I’ve fulfilled a long-held ambition this year and put my name down for the Heritage Seed Library.

This remarkable band of mainly volunteers have taken it upon themselves, very nearly single-handedly, to save all the vegetable varieties they can.

The majority of the veg we grow are registered under the 1973 Seed (National List of Varieties) Act. It seemed like a good idea at the time, as it guaranteed that all seed were uniform, stable and distinct: so you can be sure that what you buy is what you get.

The trouble is that unknown thousands of varieties never made it on to the database, and at a stroke became illegal. You cannot sell or buy such seed: the only way you can get hold of it is if someone gives you some.

The 1973 Act might have ensured growers knew what they were getting, but it also ensured the vegetable gene pool was dramatically limited to those few dozen varieties of each type of vegetable which made it through. Not good news when you’re trying to breed new varieties for, say, pest and disease resistance, or to withstand the effects of climate change.

That’s why the HSL is so very important. They’ve scoured the country collecting seed from that funny-looking bean Auntie Doris has grown in her back yard for years, or the carrots Joe down the allotments has honed to perfection over decades. Once they’ve got the seed, they grow it on, either at the Garden Organic gardens at Ryton or through a growing network of Seed Guardians – doughty volunteers who grow these often very rare heirlooms on their allotments or in their gardens, save the seed and send it back so it can be redistributed to Garden Organic members across the land.

And that’s how such seed become more widely available. There are several success stories: the Victorian runner bean ‘Painted Lady’ was once endangered but is now mainstream; and the crimson-flowered broad bean was saved by the Seed Library and is now much in demand for its spectacular good looks (I’m growing some this year myself).

The HSL redistributes its seed through its catalogue: and that’s what dropped on my mat the other day. So yet again I find myself indulging in more seeds than, strictly speaking, I should be committing myself to, as I get to choose 6 varieties as part of my Garden Organic membership and it’s full of tempting stuff like acocha (described as “ideal for an amateur production of Day of the Triffids”) and African Horned Cucumber (perplexingly prickly but intriguing).

I passed on both – maybe another day when I’m feeling braver – but here are my heritage choices for 2010:

Carrot ‘London Market’

Climbing French bean ‘Blue Queen’

Asparagus kale

Melon ‘Green Nutmeg’

Pea ‘Clarke’s Beltony Blue’

Squash ‘Virginia Rooster’

All have great stories behind them and date back at least 80-100 years plus: I’ll let you know how I get on with them!