I was reading something in a magazine, i was bored and waiting for my laundry to get done, when I came across an article about Seed Libraries! This got me all excited and like, I WANT THIS FOR MY LIBRARY!!! It is an exchange of seeds inside a public library, where anyone can come in and trade their own seeds for someone elses' etc. It seems there are quite a few libraries doing this and I want to propose it to mine! maybe my little town will get a seed library
Great idea Shawchert! I heard about a seed bank in Pennsylvania last year that was shut down by the Department of Agriculture. You may want to make sure it is allowed in your state before proceeding.
Localized seed saving and trading is getting very big in my area. Am looking forward to going to a couple of events this spring. I love the idea of the public library being part of the gardening experience.
it seems there are a few Seed Libraries in NY so i'll have to look up the laws about it and see if my library might be interested or not.
How is the trade made? Is it a one seed for one seed or is it done by weight. It seems like one seed may not be a fair trade for another seed depending on the product it will create. Interesting idea. Why would seed banks not be allowed in an area?
wel from what i read about them, people would take from the bank, then grow the veggies or fruits, and then from the better of the harvest they would save the seeds that they get and put them in packets and give them to the seed library. kinda like how we give each other seeds from our own gardens here. as for why they are not allowed, well... the government has to get their noses into everyones business remember? in any case, the agriculture people feel that the average person should be buying the super WONNNNDERFUL hybrids. AKA they wanna make money.
I looked into seed libraries, and the major concern hereabouts is that invasive plant seeds would be exchanged. If there is a local Master Gardener organization, or garden club, or a knowledgeable gardener who would take charge of the seed exchange and make sure the seeds offered wouldn't take over someone's garden, the swap would work wonderfully! I hope you can set up a swap at your local library. Please let us know if and how it works for you.
Interesting that the government thinks that it may not be a good idea in some places. It sounds like a very sustainable way to produce new gardens and get other people interested in growing plants.
Yeah, we have a great one in our local libraries in Victoria, Vancouver Island. They offer training and workshops before you can use it to make it even more beneficial. I would recommend contacting them to see how they developed it, it started relatively recently. For more information try: http://gvpl.ca/programs-events/seed-library/
This is how the seed library works at the Greater Victoria Public Library. Various dates for each section. 1. Become a Seed Library Member Attend a Seed Library Member Orientation and sign a membership agreement. Orientation sessions are 1.5 hours long and will be offered monthly, from March-October, at rotating library branches. 2. Borrow Seeds Once you become a member, you will get access to a catalogue detailing the Seed Library’s holdings and you can sign out up to six varieties of seeds. 3. Save Seeds Seed Library Members are responsible for maintaining the stock of seed available through the Seed Library. LifeCycles and GVPL have offered workshops on how to grow and save seed. 4. Share Seeds Collect seeds from your healthiest or tastiest crops and return them to the Seed Library to share with others. For more information, please contact LifeCycles at (250) 383-5800 or vicseedlibrary@lifecyclesproject.ca
So this is more like an organization that is formed by people in the community who are just using the library as a meeting spot. Not a service that the library actually puts out. Interesting enough though might as well use the library for as many things possible educationally.
Wow, sounds like a great idea! Here in Europe, I remember there were plans to restrict or ban seed trading a few years ago. I think I even mentioned in one of my earlier posts. European legislation was in the making, but I've not heard anything since. The reason behind these seed-trade restrictions were indeed financial ones. It seems that in Europe there is a very small number of VERY large companies that almost "monopolise" the seed-trade world. They are considered to be of great economic value to the European Union, and they must be "protected" at all costs. Protected from what? Us small gardeners, trading seeds for fun & hobby? Haha, NOT! I'm hoping that no news is good news, maybe the whole thing blew over because of the complexity of the whole thing.
Ah, must apologise: just did some googling, and found that the afore mentioned legislation was rejected last year. Doesn't mean nothing will ever happen, it's just back to the drawingboard for those people who thought it up in the first place (I bet gardening isn't one of their hobbies )
