Nestled in the Dyfi Valley, surrounded by every shade of autumn’s amber cloak, hundreds of growers, guardians, savers, breeders, and lovers of seed flocked to the Centre for Alternative Technology for the first-ever in-person Seed Gathering.
We are becoming a more powerful voice for change. We are not alone. There is huge untapped potential, both human and vegetable!
Seed Gathering paricipant
In 2021, emerging from a period of record-breaking seed demand over lockdown, the Seed Sovereignty Programme hosted our first Seed Gathering online, welcoming new seed custodians into our fast-growing network and uniting the movement for a grassroots revolution. In 2023, we built on the momentum with our second online Seed Gathering: a beautiful weekend of celebration and wisdom sharing, highlighting the diversity, innovation and deep cultural connections of our seeds.
It was incredible, crucial, and joyous to bring the movement together in person for the first time at our 2025 Seed Gathering. Sharing landrace biscuits and land-based secrets, we forged our collective path of resistance against corporate food production. From seed cleaning and soil sampling to variety tasting and regional bakes, art and film, poetry and music, rich conversations and new collaborations, the weekend overflowed with energy. Together, we dared to imagine a food revolution that starts with seed. We saw a future of diversity, resilience, abundance, flavour, joy, connection and community.
A great inaugural event which reinforced a sense of collective engagement.
Seed Gathering participant
On Friday night, after journeying through mountains and valleys to the western edge of Wales, attendees settled in the rammed-earth theatre with whispers of anticipation for the Opening Plenary. Affectionate allies from the programme’s eight-year history (and beyond) shared reflections and radiated profound trust in the progression of seed sovereignty throughout these isles.
In the days that followed, our speakers shared and shaped their insights on seed legislation and seed breeding, delved into the political and cultural history of seed, told tales of heritage crops and regional recipes, reflected on genetics and ecology, and offered guidance to friends old and new.
Keynote speakers Daniel Wanjama and Chris Smith told their international seed stories – from Kenya and North America – to a captivated audience on Saturday morning. It was an honour to share the Gathering with these incredible pioneers of seed sovereignty, and to learn from their journeys of resistance and revival.
Seeds are kernels that conjoin stories of past, present and future. Seeds are also political, further exacerbated by the privatisation of seeds through intellectual property laws and GM technologies. It is important to develop a patchwork of localised seed systems everywhere.
Seed Gathering participant
The power of the Gathering came not only from the holders of knowledge and wisdom, from the answers, though vital, to burning questions; it also rose from the magic face-to-face connections over hearty dinners, with warming cups of tea and chatter between sessions, and among a diversity of carefully saved treasures ready to be shared on seed swap tables.
Aware of the value of unprogrammed encounters, the Gathering offered opportunities for these moments to emerge. Attendees led self-determined Synergy Spaces on Saturday lunchtime, sparking new working groups within the network. Participants also paused to share a patchwork of stories in a collage zine, rich with the energy of the weekend and all that has led up to it. The foyer offered market stalls, art exhibitions, and familiar faces ready to discuss the intricacies of soil, seed, and grain.
The Seed Gathering was such a powerful, resourcing and enlivening experience. I left feeling deeply inspired by all that is already happening to work towards seed sovereignty in the UK and beyond, and to play my part in supporting this.
Seed Gathering participant
Capturing the essence of the weekend, rapper and Hot Poet Diz Undone (formerly Dizraeli) shared two new pieces written at the Seed Gathering. For his second poem, participants were invited to contribute their own words, threaded into collective verses. Keep your eyes out for both creations, which we’ll share online soon. This followed Hot Poe Liv Torc’s incredible poetic contribution to our 2023 Gathering, ‘We Are The Seeds’, which served as a beautiful backdrop to this year’s events. Watch Liv perform it here.
The weekend drew to a close on Sunday evening, as participants began their travels home with pockets full of open-pollinated seeds, minds buzzing with inspiration, and suitcases containing memento t-shirts and posters featuring the 2025 Seed Gathering’s bespoke illustrations designed by the wonderful Maddy McClellan (these ethically-created goodies are still available to order online).
We are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed, making the weekend such an incredible moment for the seed sovereignty movement. It was a pleasure to host this space for celebration and innovation, which so perfectly captured our theme: Sowing Tomorrow’s Resilience. We can’t wait to witness all that emerges from our time together in Wales.
