Year-Long Seed Production Training

Join us for our year-long seed production training for growers across the UK and Ireland. Hosted by the Gaia Foundation’s Seed Sovereignty Programme, this course will combine expert teaching with peer-to-peer knowledge exchange to build your skills as a seed grower.

The course is designed to give you a broad understanding of the practicalities of seed production, as well as the political context of Seed Sovereignty. The course will be delivered by means of presentations, webinars and site visits. Some sessions are delivered online, and some will be face-to-face within your region.

Participants should be commercial food producers or community growers looking to distribute seed more widely. We ask that you have a good understanding of crop cultivation. Some seed saving experience is beneficial, but not necessary. This course is not suitable for home growers. (Home growers can find fantastic resources on seed saving at a garden scale from the Heritage Seed Library and through the Vital Seeds seed saving course).

Taught material is delivered on the first Wednesday evening of each month between March and November, and in two-hour sessions between 6 pm and 7:30 pm. There is a short ‘break’ during the summer months, which enables the more practical elements of seed production to be taught on site. Online delivery will be using Zoom.

Pre-requisites

Prior learning and prerequisites: This course sits broadly at Level 3. It assumes the following pre-requisites:

• A commitment to agroecological principles
• Experience as a commercial grower or a community grower with access to, and autonomy over, suitable land
• Ability to grow two seed crops from seed to seed and follow their progress by means of a Seed Journal
• Attendance at an introductory course in seed production or prior equivalent experience
• Committed to attending the whole course
• Will grow seed after the completion of their course, as a commercial grower or to share within their community
• Will collaborate both during and after the course

If you are less confident about the above, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss your individual circumstances (see below for contact information).

**Applications are now closed for the 2026 training. Please get in touch to be added to our interest list for the next round of training in 2028.**