Events
Exeter Seed Swap 2025
Exeter Seed Swap 2025
Sunday 2 March, 11 – 2pm, Positive Light Projects, Sidwell St, Exeter, EX46RD
FREE ENTRY (Suggested donation: £2) bring cash. Children welcome
Featuring: Hands-on activities, demos, yummy café treats, plants to buy, stalls and more!
Talks Programme: Talks held at Sidwell St Bakehouse, Sidwell St, EX46RD. General admission: £5 + booking fee. Limited free tickets for under 25s with valid ID.
For more information and booking:
Talk 12 - 12:45pm: Make your garden wildlife friendly with Lou Jones
Talk 1 - 1:45pm: Community medicinal gardening with Fiona Heckels
Talk 2 - 2:45pm: The four elements of composting with Nicky Scott
Talk 3 - 3:45pm: Improving soil health for a vibrant garden
This project is funded with the support of the Creative Arc Programme, an initiative funded by the University of Exeter, Exeter City Council and the UK government through the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Seed Packing Workshop
Free | Everyone welcome | Exeter Phoenix, Workshop
Join us for a chat and a drink. Bring along seeds if you have any. Take away a few for yourselves.
Find out about our winter ‘landrace’ project to grow a new local broad bean variety for Exeter! Are you growing broad beans? Bring your seeds (if you have any) to our pool and take away some to grow.
Exeter Broad Bean 'Flock' Meet up :-)
Calling all community and solo growers who love the Broad Bean!
Register here
Find out about Exeter Seed Bank's new project exploring adaptive agriculture through the cultivation of a broad bean 'flock'. This involves planting a genetically diverse mix of broad bean varieties together in which to accelerate adaptation to changing climate conditions. It diverges from the traditional method of growing a single crop variety in isolation.
Hear from local market gardener, Dan Fox of Two-Acre Farm, as he shares insights from his broad bean flock trials. Bring along your favorite recipes and stories about this nutritious, sustainable vegetable that thrives during the "hungry gap."
Whether you’re a seasoned green thumb or a first-time grower, let’s grow something beautiful—together! If you have broad beans to share for the mix, bring them along.
The flock crops will be planted in Feburary 2025.
Light refreshments provided.
Seed Packing Workshop
Free | Everyone welcome | Exeter Phoenix, Workshop
Join us for a chat and a drink. Bring along seeds if you have any. Take away a few for yourselves.
Find out about our winter ‘landrace’ project to grow a new local broad bean variety for Exeter! Are you growing broad beans? Bring your seeds (if you have any) to our pool and take away some to grow.
The Exeter Broad Bean Flock Meet up
The Exeter Broad Bean Flock Meetup, Sat, 7 Dec, 2:00 – 3:30pm
Belmont Park Community Hut
FREE | Refreshments provided | RSVP: Eventbrite Link
Curious about the Community Broad Bean Flock Project?
Join us for a relaxed chat about all things broad beans!
Hear from local market gardener, Dan Fox of Two-Acre Farm, as he shares insights from his broad bean flock trials. Bring along your favorite recipes and stories about this nutritious, sustainable vegetable that thrives during the "hungry gap."
If you have saved any broad beans you can spare for the flock, please bring along or contact us!
This project is funded with the support of the Creative Arc Programme, an initiative funded by the University of Exeter, Exeter City Council and the UK government through the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Seed Packing Workshop
Free | Everyone welcome | Exeter Phoenix, Workshop
Join us for a chat and a drink. Bring along seeds if you have any. Take away a few for yourselves.
Find out about our winter ‘landrace’ project to grow a new local broad bean variety for Exeter! Are you growing broad beans? Bring your seeds (if you have any) to our pool and take away some to grow.
Seed Packing Workshop
Free | Everyone welcome | Exeter Phoenix, Workshop
Join us for a chat and a drink. Bring along seeds if you have any. Take away a few for yourselves.
Find out about our winter ‘landrace’ project to grow a new local broad bean variety for Exeter! Are you growing broad beans? Bring your seeds (if you have any) to our pool and take away some to grow.
Seed Packing Workshop
Free | Everyone welcome | Exeter Phoenix, Workshop
Join us for a chat and a drink. Bring along seeds if you have any. Take away a few for yourselves.
Find out about our winter ‘landrace’ project to grow a new local broad bean variety for Exeter! Are you growing broad beans? Bring your seeds (if you have any) to our pool and take away some to grow.
FUTURES 2024: Climate Change and Gardening
Photos: Jessica Spencer-Keyse.
Organised by Agile Rabbit on behalf of the University of Exeter and FUTURES: A Festival of Discovery of the South West.
