THEY DID IT!!!! Local library built a seed library!
THEY DID IT!!!! Local library built a seed library!
Attached: 4 images THEY DID IT!!!! My local library built the seed library! The local Master Gardeners provided a lot of the intitial seeds (oh my gosh we are stocked!!!). They used an old card catalogue to store them. Today's the kickoff! The idea is you "check out seeds" from the library, plan...
Seeds get less viable over time.
Use 'em up.
Well, that seems to be the plan. You "borrow" seeds and at the end of the season you return fresh seeds from what you have grown.
Yeah I'd be cautious about that. With some exceptions like tomato, I've had issues with viral load building up in otherwise apparently healthy seeds, specifically soybeans for edamame and other beans. Then of course you've got cross pollination issues with any thing brassica, or cucurbitacea.
Idk. I collect and sew some of my own seed, but I sure af wouldn't be planting any other growers seed unless I'm confident in their pollination skills as well as pest and disease management. I'd rather pay an annual dues to a seed library/ bank where I can draw from, but be guaranteed fresh seed (this is what we do for our friends/ community) from a reliable source.
Interesting. Is getting seeds such a huge deal?
It's surprisingly difficult to get seed varieties that are well adapted to smaller scale gardening and the vegetables / fruits you buy in the supermarket are often sterile hybrids or seedless.
Check out realseeds.co.uk if you are in the UK (or even if not they may still post abroad). Their catalogue is made up of open-pollinated varieties for saving your own seed from. They even have some open source designs for seed-saving hardware and are very based. In fact most of the veg currently growing in my garden is fourth or fifth generation from seed I bought from them is and is adapting to my local conditions.
Not really, and @TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world has explained above why saving seeds can be technically quite challenging even for advanced gardeners. However there is another side to this - it is good that people consider saving seeds again, and learn how to. Because a lot of regionally adapted (easy to grow in certain places) varieties got lost when people stopped saving seeds and companies started doing it instead.
I think you make a great point about not having regional seed suppliers. This is a deep problem that globalism has created, in that we just don't have reliable local seed suppliers and most of our seed is coming from a very small number of sources.
We had this issue going into and throughout the pandemic, where luckily we had hundreds of surplus seed packets because we are dorky hardcore Gardner's, and we were able to supply our community. However seed quickly ran out from both big box and online retailers. Likewise most people don't consider what makes calories happen from what's fun to grow. Like good luck powering yourself for a day on tomatoes. Y'all mother fuckers need beans.
Also, a follow on issue that the pandemic exacerbated that were only out of now, is that workers for the pollination green houses became in short supply. We only really came out of that in the 23 season. Need people for manual pollinated varieties. No people no pollination. Like not an issue now but def a consideration.
I'll often buy a packet of seeds that I want to plant, but I have a small garden and I usually only want 5-10 seeds from the packet. I take the rest to my local seed library so other people can have some too!
My library has one of these but I've got nowhere to plant them :'(
That's amazing! I'm so happy and proud for you and your community!
Wasn't me, but yeah good effort on behalf of Tinker over at infosec.exchange
Aw, good character, giving credit where due! Thank you!
Do you get fined if you are unlucky to have no harvest and cannot bring anything back?
Awesome!
Garden of Eden Creation Kit
These sorts of news make me genuinely really happy!
inb4 monsanto sues the library