Seeds & Stuff

03/06/2026

Trying the biodegradable trellis net from on the broad beans. Many seed crops are tall, branchy and prone to falling over so this will come in handy in the seed garden.

08/05/2026

'Crisp Mint' lettuce going for it.

08/03/2026

Playing 'in the pot or not' with the leeks today. Dug and selected the best ones for replanting as the seed crop. Making selections to maintain the desired genetic traits is an important part of seed saving and varietal maintenance.

01/03/2026

Great time catching up with on the 'Flax – Threads of Time' project during the week. An amazing day of workshops was organised and I learned so much about flax growing and processing from Charlie and Helen who made the trek down from Tyrone to share their experience with us.

Looking forward to having some of this heritage growing in the garden this coming season.

08/02/2026

Some new varieties to the collection which can be sown in February:

Onion 'Globo' - very large sweet white onions that store well

Chili 'Ethiopian Brown' - chili used to make the east African 'Berbere' spice

Tomato 'Stripes of Yore' - striking tomato with yellow skin streaked with purple mottling

Butterhead Lettuce 'Rosemarry' - early variety which produces large heads of blistered burgundy tinged soft green leaves

All ready to go on the website!

18/01/2026

🌱 GREEN GIVEAWAY 🌱

A chance to win a collection of 12 (green themed) seed varieties from the website, all grown in Skibbereen, West Cork.

How to take part:

1. Follow us on Instagram

2. Join our newsletter (link in bio)

3. Share this post to your stories

The competition closes Friday 30th January

The winning name will be drawn from a hat and will be announced to our stories on Saturday 31st January. Winner will be contacted directly by email

Good luck!

What even is seedsandstuff??
An independent seed company located in the south west of Ireland. Motivated by a desire to have more diversity in our food system – most importantly, on our plates. The aim is to produce quality seed from (mostly) food plants that grow well in Irish conditions. Check out the website for all the varieties available and information on seed saving.

This competition is only open to Ireland & EU residents.

Competition is in no way affiliated with Instagram.

                           

04/01/2026

Messing with the germination tests and canva. This is 'Asterix' squash (C. moschata) which was a good find this year and now on the website. They are very vigorous and productive. They don't store as well as maxima squashes, probably because they have a higher water content, but most importantly for seed savers, they don't cross with them either!

Like most vegetables, they have 'epigeal' germination. This is when the emerging stem drives the cotyledons (seed leaves) above the soil level. Often the seed coat is still attached and falls off as the leaves expand and grow. Or, like in most of these, it can come off whilst still in the soil. These first leaves are unique and supply energy to the germinating seed. They will be different in appearance to the, so called ‘true’, leaves that grow from then on.

14/12/2025

Delighted to see the seeds amongst all the other great products in

Just 3.4km away from where they're grown!

10/10/2025

10/10/2025

Every year I grow a small amount of cereals to learn more about these crops and keep some varieties in circulation.

This year I grew black oats, naked barley and kamut.

‘Bountiful’ black oats which came from the Irish oat collection. Traditionally black coloured oats were favoured by horse breeders. They are higher in protein and antioxidants – horses fed on black oats were said to ‘go the extra furlong’.

I grew a naked barley called ‘Pirona’. Naked, or ‘hulless’, barley can be threshed in a small scale without any specialist equipment. The grains are good for adding to stews whole. Naked barley was most likely what was introduced into Ireland around 4000-3000BC by European Neolithic farmers who also brought with them wheat, cattle, sheep and goats. This period marks the transition from hunter gathering lifestyles to farming in Ireland.

I tried to grow Kamut, a type of wheat with very large grains, but that crop failed to ripen and had a lot of problems with fungus.