Seeds donated to the LFSB will be catalogued and made available to other growers and community growing spaces in London.
We have finalised our 2024 Variety list and are no longer accepting incoming seed. We will be accepting incoming seed towards the end of the year. Happy seed saving!
To share seed with LFSB come along to one of our in-person seeds drop-off dates or post the seeds to us. Before you send the seeds please submit a seed donation form, including as much information as possible about the seeds you are donating, which can be found below.
For inclusion in our 2024 seed list, please send seeds by December 15th 2023. If you would like to talk to one of the team before sharing seeds please email us and ask for a call-back. Please post seeds to:
We will let you know when we receive the seed, and may be in touch if we have any further questions about the seed. Please be sure to include your contact details, Grower ID, and which seeds are which (if you are sending more than one batch).
Many thanks for supporting the London Freedom Seed Bank!
Sharing Seeds FAQs
Can i share spare seeds that i have bought?
No. LFSB is only for seed that has been grown and saved in London. To donate excess seed from commercial growers try a local seed swap.
Which seeds can i share via the London Freedom Seed Bank?
LFSB distributes seeds from productive food crops – so that’s any fruit, vegetables, grains, peas and beans, herbs, as well as flowers that are useful companion plants for a pollinator-friendly growing space.
Can i only share varieties that i got from LFSB in the first place
No. Varieties become ‘locally adapted’ when they are saved repeatedly in the same place, which is why we are always excited to get varieties we have distributed returned to the bank. But we’re also keen to increase the range, so welcome seed of your favourite and most productive varieties. They can be new varieties (so long as not F1 varieties), or heritage varieties, so long as they have been grown and saved in London using organic principles.
Do i need to know the variety?
For most crops it will be important to know what the variety is, and the original source of the seed – other growers will want to know what they are growing. However some herbs and flowers may only have a generic name, because they may not be a specific cultivated variety. E.g. common chives, or French marigolds. Always check and pass on any details from the original seed packet.
In some cases interesting varieties may have passed from grower to grower, been grown in a family for generations, or perhaps migrated to London along with a grower. They may have no specific name, or a name given to them by the person who passed them to you. These seeds could still have a fascinating story to tell and we would be very keen to hear about them. Please record as much of the story of their origin as possible.
What if I’m not sure about cross-pollination?
You should aim for a basic understanding of how likely your crops are to have cross-pollinated. Many common crops can be saved without being isolated against cross-pollination. In general, tomatoes, lettuce, peas, french beans, and herbs/flowers are often ok without isolation, but crops such as pumpkins, courgettes, cucumbers, runner beans, and peppers are much more tricky, and should probably not be shared unless you have taken some kind of isolation method, or only grown one type, without other gardens nearby.
In most cases we can’t be 100% sure cross pollination has not occurred, and for some plant types, and some growers, it matters more than others. But by providing as much information as you can, you help other growers to make an informed decision about what they are choosing to grow.