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Seed Libraries Across Canada, Part 13

Rayna Almas

In our September 2022 Seed Libraries article, we mentioned that as of 2015, it was estimated there were at least 50 Seed Libraries in Canada; and we suspected that number must have risen in the years since. Well, in the three years since writing that, I have come to the conclusion that we were definitely right in thinking that number had grown. Each time I begin my research for one of these articles, I am blown away by the sheer number of Seed Libraries sprinkled across the country. The more I look and reach out to folks in the seedy community, the more that pop up. If each Library were a star, Canada would look like a clear night sky.

What I know for sure is that as long as there are more Seed Libraries to spotlight, I want this series to continue. Which, by my estimation, means that I’ll be writing these articles for at least the next decade because there are, at minimum, 150 Seed Libraries from coast and coast (and I can’t pretend to know any more precisely than that). And I can only imagine that more come into existence every year. Every single one carries a unique story, backed by unique and passionate people caring about the things that, I’m guessing, most of you reading this care about: seed & food sovereignty, community building, food biodiversity, and the list goes on. 

Do you know of any Seed Libraries in your neck of the woods? We want to know about them, too! 

 

Now, let’s head to Vancouver Island to learn about three spectacular community-run initiatives: 

 

Green Fern Gardens Seed Library - Campbell River 

I have an urban garden that my family enjoys which allows us to grow food and flowers. I enjoy it so much that I volunteered at my children’s school after they built a school garden to help them offer a new learning program to the students.

I was introduced to seed saving after joining a round robin seed swap that a local seed library in the next community started. I enjoyed seeing the diversity of what people were saving and sharing in our area. I was also starting to realize that I could save some money from buying nursery starts and commercial seeds if I learned how to save and grow my own seeds.

This gave me the chance to offer the school different seeds to grow; items that are not sold in the grocery stores to show the students different foods. Purple carrots and potatoes are always a favorite!

I started collecting seeds from my garden and after collecting seeds for a bit, I realized I had too many for me to use in just my garden. I wanted to share them and bring a library to our community when I couldn’t find something similar closer to home.

I applied for a Neighbourhood Small Grant through the Campbell River Community Foundation which allowed me to purchase a little library box and all the equipment to install it, as well as some bulk seed to get me started. And Green Fern Gardens Seed Library was started.

This is my third summer with the library, and I participated in my first Seedy Saturday this year. It was very helpful to show the community that there are seed libraries in their community and to encourage others to save some seeds and share with the libraries. I have a lot of children in the neighbourhood that like to come and look for new seeds.

I offer seeds saved from my own garden, community gardens as well as commercial seeds that have been donated through different companies and organizations. Feedback about the library has been very positive! People have been pleasantly surprised to learn that these little seed libraries exist.  I think my seed library has encouraged people in the community to try gardening, expand their garden, or try saving seeds.

This year has been the best year for returns to the library!

 

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LUSH Valley’s Seed Libraries - Courtenay, BC

 

www.lushvalley.org 

IG: @lushvalleyfood 

FB: @LushValleyFood

 

LUSH Valley’s Seed Libraries provide barrier-free access to seeds and food-growing resources for community growers and the garden-curious alike. Based in the Comox Valley, B.C., LUSH is a non-profit organization that has been working towards their vision of a region where healthy, local food is at the heart of community wellbeing since 2000. 

The initiative first sprouted in 2020 and 2021 through a partnership between LUSH’s Urban Agriculture program and the Courtenay branch of Vancouver Island Regional Library to provide free seeds and hands-on workshops on seed-saving and seed-starting. Since then, free Seed Libraries have grown roots at LUSH’s Tsolum Educational Community Garden and office headquarters.

Today, the Seed Libraries house a variety of seeds including heirloom, open-pollinated, hand-saved and locally-adapted varieties, with a focus on edible plants. Each spring, farmers, nurseries, and enthusiastic seed-starters frequently donate flats of plant starts, popular with folks who may lack the space, time or confidence to start seeds on their own.

Beyond seeds, LUSH provides education and resources to support food growers of all experience levels. Seasonal workshops cover topics such as seed starting, drought-resilient gardening, medicine-making, and permaculture design. To see what’s coming up, visit lushvalley.org/events. 

Community Seed Libraries strengthen biodiversity, support local food security and nurture resilience by encouraging people to grow, save and share seeds. We invite you to borrow from your local Seed Library, donate seeds back when you can, or join the conversation in LUSH Valley’s Grow Food Everywhere group on Facebook.

LUSH Valley extends gratitude to the partners and community members who have generously donated materials, seeds and time to help this project flourish.

 

 

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The Wee Free Seed Box - Victoria BC

 

The Wee Free Seed Box has been perched on a busy urban street corner in the James Bay Neighbourhood of Victoria, BC since 2020.

The Wee Free is to more mainstream seed libraries as little free libraries are to the ‘real’ libraries - we take almost anything, including commercial seed, as there’s no store that sells seeds in our neighbourhood.

We also have a core of volunteers who save and pack locally collected food, flower, and native plant seeds in our own line of seed envelopes.

 

Our main challenges : keeping seeds in the box (we add seeds every day from Feb through Oct), removing unwanted additions (the day it was crammed full of loaves of bread was particularly memorable), and removing graffiti.

Our main joys : reports on seeds that have been sown and are flourishing, astonishing the tourists (the box is on a main walking route from the cruise ship terminal to downtown), and finding that the box has become an impromtu plant exchange as well.

 

The box is run by the James Bay Neighbourhood Association as part of their gardening program, which aims, among other goals, to make gardening supplies easily accessible to residents. Funding for the box and surrounding garden was provided by a City of Victoria My Great Neighbourhood Grant.

Note: The box is currently off at the seed box spa for a bit of rejuvenation, but will be back soon.

 

 

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Rayna is Seeds of Diversity's Program and Communications Director

 

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