The Seed Gathering 2023

Custom Food Lab are delighted to be working with The Gaia Foundation as their arts programming partner on the 2023 Seed Gathering. We are collaborating with the Gaia team on programming across the weekend, as well as co-curating a Zine which will be sent to every audience member.

Our contributions to the gathering include an exclusive film screening with Q&A, an Artists Panel, artist-led mindfulness and grounding sessions, a discussion about the migrations of seed (in connection with our Entangled Roots programme) and a menu for a Seed Feast.  Watch this space for more details!

Seed Gathering 2023

Dates: Saturday 11th – Sunday 12th February 2023. Running time 9am – 7pm GMT.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/479135285537

Event page: https://www.seedsovereignty.info/events/seed-gathering-2023/

On the 11th and 12th of February, 2023, the Gaia Foundation will host their second Seed Gathering – a space for our seed networks to come together to share, learn, and celebrate all the incredible work going on throughout our lands. Join us!

The Seed Gathering will take place online to allow for international speakers and ensure the event is accessible and affordable. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite, and all details on how to set up on the event platform, Crowdcast, will be sent on in advance.

This is a weekend for celebrating the seeds we work with and the people who cultivate them; for sharing and learning; and for connecting across our local and international networks. We will be recording all the sessions so if you can’t attend at the weekend you can catch-up at your leisure afterwards! What you can expect:

  • Keynote by journalist, broadcaster and author of award-winning Eating to Extinction Dan Saladino
  • Celebrations of the diversity of our seed and the communities who grow them
  • Legislation Action workshop in light of upcoming changes to UK seed legislation
  • Practical sessions on DIY low-tech seed machinery and record-keeping
  • Exploration into landrace gardening with Joseph Lofthouse
  • Tips on seed saving for market growers
  • …and much, much more!

The Seed Gathering has been organised with support from four of our valuable allies – The Organic Growers Alliance, the UK Grain Lab, Hodmedods, and Custom Food Lab. Each of these organisations represents collaboration in key areas of inspiring, connecting, and generally making good stuff happen.

The Organic Growers Alliance – a peer-to-peer network of organic growers, farmers and horticulturalists.

UK Grain Lab – an annual meeting of farmers, millers, plant breeders, bakers, cooks, scientists and academics providing an opportunity to bake together, eat, drink, learn from each other and talk about the future.

Hodmedods – works with British farmers to provide pulses and grains from fair and sustainable UK production.

Custom Food Lab – is our arts programming partner, joining as part of their Arts Council funded project Seeding the Commons, which explores art-making as a practice of commoning knowledge systems around food and growing.

#SeedWeekFrom Monday 6th – Friday 10th February 2023, #SeedWeek is set to take social media by storm, showcasing all things seed.

This flagship annual celebration offers a cornucopia of ideas and inspiration at a crucial time: regrowing a nutritious, biodiverse, and resilient seed system across the UK & Ireland has never been more important. #SeedWeek is an opportunity to share your stories, cultivate connections, and thank the seed sowers, growers and savers who are a daily inspiration.

Daily content from The Gaia Foundation’s Seed Sovereignty team will feature films, podcasts and photos from their work with our networks up and down the country. But we want the hashtag to bloom, to the benefit of us all: you are invited to use this opportunity to share your own posts about the seeds and people in your life. Is there a local seed producer you’d like to thank, a veg variety everyone should know about, or a recipe so delicious it’s still making your mouth water? Tag us and  #SeedWeek so we can make a bigger collective impact!