Just as harvest festivals celebrate the crops which have been produced over the year, an event planned for Nottingham will mark the first day of spring and the produce which is to follow. CAROLINE LOWBRIDGE hears how would-be and experienced gardeners can get involved with the first Great Spring Sowing

EVEN many experienced gardeners never cease to be amazed how a tiny, magical seed can turn into something edible and tasty. Growing from seed is not only the most traditional, economical and sustainable way to grow food crops, but also offers a chance to grow far more varieties than are available to buy as plants.

A forthcoming event in Nottingham aims to show gardeners everything they need to know about sowing seeds, and be an all-round celebration of the start of the growing season.

It is a mirror event to Nottingham's Urban Harvest Festival, which was held for the first time last year, at the landmark of sustainability – Green's Windmill.

"The Great Spring Sowing is a direct outcome of the Urban Harvest Festival and it is in fact the other half of the Urban Harvest Festival," says organiser Clare Davies, who is a member of environmental group Transition Nottingham.

"The produce of the seeds sown at the Great Spring Sowing could be entered or bartered at the next Urban Harvest Festival, and so one event will link into another."

Clare already has loads of ideas for activities at the Great Spring Sowing, but anyone wanting to get involved is invited to a planning meeting at the Broadway cinema on Monday (upper bar, 7.30pm).

The aims of the Great Spring Sowing include publicising that it is the time to sow seeds and educating the public in how to sow and care for them, with activities including practical workshops where people will be able to take away the plants they have sown to grow at home.

Clare also wants to encourage different generations and groups to exchange information. Nottingham Organic Gardeners and the horticulture department at Nottingham Trent's Brackenhurst campus are already interested in getting involved, and Clare particularly wants to hear from local businesses.

The aim of Transition Nottingham is to help people adapt to climate change and a shortage of resources, and food production is key to this. Therefore, the Great Spring Sowing aims to promote the idea of vegetable gardening in an urban environment, where 'food miles' are about as small as you can get.

There are other benefits too: "More food being produced within Nottingham would make it a more physically green environment to live in, and less prone to flooding as there would be more uncovered land for drainage," says Clare.

"The city would not be as hot as the leaves act as a coolant in hot weather."

Even if people don't have a garden they could grow crops in pots, and Clare is keen to promote the idea of growing produce on unused wasteland such as the Eastside regeneration area, or a 'landshare' scheme where people without gardens grow crops in ones their neighbours do not have the time or inclination to maintain. There could also be a 'buddy' system where more experienced gardeners help beginners.

While the Urban Harvest Festival had a vegetable swap for people to exchange their excess crops, the Great Spring Sowing will have a seed swap. People can bring along whatever seeds they have spare, whether it is leftover runner beans from a bought packet or rare heritage tomatoes passed on from someone's grandad.

While many new gardeners start growing vegetables with bought seeds, experienced growers swear by saving their own. Not only is it free, but natural selection ensures seed grown in the same area for a number of years will be better adapted to those conditions. "If you harvest your own, say tomatoes, they will actually adapt to the conditions in your garden – it creates a sort of local seed bank," says Clare. "Share your seeds and create a local seed culture."

The Great Spring Sowing will be on March 21, at a venue in Nottingham to be confirmed.

A seed swap is also being held by the Transition Beeston group at Wollaton Road Methodist Church on February 14, from 11am to 4pm.

caroline.lowbridge@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk