Swapping Ideas and Seeds at the MA Centre
On the 18th of March 2023, GreenFriends held their second seedswap in the MA Centre’s beautiful Amrita Hall. It was well attended by people from a variety of backgrounds, some coming for the first time, and some returners who had enjoyed last year’s. There were an interesting mix of people; local gardeners, devotees and some regular green-minded people who had only heard of Amma or just met her once or twice. There were some delightful stories of synchronicity such as people feeling drawn to the event but not really knowing why, until they saw Amma’s picture or heard about her during one of the presentations.
We had a good line up of speakers. Surya did an amazing job introducing GreenFriends, mentioning that we are the environmental initiative of Embracing the World, and spoke about the Get Growing Courses that were run regularly before the covid crisis, and Amma’s InDeed Pledges that are intended to help us change our bad habits.
David, a heritage seed enthusiast who we met at last year’s swap, gave a very informative talk on the importance of saving open pollinated seeds from our own home grown produce, rather than buying artificially produced F1 hybrids — which do not breed ‘true to type’. Saving seeds and growing them again in our own gardens helps to create a plant with a wide gene pool that has adapted well to its own growing region. This advice also comes from Amma, who asks us to grow ancient seeds and is concerned that many of our heritage edible plants are rapidly going extinct (you can read more about heritage seeds in our last blog). Amma’s idea was the ‘seed’ that grew into our very first seed swap event in 2022. We hope this will grow further to inspire more people to grow their own food in a way that sustains nature, rather than robs it.
Experienced beekeeper, Thierry, who first met Amma in 2019 and recently went to see her in Amritapuri, gave a wonderful presentation on the importance of bees and how to encourage them into our gardens. Long-time devotee, Jane, gave a presentation on how the reuse of banana fibre can be made into highly effective reusable sanitary pads which are now manufactured in India under the name of Saukaum pads.
On our ‘Adopt a Heritage Seed Table’ we had a small selection of rare or endangered seeds obtained from the Heritage Seed Library, or donated by some of last year’s adopters, that was skilfully looked after by Charu. Adopters were given one or two varieties with the intention of carefully growing them and passing them onto others to join us in the task of sustaining their lifeline. Some people brought back seeds obtained at last year’s heritage seed table that they had managed to grow themselves.
Our friends from Bournevale allotment, Joan and Keith, who were instrumental in securing our very own allotment last year, had a stall selling local honey and seed potatoes with profits going towards their favourite charity, the Macular Degeneration Society. EACH (Environmental Action Coney Hall), who gave us a wonderful presentation last year, also came and had a table displaying information on their environmental projects.
By far the most popular table in the building was the honesty seed swappers table in the middle. Even before people came with their seeds, we already had many seeds donated prior to the event and these were all swapped and shared for a donation if people wished. This table buzzed with excitement as people rummaged through looking for something that caught their eye. Tinsel looked after the honestly table and helped people find the seeds they were looking for, that with Amma’s grace, often seemed to materialise. One local gardener donated many different types of heritage bean and pea varieties that he grows himself and was a wealth of information. I was interested to find out that runner beans must be isolated because they cross pollinate, but peas and dwarf French don’t because they are self-pollinating. For a grower that wants to save their own seeds, this info is gold!
We also sold handmade seed balls containing native wildflower seeds for either partial shade or full shade. This idea also came from Amma, who asked us during her birthday message, to make seed balls containing native tree species and wildflowers and throw them in degraded areas to let Mother Nature take her course. Although our seed balls were meant to be thrown into new woodlands or hedgerows, some people also bought them for the shady areas of their gardens to encourage more wildlife and pollinators.
Most recently, as part of the Civil 20 Working Group on Sustainable & Resilient Communities, Amma has launched a Global Seed Ball Campaign that aims to distribute 1 million ‘seeds of hope’ in 2023 to counteract deforestation.
The café sold delicious cookies and cakes that were almost all gluten and dairy free (but you wouldn’t have guessed it) made by Esther, and homemade soup and fresh bread made by Michelle. We also gave away free Tulsi tea!
All the proceeds made at the swap went to the Grow Amma UK Campaign. Thank you to everyone who helped make the seed swap such a success. We couldn’t have done it without you!
With gratitude,
Chloe and GreenFriends
