FENELLA BURNS
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SEEDY SUNDAY
Words - Madeleine Ary Hahne Photos - Zoe Salt
It’s 2042. On a brisk morning you find yourself taking the last few steps down to the Seaside. The waves hiss, and as you turn a corner you catch a glimpse of the quicksilver sea. On mornings like this yearn to take off your shoes, feel the pebbles between your toes, and inhale a deep breath; the sea mist grazing your face is priceless, unreplicable anywhere else.
You cross the street to Brighton beach and spot a group of people holding trash bags, scouring the sand for debris. Twenty years ago their gathering bags would have been bursting at the seams with cigarette butts and plastic bottles but now you see that the beachcombers are coming up nearly empty. This group has been taking care of the beach for decades now, cleaning up and encouraging others to do the same. What was once an effort to clear up the shoreline has now blossomed into a circular economy revolution, bringing people together to cultivate connection and think differently about how we preserve our environment. Circular economy is an all encompassing idea, one which says humans can and should live like nature does – sharing, recycling, and reusing materials in a never-ending loop. The beach clean up is a first step, as it stops the waste culture short and restores a sea shore. But the revolution goes far beyond the beach. Families and community members have taken to meeting on allotments, working together in gardening groups to nurture plots. One of these community members is Fenella.
After volunteering for countless beach clean ups, Fenella wanted to do more. She found an organic gardening group, fell in love with the work, and became one of the leaders of Seedy Sunday, a yearly event for organic gardening enthusiasts. Now that the beaches are clean, the only thing being picked up in Brighton this weekend are tiny packets of seeds, spread out on enormous tables and shared amongst novices and experts alike. In a local hall the air is buzzing; experts share ideas for growing a healthy, thriving garden. Anyone can come to the seed table to exchange ideas or organic seeds. It’s a shared love for the garden that keeps people coming back. Fenella says she loves it because “people will bring seeds to swap which they have been growing themselves over the years. I know I can get some trusted seeds locally.” Not only that, Fenella notes, but after the Pandemic the connection amongst friends, old and new, is a welcome relief. “It feels like a party, like a reunion. You could go talk to anyone. People come up and ask about a particular kind of seed, how to grow this and that, and getting their books and manuals out for seed directories.” The joy is palpable.
The idea to create a network of seed sharers was not birthed from a municipal initiative or city agenda, but from the community itself. Fenella can see that;
“these things grow from local impetus. I think it is drawn out of people who are passionate about it locally.”
This work not only brings people together, but also breeds a community of care, supporting those who need it and encouraging them to have “a conversation in the open air.” This work gives everyone access to a garden space, and emboldens them to become organic gardeners. As Fenella describes it, “you trust people you can actually see, who are like you. That is how I see communities growing and sharing.”
Learn more on how you can get involved by following these links:
Seed sovereignty UK, the Gaia foundation, Brighton Hove Organic Garden Group, Brighton Permaculture trust, Pesticide Action Network, and The Heritage Seed Library.