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Free Seed Library in Prince George starts in March

Despite the snow and cold outside it’s time to start thinking about what that garden is going to look like in 2022. There’s a new free Prince George Community Seed Library that takes root this spring.
Prince George Seed Library
There's a new free Prince George Community Seed Library that will be available in March at the downtown branch of the library.

Despite the snow and cold outside it’s time to start thinking about what that garden is going to look like in 2022.

There’s a new free Prince George Community Seed Library that takes root this spring.

Borrow seeds to grow healthy food by picking from the seed collection of tried and true heirloom varieties available at the Bob Harkins branch of the Prince George Public Library.

Gardeners ‘borrow’ the seeds in spring and at harvest time let some plants go to seed to return a portion to the library for next season to promote sustainability for food security.

This project is in partnership with the David Douglas Botanical Garden Society, Prince George Master Gardeners, the Prince George Public Library and funded by the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation Grant.

Ana Peasgood, who started a seed library in her hometown of Chetwynd before she moved to Prince George, took up the challenge when she took a master gardeners’ class last year and the topic was broached.

After some discussion there were 12 dedicated volunteers who came together to organize the project in anticipation of the launch that will take place on Seedy Saturday. It will be a virtual event again this year so people can hear all about it on March 5 and after that the seed library will be open.

“We realized this project had to come together quicker than anticipated because with Covid-19, supply chain and food security concerns there’s a real lack of seeds accessibility - local garden centres are amazing and do the best they can - but you can’t always get what you need - so we really wanted to make sure that we could create a project that would be suitable for all gardeners - master gardeners, new gardeners - all demographics - to really just be accessible - so it will be located at the Prince George Public Library in March,” Peasgood said.

The focus is on vegetables, edible flowers and beneficial pollinators with the intent to strengthen local food security.

Here’s how the seed library works:

1.  Browse & Borrow... select what plants you’d like to grow – then checkout the seed packages through the online seed library page at https://www.ddbotgarden.bc.ca/seed-library

2.  Sow & Grow... plant, tend, and enjoy your crop

3.  Learn & Share... attend one of our seed-saving workshops to learn how to successfully save seeds for your own use and to return to the library.

4.  Reap & Return... if you are able, harvest new seeds and return them to the library, to be borrowed by local gardeners next growing season. Returning seeds is not a requirement for borrowing seeds. Seeds returned from successful plants will grow our collection and help cultivate seed stocks best suited to our local climate.

For all the details visit https://www.ddbotgarden.bc.ca/seed-library.