Open Pollination

In 2020 I worked with children aged under 10 to plant seeds and grow fruit and vegetables for their own tables. We made these images with the seeds before we planted them over the course of the spring season, and carefully planned the patterns that appeared on the prints. The seeds appear in tall vertical lines, seemingly precariously stacked upon each other.  Visually referencing the lines of ever weakening and dwindling new generations of open pollinated seeds standing on the shoulders of the former generations.  Some of the seeds were arranged in circles on some of the prints.  The circular form represents the circle of life that the seeds are part of.  

The seed is the beginning of the cycle of life and regeneration. Arguably there is no beginning in a circle, but the seed is a poignant and an intrinsic part of the circle of life.  Some of the circles in my prints are heavier at the bottom and have fewer seeds nearer the top to represent the state of our dwindling resources of open pollinated seeds. A few of the circles are broken at the top where no further seeds appear, this is in reference to the looming and seemingly inevitable extinction of some crop plant species in their natural non-GM form.   

In June 2020, I spoke about this project with Peter Brinch, who founded the Open Pollinated Seeds Initiative in 2010 to raise awareness and promote the practice of using and investing in open pollinated seeds throughout the world. In our conversation, he said to me… “How do you convey the idea of open pollination to people? It is a term given for the regenerative nature of plants through flowering. I think the really important part is that seeds saved from open pollinated plants can be reproduced generation after generation in perpetuity. If suddenly our food plants are no longer able to regenerate properly ( and we are creating such plants ) mankind's future will soon come to an end. We have to develop a kind of wonder for the creative fact of plant's ability to regenerate”.

 Open pollinated (OP) seeds are naturally pollinated by insects or wind. They are not GM, hybrid or patented.  There has been an extreme shrinking of the plant gene pool due to the over use of F1 Hybrid Seeds. We have lost more than 75% of our heritage seeds and 80% of our food biodiversity in Europe in the last century. An F1 hybrid is simply the result of breeding two different strains of a variety to produce a third variety. The term 'F1' just stands for the Filial 1 or 'first children' seeds that were bred after the war by seed companies.

The seed gene pool of vegetable crops became modified by industry, in part to stop plants from producing viable seeds in the field, meaning buyers have to keep returning to suppliers to buy seeds.  The genetic material of crops is all tied up in hybrids now, wiping out open natural local pollinators.  Food growing and seed saving skills are beginning to disappear.  We are at risk if we don’t cultivate open pollinated seeds.  We must save organic, non-GM seeds to reconnect food growing with seeds. It is essential to follow the plant in its entire cycle.  

OP seeds are genetically variable and therefore are adaptable to climate change, to particular landscapes and environmental conditions and will evolve with them. OP seeds can be seed-saved by allotment holders, gardeners and farmers.

Our GM crop’s wild relative species potentially hold important traits for the development of resilience; and yet they are currently under-represented in seed bank collections around the world. Kew and the Global Crop Diversity Trust (‘Crop Trust’) are currently working on a project that is bringing collections into the bank that cover the wild relative gene pools of the world’s 29 major crops.

Find out more and support the open pollination initiative here…. www.open-pollinated-seeds.org.uk/