ALTON Local Food Initiative’s annual ‘Seedy Saturday’ (seed swap) attracted a steady flow of people to the Methodist Church Hall.

Visitors were faced with hundreds of packets of carefully categorised vegetable, herb and flower seeds, and yam corms for swapping or taking away for a donation.

Food initiative members also served coffee, tea and biscuits to enable visitors to sit and chat after the difficult decision of what seeds to grow this year was completed.

Initiative spokesman Sonia Clark said: “Although we had so many seed packets it was good to see the packets most in demand, such as mange tout and chard this year, being split between two or more people on more than one occasion.

“It was great to see so many regulars who come to our Seedy Saturday each year, and who also often follow up by bringing any excess seedlings to our annual seedling swap, which is May 7 this year, as part of the craft market.”

In all, around 70 visitors and helpers braved a blustery, wet morning to visit the seed swap, giving the food initiative a healthy profit which will be ploughed back into setting up and maintaining plots and planters throughout the town, as well as the Jubilee Fields orchard and a new planter that the group now tends outside the library.

For more details about the work of Alton Local Food Initiative, visit altonlocalfood.org.uk.