You can check books out of the public library – but did you know that there is a new trend called a seed library?
It’s a collection of seeds saved and donated by local gardeners and shared with the community. It’s a great idea and I’d love to see seed libraries in every community.
Sharing Seeds for Community Benefit
Seed libraries are places where seeds are shared for the community’s benefit. Many communities that start libraries for seeds host them in common gathering places like public libraries or community centers.
The idea is simple. If you are interested in starting one, visit the Seed Libraries site and learn more.
Why Save and Share Seeds?
Every seed tells a story. Seeds are the genetic inheritance of the plant and the way in which plants reproduce.
Throughout history, gardeners and farmers gathered seeds from their favorite and/or best plants. These seeds were carefully preserved and stored for next year’s crops. They traveled with European colonists to the Americas; the Europeans sent new varieties found in the Americas back to Europe. Seeds traveled the world right alongside people.
Sharing seeds is a ritual as old as time. Seed swaps once took place over back fences, in community gathering places. Later in the 19th century the packaging and selling of seeds became a viable business.
Saving and Sharing Seeds Ensures Genetic Diversity
As hybridizers cross-pollinated specific varieties, the resulting seeds could be saved and patented. Hybrids are often sterile, meaning that the seeds from hybrid plants can be sterile or produce plants that do not bear a close resemblance to their parents. This made saving and sharing seeds even more of a specialized endeavor.
Today’s gardeners value variety. Many are turning their backs on hybrids and seek open-pollinated varieties. By saving and sharing garden seeds, you are helping to ensure genetic diversity in plants.
Local Varieties Suited to the Local Climate
Many local communities have seeds passed along through generations that offer unique taste, color, or other attributes. The Amish saved Brandywine tomato seeds, for example, passing them to generations of gardeners. Gardeners also demand open-pollinated and non-hybridized seeds.
How to Start a Seed Library
Starting a seed library is a fairly simple endeavor. You’ll need a place to share the seeds. A community center, food pantry or library offers a great place to host a seed library.
Another item you will need is seeds. Volunteers, perhaps starting with Master Gardeners and garden clubs, save their seeds, label them, and place them in the library. You’ll also need a cabinet with ample storage space and a logical way to organize them. Many libraries have former card catalogs and may donate one. They may great storage areas for donated seeds.
Resources
There’s a wealth of resources available to help you start your own project, including a website entirely dedicated to the topic.
You can also watch this recorded webinar. It is long (over an hour) but provides comprehensive information on how to begin this valuable public resource.
Seed libraries provide many benefits to communities. They offer people self sufficiency and a method by which they can grow their own healthy, nutritious vegetables, fruits and herbs. They preserve local varieties that may be overlooked by commercial garden companies and nurseries.
More importantly, perhaps, they bring together people in the local community who love to garden and who want to nurture the past to preserve the future.
