The leading grower and supplier of natural plant seeds in the world offers several opportunities to individuals with botanical interests and personal drive to work for us in England. We also offer opportunities for organisations and individuals to grow seeds for us on contract in your own country, or to collect wild plant seeds for us on an opportunistic basis.

If you are a seed company with supplies of unusual species, wherever you are in the world, please send us a list of the species you have available.

We seek individuals who are exceptionally hard working, have a genuine interest in plants and who will enjoy the practical challenge of contributing to a young team working outdoors in all weathers. You will be expected to adopt the standards of the seed production team, in which personal reliability in working towards the team objectives without close supervision, initiative, thoughtfulness and dedication are vitally important. In summer, long working hours are required, but in a small, closely-knit team, working time can often be adjusted to individual convenience.

Horticultural or agricultural training is an advantage. Agricultural field trials experience would be welcomed. So also would any biological training, but the essential qualification is that you must really really want to work outside all day growing weird plants.

We can also offer a limited number of temporary jobs during the growing season for hard working individuals with a driver’s licence.

Although Herbiseed grows 90% of the seed we sell, there are a number of species which we find difficult, or which require a climate not covered by our three production farms. Furthermore, increasing bureaucracy in England is multiplying our costs and production difficulties. We would be interested to discuss the production of wild plant species with suitable organisations or individuals anywhere in the world. We insist on high standards of crop production, record keeping and seed quality, which would be specified in a production contract.

Organisations which are already involved in small-scale plant growing or seed production may be suitable business partners. Growers of pharmaceutical plants, crops for distillation of essential oils, botanic gardens and agricultural colleges will have the essential skills.

There are a small number of species for which we have a present need but no current supply. We propose to list them on this page as our needs arise in the hope that individuals with an interest in plants may recognise an opportunity to collect them for us. We would be delighted to hear from anyone who is willing to act as a collector. We can offer useful advice on how to collect seed to our required standard by the most economic methods. Please contact us by e-mail or fax, giving both an outline of your own background and a list of the seeds you may be able to collect economically.

The species for which we have an immediate need are:

           Papaver rhoeas, Papaver dubium             (poppy)

          Viola arvensis, Viola tricolour                    (wild pansy)

          Veronica spp.                                           (speedwells)

          Anagallis spp.                                            (birdseye speedwells)

          Primula spp .                                             (primrose, cowslip)

          Plantago coronopus                                   (buck’s horn plantain)

          Asphodelus fistulosus = A. tennuifolius      (hollow stemmed asphodel)

          Centauria maculata

          Setaria anceps

          Erigeron annus                                           (annual fleabane)

          Euphorbia supina                                       (prostrate spurge)

         Alternathera phyloxeroides                          (alligator weed)

         Cyperus esculentus (seed, not roots)          (yellow nutgrass, chuffa)

         Oxalis spp.                                                 (sorrel)

        All weeds of rice except Echinochloa crus galli

        Ehinochloa colona                                       (jungle rice)

        Euphorbia heterophylla = E. geniculata        (showy spurge, wild poinsetia)

        Eclipta spp.

        Ammania auriculata

        Boraria spp.                                                 (white top)

        Panicum purpurascens = Brachiaria mutica   (paragrass)

        Sida spp.

        Rottboellia spp.                                            (itchgrass)

        Cyperus rotundus (seed, not roots)               (purple nutgrass)

        Fimbristylis spp.

        Heteranthera                                                (mud plantain)

        Tagetes minuta