you can follow along with our successes (and failures!) and we can go on this veg growing journey together.

Happy growing!