About Us

We are a charitable trust with over 200 members and run by a small team of volunteers. We facilitate the exchange of seeds between gardeners by receiving seeds from seed saving gardeners and producing seed lists for members. We provide information on seed saving.

We are interested in local cultivars (cultivars which have adapted to their locality), occasionally finding seed saved by individuals for years and years. We are also interested in lesser known nutritious food plants. Most of the seed on our seed lists would be classified as local cultivars, and some as heritage or heirloom cultivars, seed that is no longer available commercially, some of which have been saved in a family for a number of generations.

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Latest News...

On the 21st of March about 25 seed exchange members enjoyed a trip to Richard Watson's Hurunui property. Richard has a ¾ acre garden where he raises and saves seeds, many of them for Koanga Gardens. He also has a stone–walled tunnel house that uses passive solar heating to extend the growing season.

Here Richard describes to us how he uses broom laid down on the soil to prevent the birds digging up potatoes when they've just been planted: