Across Polish allotments, village gardens, and small farms, groups of growers exchange open-pollinated and heirloom seeds outside commercial channels. This site documents how those exchanges work and how variety provenance gets recorded.
Read about seed networks
Articles
Three topics examined in detail: how swap networks are organised, how growers describe where a variety came from, and the practical side of collecting and storing seeds at home.
Seed Networks
From seed fairs in Małopolska to postal exchanges organised via online forums, the informal infrastructure that keeps open-pollinated varieties in circulation outside retail channels.
Provenance
What growers write on seed envelopes, how locality and selection history get passed along with the seeds themselves, and why that information matters for long-term variety stability.
Practical Guide
Selecting parent plants, timing the harvest for seed maturity, cleaning and drying methods, and storage conditions that maintain viability across several seasons.
Context
Hybrid seeds from commercial catalogues cannot be reliably replanted — they are purchased anew each season. Open-pollinated varieties, by contrast, reproduce true to type when grown in isolation, which allows small growers to select and adapt plants to their specific plot conditions over time.
In Poland, that practical advantage has sustained a network of growers who prefer to exchange seeds directly. The practice predates modern catalogues and continues where commercial seed supply does not reach, particularly for older regional vegetable types.
Key Term
A variety pollinated by insects, wind, or other natural mechanisms. Seeds produced will generally grow plants similar to the parent, making them suitable for year-to-year saving. Distinct from F1 hybrids, which do not breed true.
Key Term
Broadly, an open-pollinated variety that has been maintained by growers over a long period, often pre-dating large-scale commercial seed production. The definition varies by source; most informal networks use the term loosely to mean any non-hybrid variety with a traceable growing history.
Contact
Questions about content, corrections, or information about seed-swap groups in Poland that should be documented here.
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