"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."
― Robert Louis Stevenson
I have been trying to make small changes in my life, adjusting my attitude and expectations slowly and trying to remain positive in the face of adversity. It is slow going and small steps, so this quote spoke to me. It is also very fitting for our learning this week though.
Our local library has just added a seed library. Their aims include:
- encouraging the community to dig and garden
- reconnecting the community to the traditions of growing tasty, healthy foods
- educating the community about growing, harvesting and saving seeds
- creating a community-sustained seed collection
- nurturing a culture of sharing and abundance
(taken from the seed library leaflet)
I think it is a really lovely idea. Each packet has 5-10 seeds in, with some basic planting instructions. You can check out 10 seed packets a month. They ask that if you are able to successfully grow the plants, you then collect and save some seeds and return those to the library for someone else to borrow. I love that this way we can plant a few of each plant and see different crops grow, but also (hopefully) contribute to the seed library and help someone else start their own vegetable garden too.
M was very excited to choose seeds and seeing the excitement on her face was magical!
She chose
- Tomatoes
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Basil
- African Daisies
- Mexican Sunflowers
- Grass
- Broccoli
- Runner Beans
I was pleased she chose a variety, we will be able to look at them carefully before planting and then also see how different shoots look. The only downside of letting her choose, was that some of the seeds are considered 'advanced'. Hopefully we can make it work, but if not there will still be some learning and a lot of fun in the process.
I am really excited to help her plant them and learn about how to take care of them and what they need to grow. Now I just need her to wake up from her nap!
Watch this space for some updates on how we get on. I hope that we can grow our plants to adulthood and harvest the fruits and vegetables from them. Maybe your local library has (or would be interested in starting) a seed library, if they have one I would definitely recommend checking it out.
Friends, I am by no means an expert gardener so would love all the tips you can give please :)
What a neat concept, checking out seeds at the library!
It is such a fun idea, we will go back and get different ones next month.
This is such a cool idea!! ♥
I love this and will have to tell my librarian friend about it and maybe get one started in our library. I know I have extra seeds I could donate...
Thank you for resteeming this post @squishysquid! I could read it and liked the idea a lot. I resteemed it too :)
@akipponn I am pleased you liked it. Do they have anything similar near you? Thank you also for resteeming it.
Recently I saw a Japanese news article shared by someone on facebook with keywords "library" and "seeds" but it's not a seed sharing at a local library as you wrote. It was more like a seed company made a local seed library for locals. Anyway I'm happy to see seeds are shared as a hobby gardener.
It sounds nice that the seed company did something so generous too :) my kids are loving learning about plants, just waiting for some shoots!!
Its a great post! ♥
@squishysquid that is such an awesome idea 💗 let me know what your friend says. Thank you so much for resteeming my post too
No prob, and thanks! ♥
Lovely lesson for life. Just like so many apsects of life, we need to plant the seed, nuture it and then harvest at the right time. Be this relationships, career, finance and a whole scope of life areas.
This is so true 💗 a sage philosophy
Wow! I would like to have libraries of this kind in my country.
It would be great if you made a post about how the harvest went, I hope you share your experience 😄
Maybe you could start an informal seed sharing library with your friends and neighbours. I hope to be able to share our progress 😀 so far no sign of shoots...but it is only day one!
It is so cool that you have a seed library there. It is really a good learning experience, whether or not they grow. It will be so much fun and joy when they do grow 🙃