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Seedy Saturdays and Seedy Sundays - They Happened!

Rayna Almas

At the beginning of the year, we told you that these remarkable, individually and uniquely organized events would persist through COVID-19, but not in the ways that we’re used to. We had to say goodbye (for now) to dreams of people gathered around tables, chatting about gardening while admiring and swapping packets of seeds, and hello to…. virtual (mostly. About 90% of the events we know about made the switch, with the other 10% managing to put together in-person gatherings).

In 2020, almost half of Canada’s Seedy Saturday events had to cancel, many at the last moment, and there was no time for a “Plan B”. For 2021, we were all prepared to adapt, so that’s what we did! Of the 190 organizers we reached out to in October, we heard back from and worked with 104 in some capacity over the last five months. If you recall, we mentioned a few things that we would do to support the events: hold organizer meetings, put together a series of virtual webinars, work on ways to safely exchange seeds, help to promote local seed companies, and provide tech support. Well, we are delighted to say that we were able to check, check, check, check, and check all of those boxes. And we are equally delighted to say that we know of over 80 events that happened from January - May of this year.

After initially contacting organizers, we set up general meetings for them to meet, network, and share ideas. These meetings then developed into regional meetings and finally, as the event season loomed closer, we held a series of five meetings to address five major areas we identified:

• running a seed exchange amid COVID-19, 
• putting together virtual webinars, 
• promoting local seed companies and other vendors, 
• increasing revenue, and
• technical components of online events

In total, we held 12 meetings over the course of three months, and our total number of attendees for the final five topic-based meetings was 112!

As anyone who has attended Seedy Saturdays in the past likely knows, a huge part of these events is knowledge sharing. This year, workshops and webinars were most commonly used to do this because they’re well-suited for online formats. With the incredible uptick in gardening amid the pandemic, there is a lot of valuable information to be shared with new and experienced gardeners alike. Events held presentations via Zoom, Facebook Live, Youtube, and a variety of other innovative platforms. 

Along the way, we found we could help with their virtual programming by offering live and recorded webinars. Why? Many events are run by volunteers and volunteer committees or nonprofits with little to no budget for speakers. Also, it’s pretty cool to be able to hear from people thousands of kilometers away! After consulting with events, we brought on speakers from all over the country (BC to NL) and created a series of 12 presentations that organizers could incorporate into their events. Topics ranged from seed saving to climate change to school gardens, meaning something for everyone. With a total of 16 live presentations at nine different events, and 36 events using various recordings, it was well worth the effort. Many of them are now available on our web site to view any time. 

For many (or most?) organizers, coordinating an online event was a brand new experience with a sharp learning curve. I think that’s something we’ve all experienced over the last year - the “How do I unmute myself again?” or “My internet cut out!” moments are familiar to us all. Despite this, beautiful events were created online, complete with webinars, workshops, community discussions, seed swaps, silent auctions, and plenty more. Some took place over the course of a typical Seedy Saturday day, while others opted to hold a series over the course of a few days to a few weeks. 

What About Seeds?

And Seedy Saturdays would not be what they are without - you guessed it - seeds! But how do you promote local seed companies when the companies can’t be present? Turns out, there are plenty of ways to do it, and we got to see them all courtesy of the creative people behind the events. From sharing information on web pages to posting vendor spotlights on social media to hosting breakout rooms for representatives to chat with locals, I think it’s safe to say that small scale Canadian seed companies were showcased front and center. Not to mention, most of them had no worries about their seed sales anyway. To support these efforts, we contacted all 90+ seed companies we know of in Canada and compiled their information for sharing. We also created a short video for events to share: Sourcing Local Seeds. 

Seed exchanges have always been the heart and soul of Seedy Saturday events and no one wanted to lose that this year. COVID-19 complicated matters, of course, with concerns about face-to-face interactions and touching packets that have been recently handled by others. This was the focus of multiple meetings, and in the end, events executed creative ways to get seeds out to their communities. Here are just a few examples:

• Drive thru seed swaps 
• Grab and go bags of mystery seeds 
• Online ordering systems
• Coordinated seed drop off and pick up hubs
• Seed borrowing through local public library systems 
• Outdoor little seed libraries 

As is the case each year, we had a lot of seeds come in, which means we had a lot of seeds to send back out! We sent over 2200 seed packets to 60 events across the country. 

Finally, we wanted to share just a few of the heartwarming messages we’ve received from those we worked with this season:

As much as we appreciate the kind messages we’ve received (and we really do!), the truth is that Seedy Saturday and Seedy Sunday events are only possible because of the people who create them where they happen. Each and every organizer deserves a round of applause for all that was achieved this season in the face of so many challenges. 

Happy gardening!  

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