Annsleigh Gardens

Our heritage Seed Bank is located within the grounds of 'Annsleigh Gardens' an historic, five acres Olde World English garden situated in the north western part of Tasmania and only 10 minutes from Burnie.

The gardens are a place of beauty and serenity consisting of numerous 'rooms' and themes which are perfect for wandering around and getting 'lost'. As an added bonus, it also has (possibly) has one of the tallest pruned hedges in Tasmania (maybe Australia)!

Started over 60 years ago, the gardens were originally a home to a flock of sheep - simply a bare paddock! Over time it was developed by a lovely couple 'Ann and Leigh' who established a vibrant cafe and open-garden. Eventually the gardens sold becoming an elegant wedding venue. In early 2025 and we then purchased the property with a vision of creating a place for people to visit and learn about our vegetable and fruit heritage, to learn about seed saving and as a base to distribute our rare seeds.

Developing the gardens is still very much a work in progress....... Over the years it had become quite overgrown and run down - however there's still that something special - a sense of peacefulness that's rare these days. So yes, there's still so much to do, and we're not open yet, however we'll be opening our doors soon (we're aiming for Spring 2025).

We'd love for you to join us in our journey.

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MORE ABOUT OUR MISSION

'Seed knowledge is eroding even faster than seed biodiversity.'
(Matthew Dillon, Organic Seed Alliance)

For the home grower, the practice of saving seed, once common place due to necessity, has now largely been replaced by our reliance on the seed companies. We no longer hold the knowledge of how to save seed and keep it pure. It is simply easier to buy the packet of seeds from the store.

We recognise that to truly keep seed varieties alive we need to not only reintroduce the lost varieties back onto the market, but also educate gardeners in traditional methods of seed saving. We aim to achieve this through offering home growers tips on growing vegetables through our newsletters and website which offer free seed saving guides, and also through hands on practical classes in our seed saving gardens.

It is not an easy job. Often we'll be handed one or two tiny seeds - an old variety which is no longer available and extremely rare. We treat them like babies; plant them out, protect them from pests, fertilise, weed, mulch, checking them numerous times throughout the day until months later when a small amount of seed may be harvested. With the danger of losing this variety now lessened, this seed is then grown out in the next season - the whole process taking two or three growing seasons; sometimes a couple of years after which the seed is then released back onto the market. The number of hours which goes into 'rescuing' a variety from extinction while definitely worthwhile, is certainly not financially viable. It's no wonder that most seed companies on the market purchase seed from the larger seed companies to simply repackage into small packets. All of the time goes into growing the seed and to skip this part would make financial sense. But then, how do we keep diversity alive?

So, yes, we do need help!

If you would like to join us in our efforts, we sincerely thank you!

There are a number of ways you can offer your support. The first is by simply buying our seed.