Potatoes are on the menu at this year's Herefordshire Big Seed Swap

For the first time, volunteers running the non-profit organisation will be including potatoes and 18 different varieties of seed potatoes will be sold individually and at cost for just 15 pence each.

This year's Big Seed Swap will be held on Saturday, February 2 at The Courtyard Theatre , Hereford from 10am to 2pm.

Gardeners, allotment holders and other growers from across Herefordshire use the annual Big Seed Swap to exchange seeds, plants and cuttings unavailable commercially and grown on their own plots.

"Seed Swaps nationally have become part of the ongoing campaign for biodiversity which is important for food security. Only licensed seeds and plants can be sold legally but gardeners can exchange or give away seed they have grown themselves and Seed Swaps have become very popular across the UK," said Keith Arrowsmith, chairperson of Herefordshire Seed Swap.

"These events are sociable and fun. The main focus is on organic gardening and there is plenty of advice available on growing food and flowers as well as harvesting seeds.

"The speaker will be Kevin Alviti, who grew up on a Shropshire farm and is now a carpenter turned stay-at-home dad who blogs about his family's quest to grow their own food and be as self sufficient as possible," added Keith.

"The seed potatoes will be sold individually rather than in the commercial norm of kilo bags which means four or five varieties of potato can be grown on one plot.

"Seeds exchanged may be rare or old varieties no longer available commercially, can lend themselves to successive harvesting instead of overwhelming the household with one giant crop and can be particularly well suited to local growng conditions," said Keith.