SEED SAVING & HEIRLOOM VARIETIES

"I have always had an extremely keen interest in rare and endangered heirloom vegetable varieties. These are the vegetables our grandparents grew and saved seed from with the knowledge that every year, these seeds would grow ‘true to type’ just as their parent plants had. They were grown for amazing flavour, colour, vigour, disease resistance and for abundance unlike today’s varieties that are grown for uniformity, even-ripening and the ability to transport well over long distances and to last a long time on a supermarket shelf.

Somewhere along the way, we have lost what we most seek in our food.

I am besotted with these older varieties of vegetables as they all have stories to tell - stories that I truly love to share. I am very lucky that our chefs share my passion and take the time to create beautiful and respectful dishes which let these outstanding varieties really shine on the plate.

In the last 80 years, we have lost 93% of variety in our food seeds worldwide. These seeds are lost forever. Knowing this only deepens my commitment to seed saving - a commitment shared with Wendy Mitchell and championed by our chefs.” ~ Julie Bennett, Montalto Produce Manager.