Volunteer Seed Growers
Although Seedy Saturday events and Youth Markets take the spotlight in so many of our articles, the quiet heart and soul of Seeds of Diversity are our volunteer seed growers who supply and rejuvenate the seeds that we collect in our Seed Library, and share at community events all across the country. You can meet many of them in our Member Seed Exchange, where they also offer the seeds they save, and you can find their seeds in hundreds of gardens.
We couldn't do any of our seed programs without seed savers --- so a big thank you to our members who give their time and land to preserve and share Canada's seed diversity with other gardeners!
Canadian Seed Library
Our main project is our permanent heritage seed collection. Here we store thousands of samples of rare seeds, found in member collections, our seed exchange, other seed libraries, and the catalogues of specialty seed companies. The seeds are stored in multiple locations, and the rarest seeds are dried and frozen for a long life-span, but even the best freezer can't keep a seed alive forever. Every year we rely on our volunteers to grow out older samples, so new samples can refresh the collection for the future. Along the way, members gather information about the varieties, and extra seeds make their way to seed swap tables and seed libraries in over 150 communities.
Community Seed Growouts
This year, 240 members are participating in seed grow-outs for dwarf tomatoes, breeding ground cherries, and trialing bean varieties. Seeds saved from these programs will be used in future years, and through our Seed Exchange you'll be able to get more diverse seeds for your garden too.
Save One Rare Variety
There's still time for you to make a difference, helping preserve seed diversity in your own garden this year. We challenge every gardener to find a seed variety in our Seed Exchange, our Seed Catalogue Inventory, or a local seed library that's only available from one source. There are so many endangered varieties to choose from, you won't have to look far (sadly).
When you buy a rare variety from a seed company, you support the person preserving it there. And when you save its seeds and offer them through our Seed Exchange or a local seed swap, you make it more available to other gardeners. That keeps one more rare variety in circulation, and if everyone did that there would be no more rare varieties!
Thanks again to our seed growers, and if you save even one variety of seeds this year then thank you too!!
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An annual membership to Seeds of Diversity gives you access to our seed exchange, seed grow-out programs, and our online news.
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