Exeter Seed Bank will be providing free local wildflower seeds and discussing our upcoming project on cultivating a community broad bean landrace, inspired by the writings of American grower and seed saver Joseph Lofthouse from his book ‘Adaptation Agriculture’. Come find us under our Cardboard Kiosk!
About the event
Join Frances Tophill from Gardeners’ World and three world-leading researchers for a special live event on horticulture in a changing world.
From flood mitigation to pollutant capture and urban green rooftops, gardens aren’t just benefiting humans, but represent essential spaces and habitats for wildlife and biodiversity.
Our panellists will share effective gardening and growing practices that can sustain the extreme weather events we are already experiencing today. How will our expectations of gardens continue to change?
Hosted by former Radio 4 presenter Ritula Shah, we’ll also chat about related issues such as food security, pests, and soil health. We will ask how our gardens can positively contribute to our wider community and how to manage challenges like water stress and the invasion of non-native species.
Join us for this special event to share your experiences, ask questions, comment, and reflect.
Find out more: https://www.agile-rabbit.com/event/climate-change-and-gardening/
Coil Basketry workshop
Part of Exeter Seed Bank at Exeter Respect Festival, Belmont Park
Drop-in
Jules will be teaching coil basketry, where you will learn how to make simple baskets with natural materials like hay and straw, a technique you can then apply to all sorts of dried plant material from your own garden.
Jules Bristow is a bushcraft instructor, forager and proponent of evidence-based environmentalism and sustainable living. https://tangledbankforaging.uk/
Build Your Own Bracelet workshop
Part of Exeter Seed Bank at Exeter Respect Festival, Belmont Park
Donation: £3
Drop-in
Appreciate the beauty of seeds and soil by creating a decorative bracelet using different types of clay beads and polished beans, grown by our Seed Guardians.
About the different clay beads:
White Beads: Made from Devon ball clay formed from eroded granite from the Devon Moors over millions of years.
Black Beads: Rich in lignite, created from the tropical vegetation that once thrived in the Bovey Basin.
Beige Gritty Beads: Rich in sand, originating from ancient swamps.
Red Beads: Made from our mineral and iron-rich clay soil, famous for its rich colour.
Join us to celebrate and connect with the natural beauty of Devon’s seeds and soils!
Build Your Own Bracelet workship
Part of Exeter Seed Bank at Exeter Respect Festival, Belmont Park
Donation: £3
Drop-in
Appreciate the beauty of seeds and soil by creating a decorative bracelet using different types of clay beads and polished beans, grown by our Seed Guardians.
About the different clay beads:
White Beads: Made from Devon ball clay formed from eroded granite from the Devon Moors over millions of years.
Black Beads: Rich in lignite, created from the tropical vegetation that once thrived in the Bovey Basin.
Beige Gritty Beads: Rich in sand, originating from ancient swamps.
Red Beads: Made from our mineral and iron-rich clay soil, famous for its rich colour.
Join us to celebrate and connect with the natural beauty of Devon’s seeds and soils!
Sparkly Sonia’s ‘Human Beans’ body art
Part of Exeter Seed Bank at Exeter Respect Festival, Belmont Park
Drop-in
Be the human bean you want to see in the world, and let nature take over your body! Sparkly Sonia will be offering body painting of beans and plants to help connect you to the natural world. A fun and family friendly way to enjoy the day.
Open call for 2024 Seed Guardians
Could you be a Seed Guardian?
Our new programme means we are able to support 10 people to become Seed Guardians - local growers willing to grow a particular crop for seed saving. You will receive mentoring and a paper diary, supporting you from planting to harvesting a seed crop. Please register your expression of interest by emailing: exeterseedbank@gmail.com with a sentence on your seed saving journey so far and what herb/veg/flower you would like to grow (we can also recommend).
Deadline 31 March for expression of interest. Newbies very very welcome!
We also have a free PDF version of the diary for anyone wishing to engage in self directed learning and observation for seed saving.
Funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, distributed by Transition Together, has enabled Exeter Seed Bank to launch a supported Seed Guardian mentoring programme and unlock expertise for our community growers. We would like to thank National Lottery players for making this possible. Learn more about about Transition Together at https://transitiontogether.org.uk/
DIY NETTING FOR YOUR GARDEN
Jules will be using traditional techniques used for making fishing nets but re working them for use in the garden.
SWEEP Celebration
Photos: Rob Coombe.
Exeter Seed Bank will be providing free local wildflower seeds and discussing our upcoming projects.
The South West Partnership for Environmental and Economic Prosperity (SWEEP) was a highly successful and impactful research-focused partnership, between 2017-2023.
The SWEEP approach applies environmental research to bring natural capital into the heart of decision making, to benefit the environment, society and economy: an exemplar of best practice in the South West of the UK.
Find out more: https://sweep.ac.uk/about/sweep-celebration/