Vital Seeds

Fred Groom and Ronja Schlumberger run Vital Seeds, a small-scale, organic seed producer in Devon, UK. They are preserving edible plant varieties, working for food and seed sovereignty and producing food crops varieties adapted to the UK climate. In the last 100 years, we have lost 90% of the diversity in our food crops globally, mainly due to the industrialisation of the food system and widespread use of proprietary F1 hybrid varieties. They are fighting against this by providing open-pollinated seeds to gardeners and growers across the UK.

www.vitalseeds.co.uk
 
 
Vital Seeds, Fred Groom and Ronja Schlumberger By Poly Tunnel Seed Saving
 
Vital Seeds, Fred Groom and Ronja Schlumberger With Corn Flower Plants In Allotment
 
 
Close-Up of Bean Pod Split By Hands On Vine
Close-Up of Bean Pod On Vine in Poly Tunnel
Close-up of Sunflower Head and Leaves
 
 
Vital Seeds, Ronja Schlumberger Saving Corn Flower Seeds
Vital Seeds, Ronja Schlumberger Harvesting Corn Flower Plants
Fred Groom Winnowing Brocoli Seeds
 
Close-up of Brocoli Seeds Drying
 
Hands examining Brocoli Seed Above Black Container
Inside Poly Tunnel with Lettuce Seeds Pods Visible
 
Close-up Lettuce Seeds Pods Ready To Harvest
 
 
Close-up, Wheel Barrow Filled with Pumpkins Pushed Towards Camera
 
Ronja Schlumberger sat In Gardening Bucket Inside Poly Tunnel
 
Fred Groom, Harvesting Pumpkin Seeds by Tomatoes
Hands Sorting Fresh Pumpkin Seeds Above Gardening Container
Close-Up of Pumpkins That Have Been Split To Harvest Seeds
 
Cherry Tomatoes Growing Vertically
Tomato Seeds Cleaned with Glass Water Bottle and Sieve
 
 
Close-Up of Pink Cosmos Flowers In Bloom
 
 
 
Hands Processing Seed for Packing Into Envelopes
 
Seed Saving, Packaging and Measuring Tools
Vital Seeds, Seed Envelope Storage Racking
 
 

Farming & Gardening

Rekindling our relationship with the living world around us is, in my opinion, the key to leading a nourished and meaningful life. As a gardener, I enjoy creating images of growers and landworkers and documenting their collaboration with nature. Many of those who I photograph are actively remaking our food- and land use systems through regenerative practices and with traditional ecological knowledge that builds local resilience.

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