Visit our website • Forward to a friend • Join us • Donate • View this newsletter in your browser

It’s That Time... Seedy Saturday Season!

In a decades-old article for the Seeds of Diversity magazine, Sharon Rempel, an elder in the Canadian organic and heritage movements, says:

“Seedy Sunday or Seedy Saturday refers to events in which people get together to swap seeds, especially heirloom varieties, or varieties that have been in the family for years if not several generations. The word ‘heritage’ or ‘folk seed’ or ‘heirloom’ are used interchangeably but the variety is ‘open pollinated’ and may be a ‘landrace’. The idea of conserving heritage varieties of crops was in its infancy in Canada in 1989. It was very difficult to find heritage varieties of vegetables, fruits, flowers and grains.”

The article this was pulled from was Sharon's recollection of her process of initiating the first Canadian Seedy Saturday in Vancouver BC in 1990.

How times have changed since the beginning of this movement! Today, there are at least 150 events taking place each year, a number that fluctuates year-to-year as events dissolve and pop up. Seedy Saturdays and Sundays rely heavily on passionate volunteer efforts to gain and maintain momentum, much like our own work here at Seeds of Diversity.

Seeds of Diversity has gratefully supported Seedy Saturdays and Seedy Sundays since the very beginning and we have continued to find ways to provide meaningful resources. Much like the last couple of years, here’s what we’re up to this cold season:

Idea sharing sessions

Done, done, and done! From November to January, we hosted monthly virtual planning sessions open to any and all event organizers to gather and discuss common challenges, share ideas, and offer resources and support. In all, 89 organizers gathered together across the three sessions. The result? Three hours of lively discussion and 24 pages of handy notes.

Seeds, seeds, seeds

As always, we’re sending seed packets to every event to supplement their seed swap supply. We can’t say just yet which varieties we have or how many packets we can offer up, but it looks like we have plenty of lettuce, tomato, and savory seeds to share far and wide. This process was delayed several weeks due to the Canada Post strike, but we’re catching up quickly as seeds flood into the office.

And, special for this year, we are teaming up with Northern Wildflowers to get more seeds into more hands! In past years, they have supplied seed libraries and Seedy Saturday events with seed packets, much like we do. For 2025, they’re sending us a biiiig package of hundreds of packets to include in our own mailouts, meaning dozens of events will receive Northern Wildflower seeds as well.

“At Northern Wildflowers, we are dedicated to supporting Canadian gardeners in creating beautiful, sustainable gardens. Our passion lies in providing native wildflower seeds and vegetable seeds that thrive in Northern climates. Our mission is to empower everyone to create wildlife habitat and outdoor spaces that spark joy.” Learn more about their work

Promotions

Our Events page has begun again! With more than 80 events already listed there, it’s shaping up to be the best place to learn about seedy events happening across the country this winter and spring. Organizers submit details via a Google Form about what they have planned and it populates the page automatically - a cool system!

Film Screenings

For the second time now (the first being 2022), we’re licensing a film for use across all Seedy Saturday events this upcoming season. How fun! What film, you ask?

In My Backyard

The film chronicles director Jamie Day Fleck’s personal journey into urban agriculture, converting her entire backyard into a kitchen garden. Using her personal story as a jumping-off point, she branches out to look at the various solutions that backyard gardeners and urban growers have dreamed up and implemented in her city — Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Learn More about the film

In My Backyard was selected following a poll in which 67 event organizers shared their top film choice from a shortlist of three impactful Canadian-made films. As of mid-January, 25 events have signed up to access the film for their events, and we expect more to follow in the coming weeks - stay tuned!

Seed company information

Our Canadian Seed Finder and Seed Map are great resources for learning about the dozens of seed companies that exist in Canada, including contact information and location. This can certainly come in handy for organizers when sourcing vendors, and that’s one of the important ways these resources are used! We do our best to update them every year.