“These are exciting times for the revival of rare welsh grains and oats. There’s renewed interest, rare varieties being refound and replanted, and a next generation determined to learning from elders and restoring lost heritage to the landscape.”
Katie Hastings, Seed Sovereignty Coordinator for Wales
Katie coordinates the Seed Sovereignty Programme in Wales. Since joining the team in 2018, Katie has nurtured the formation and growth of the Wales Seed Hub – now a fully fledged seed company – as well as working alongside the Llafur Ni network to revive rare Welsh oats, running many of our trainings in seed production, and sharing stories of Welsh Seed Lore.
Excitingly, she is currently pursuing a Churchill Fellowship, hoping to answer the question: “How can cooperative structures transform the UK seed system?”. Her exploration is taking her to Nepal, India, and Bhutan to meet growers in agricultural cooperatives that share seeds and machinery, and to learn closely from their approaches, bringing her discoveries back home to support the fledgling seed cooperative movement across our isles.
Katie lives in Machynlleth, Mid Wales, which is in a UNESCO biosphere. Her love for the Earth blooms beyond seed; she’s also a wild swimmer who enjoys growing vegetables and walking up mountains.
Email Katie: katie@gaianet.org
Llafur Ni are a network of farmers and growers working together across Wales to increase grain diversity.
Since 2018, the group have collectively grown the seed from 14 rare oat varieties, all on the brink of extinction, in the hope of bringing them back to our fields.
They share knowledge, grain and machinery by working inter-generationally, with older farmers teaching younger farmers about the seeds from the past.
They have been working on some of the processing issues with oats, including how to dehull and process them for human consumption. In 2021, the Seed Sovereignty Programme launched the Tiny Oat Collider, an open-source dehuller to address a persistent problem for oat growers in our networks: how do we dehull our oats without the use of large, expensive machinery?
The group is currently working to set up a shared oat processing hub. Having received funding from the Kreitman Foundation, they have collectively purchased a small grain cleaner, which is being housed at Carmarthen Machinery Ring. They are exploring their options to purchase more machinery, inching closer to being able to process oats as a food crop.
The Llafur Ni group is facilitated by the Seed Sovereignty Programme, and benefits from the involvement of experts from IBERS Aberystwyth University.
Llafur Ni is a documentary short by The Gaia Foundation, filmed by Andy Pilsbury, telling the story of the Llafur Ni network:
Oat Quest shares a tale of bringing rare Welsh black oats, which thrive in wet Welsh soil, back to fields and kitchens across Wales:
Get in touch with Katie to find out more about Llafur Ni: Katie@gaianet.org
The Wales Seed Hub is a seed-selling cooperative which formed its roots in 2020. Made up of growers who have taken part in our Year-Long Seed Production Training, the group is working together to distribute their open-pollinated seed crops across the UK.
Going from strength to strength, they are now selling over 5,000 packets of Welsh-grown, agroecological seed per year, focusing on varieties that do well in the Welsh climate and on rare varieties not available elsewhere.
We have been working closely with this growers’ coop, supporting them in their journey to being a self-sufficient seed-selling social enterprise.
The Wales Seed Hub have grown into the role of seed sovereignty leaders in Wales, offering trainings and talks on seed saving across the country, often in partnership with the Seed Sovereignty Programme.
Get in touch with Katie to find out more about the Wales Seed Hub: katie@gaianet.org
A guide for setting up a seed-selling cooperative written by Katie Hastings, Seed Sovereignty Coordinator for Wales. Published 30th September 2022.
Ten tales of seed saving, sharing, and revival from Wales, gathered and told by Katie Hastings. Published 1st December 2025 in Welsh and English.
For those who already have some expertise in Seed Production, or have already taken part in our trainings, we run an informal Vegetable Seed Network across Wales. The network consists of an email list, occasional celebration events and occasional advanced training courses.
A recent advanced learning offering consisted of a workshop in Advanced Brassica Seed Production at Awen Organics, led by Kate Ayre, formerly of the Seed Cooperative. This training gave growers an opportunity to delve into the specifics of growing brassicas for seed, with a view to increase the brassica seed crops grown and sold in Wales.
We also aim to link this network with the wider Seed Sovereignty Programme networks, providing opportunities to take part in international exchanges, national seed gatherings and more.
To join the network email list, please contact Katie: Katie@gaianet.org
Well known and loved by growers cross the UK and advisors and friends of the Seed Sovereignty Programme. You’ll find no F1 hybrids or genetically modified seed here! Just varieties that do really well and taste great when grown on a garden scale: a catalogue of real seeds for real gardeners wanting to grow proper vegetables.
With over 100 members, Lampeter Seed Library is community-run and holds the seeds for over 150 varieties. Members can ‘borrow’ seeds and then return seed to the library the following year.
Based in South Wales, the Incredible Seed Library aims to make seed freely available to anyone who asks for it—operating on an ‘honour system’ to maintain a well-stocked collection of pure, healthy, viable seeds for the community to use. You become a member automatically when you withdraw seeds to plant.
A newly formed community seed initiative, Brecon Seed Library, is setting up in Y Gaer public library, looking to make locally relevant seeds available to all. This seed library is a collaboration between growers, farmers, Black Mountain College students and Powys County Council.
This content was originally published on 2 March 2026 on…
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