An update from Eleanor Wright...
Hello Folks,
This year's Seedy Saturday was again a thrilling event and the Seed Lending Library received a good amount of attention. Ten new people joined the mailing list for the Seed Lending Library, bringing the total number up to 62. Fifteen people took home 35 seeds to try to grow out, with the total number of seeds taken from the Library since it's first public appearance in December 2013 being 250!
We have been very generous (!) with the seeds at the beginning of this project, but in order to maintain a sustainable supply of seeds in the Library, we now are asking seed-savers to take home only 5 different seeds at a time, until such time as more seeds are returned to the Library.
So far only one person has returned seed: Lorraine (yeah Lorraine!) brought back a jar of seed with a crop record on the Purple Peacock Pole Beans she grew out last year. I'm hoping that more people will bring in seed when I bring the Seed Lending Library to the Public Library this Saturday March 28th or next Tuesday March 31st, between noon and 2 p.m. Even if you don't have a completed crop record, please do return some seed if you have any and we can talk about it.
If any of you would like to communicate via email with me about how it has been going for you with the seeds that you borrowed, I'd love to hear from you. There is always a possibility of trying again this year! Just remember to observe the "community" isolation distance as mentioned in the handout, and try to grow as many plants as your garden space will allow/or as many as indicated on the sheet if you have lots of room.
"Any local seed project can only be as good as the seeds that go into it, but even a small jar of seeds can make a big difference to a community seed library." ("A Growing Need for Seed Growers" by Bob Wildfong, Seeds of Diversity, Winter 2015.)
Thought I would remind folks that there is an excellent collection of Seed Saving books in the library including my current favourite, The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds: 322 Vegetables, Herbs, Flowers, Fruits, Trees and Shrubs (Gough & Moore-Gough, Storey Books 2011). As I start my seedlings for this year's garden, I have been consulting my copy of this book for Spacing for Seed Saving, Plant Breeding Hints, Seed Viability for seeds not listed on the hand-out. There is an incredible wealth of information in this book. It's highly recommended as a resource for any level of seed-saving.
Thanks to all of you for participating. It's a project being created as we go along. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Hope you're all enjoying the early spring!
