Buying seeds


Things are pretty quiet at the allotments now. The days and short and cold. It's time to put your feet up, prepare a beverage and plan for next year!

FEDEGA has a seed offer scheme with Kings Seeds. An amazing 45% discount is available on all seed orders and a further 10% will be paid to FEDEGA and redistributed back to Site Associations on a pro rata basis. There is more information on how to benefit from this on the FEDEGA website. 

It's easy to get carried away when faced with a catalogue or website and you can end up with far too many seeds. Although this can give the opportunity to swap with other people, it can also mean seeds are wasted. It can be a good idea to go through the seeds you have, make a list and think what you really need. 

If you want to extend the harvest period, look at the packets or online details for the approximate harvest times and choose a mix of earlier and later croppers. For instance, there are a range of leek varieties,  the harvest period for 'Giant Winter' is said to be October to January, while 'Musselburgh' is November to February. Of course, the planting and harvest times will vary across the UK, so always take the guidance on a seed packet with a pinch of salt! Advice from other plot holders is priceless to understand what works best at Warriston. 

Of course, you can save even more money by saving seeds from your own allotment. If you know a variety has worked well on your plot, it can be good to keep the seed for future years. Information on saving your own seeds is available here

Buying bare root, seed and plants that are grown in your own neighbourhood is a wonderful way to be kind to the planet (less air miles, fewer pesticides, less danger of importing disease etc) while celebrating and supporting the amazing growers on our doorstep.

For a list of recommended suppliers plot holders have ordered from go to to the Useful Links button available on the Warriston navigation bar at the top of all our website pages. And please do get in touch if you have any more recommendations!