In the UK You Can Now Buy Heirloom Seeds Only if You Are Part of a Private Members ClubLizzie Bennett The European Commission is currently drawing up a new law to regulate the sale ofall seeds, plants and plant material. The latest draft of the law is even more restrictive than the regulations that we have at the moment. Although we have had a system like this for many years, there have been much simpler and cheaper options for what are considered amateur varieties for home gardeners, and the rules have never been strictly enforced in the UK. The EU wants to get rid of these simpler and cheaper rules for amateur seed, and make sure that every country enforces the rules 100%. Although they say there will be exceptions, in current drafts of the law these are very, very limited. This is because if you are selling seed to farmers, you can expect to sell hundreds of tonnes of seed every year, so it is worth the cost of registering the variety. But if you are selling to gardeners, even the biggest seed companies will be selling a few kilos of seed at most, sometimes just a few hundred grammes of more unusual varieties. It just doesnt work if they have to pay thousands of pounds to register that variety! So only seed designed for farmers will get registered and be legally salable. Another example: farmers generally dont want to grow climbing peas, as they need supports and cant be harvested mechanically. Lots of home gardeners prefer tall pea varieties, as they are more productive in a small space. There are hundreds of examples like this the needs of gardeners and farmers are very different. The problem is very simple: If these new laws are passed, there will be fewer and fewer varieties developed for gardeners and small growers. Everybody will have to grow varieties that have been designed for commercial large-scale farming, whether they like it or not. Happily, for the time being at least, there is a way around this. You start a seed club, and that way a seed company cannot be prosecuted for selling to the publicthey are not they are selling to their members only! Real Seeds, a non-profit heirloom seed company in the UK have started their own seed club. For the princely sum of one penny a year, which is deducted from your first order, you are a member of the club and can therefore buy your seeds without them getting prosecuted. I say them because it is not illegal to buy heirloom seeds for veggies not on the approved list, but it is illegal for anyone to sell them commercially to the public at large. This will change of course as soon as the New World Order Thugs in Brussels realise whats gong on. You can read about the seed clubhere. For those interesting in seed savingclick herefor a very good explanation of how to get started. I should just point out that I have no connection with The Real Seed Company, other than as a customer, sorry, club member I am told by a friend thatHeirloom Organicsis a reputable US company that sell genuine heirloom seeds, I cant say one way or the other as I have never brought seed from them, but I do trust my informant. Get together with friends and start a seed swap circle to increase the varieties of seeds that you hold. Diversity will become a very important aspect of future food growing and the more diverse your seed stocks the better. Lizzie Bennett retired from her job as a senior operating department practitioner in the UK earlier this year. Her field was trauma and accident and emergency and she has served on major catastrophe teams around the UK. Lizzie publishes Underground Medic on the topic of preparedness, where this article first appeared. 