Your chance to be part of our exciting research
Just use this simple form to give us your name and address (NB must be in the UK) and we'll send you a packet of sorrel seeds, full instructions on planting and nurturing them and details of how you can share your stories about growing and cooking the plants with us and your fellow sowers.
Wild edibles can be cultivated across much of Scotland. They thrive in poorer soils, are more climate resilient than many of our modern crops and have lower water, nutrients and pesticides requirements. They are also rich in phytochemicals, compounds that we think help prevent diseases such as cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
Project team
Everything you need to know about our seed-planting project
We are looking for citizen scientists to take part in our Wild Edibles project to help us explore as a community the potential of wild food production in Scotland.
- Why are we carrying out this research?
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It is important that we understand the potential opportunities and barriers to wild food production in Scotland.
- How will you participate?
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We will send you a packet of sorrel seeds that can be grown in a pot, window box, back garden, allotment or botanic garden. We will ask you not to use fertilizer or pesticides and share your growing success with our citizen science community via the dedicated Facebook Group or on other social media using the hashtag #sorrelseedsowers. We will also be interested in how you used the produce, encouraging you to share photographs and recipes.
- Project information
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This Citizen Science project is being carried out by researchers at the Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen. It is part of a Scottish Government funded project: Extending Food Production to Scotland’s Underutilised Lands, which is running until March 2027. The project co-ordinators are: Wendy Russell – w.russell@abdn.ac.uk and Freda Farquharson – f.farquharson@abdn.ac.uk. Our project e-mail address is wildedibles@abdn.ac.uk
The project will be publicised by methods including word of mouth, University of Aberdeen website, social media posts, knowledge exchange events and television/other media coverage. Participants will be asked to sign up securely and will subsequently be sent a sample of sorrel (Rumex acetosa) seeds from a recognised seed supplier and instructions on how to grow them.
- What the research aims to do
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Participants will grow their seeds and share their experiences with the study coordinators and other participants via social media. Participants will be encouraged to discuss important topics such as climate change, land use, biodiversity and health. We will analyse sorrel samples grown by communities and/or botanic gardens representing different geographical locations to allow us to share scientific conclusions and report findings to the funding body (Scottish Government).
- What data will we collect?
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When you sign up to become a participant of the project we will collect the following personal data from you: Name and Contact Details (postal address).
We will also collect data about site usage and material accessed and downloaded. Via social media, participants will be asked to provide details of growing parameters including: soil type, gardening practice, germination time/success, time to harvest, yield. Participants will be encouraged to voluntarily submit information including photographs, recipes and stories.
- How will the data be used?
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Your personal details will be used to facilitate project coordinators to send out, by post, seeds to the address provided. If we would like to use any information supplied voluntarily such as photographs, recipes and stories we will request your express permission to do so.
- What will happen to the data?
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All personal data collected will be stored securely on University of Aberdeen servers, only accessed by project co-ordinators and only to be used for the purpose of sending out seeds during the Citizen Science project. Data will not be shared with any third parties. All personal data held by the study coordinators will be deleted after 1 year (31 March 2026). Participants are free to exit/stop participating in the project at any point without giving reasons, but any material and data including stories, photographs, stories, growing parameters already provided may still be used.
Further information on how your personal data will be used can be found within the University research participant privacy notice If you have any questions on the uses of your personal data you can contact the Data Protection Officer by email at dpa@abdn.ac.uk