If you are thinking about planting your own vegetable garden this spring, the Jessie J. Edwards Library in Coldwater has just what you need to get started.
The Seed Library launched in mid-March featuring two drawers jam packed with hundreds of free seed packets to grow everything from a variety of tomatoes to corn, beans and peas in your own backyard.
“The response has been great so far. We have about 10 or 11 participating,” said library assistant Christe Blackett, who initiated and organized the Seed Garden.
While you will need to provide some specific equipment to prepare your personal garden, seedlings and established plants for certain fruits and vegetables – particularly tomatoes – can be expensive.
And you don’t have to purchase the basic need. Patrons of Jessie J. Edwards Library can check out seeds, just like they would check out anything else. When the season is over, harvest seeds from your successful plants, dry them, label them and take them to the library to pay it forward to the next gardener.
The best part is seeds are not guaranteed, so if you don’t grow enough to “return” any, don’t panic. You won’t face a library fine for unreturned seeds.
“There are several places where you can request free seeds and they will donate them,” Blackett explained. “We received most of our seeds from Baker Creek in Mansfield, Missouri. They sent us about 200 seed packets at no cost. Even the shipping was free. We also have a few people in our community that donated seeds.”
The library only accepts seeds from healthiest plants that are non-genetically modified organism, chemical free, open-pollinated, heirloom and/or locally saved seeds in any quantity.
Blackett admits she got the concept for starting a Seed Garden by reading comments on the Baker Creek Facebook page.
“There was a discussion about free seed donations for local libraries and that gave me the idea and inspiration to start a Seed Garden here in Coldwater,” she said. “I began researching how many there were. The library in Oxford had a Seed Garden years ago. I talked to some people, and I looked at videos on YouTube from other states about how to one get started here. The idea just kind of bloomed from there.”
Blackett, who enjoys gardening in her spare time, said the Seed Garden has triggered “green thumb” discussions with several patrons. It also gives people who don’t typically go to the library another reason to visit.
“We had a couple that lives here in town come in the first day we unveiled the Seed Garden,” Blackett explained. “They have lived close to the library for over a year but never visited. While they were here, they got seeds and library cards.”
The idea is catching on throughout the First Regional Library system’s 13 branches. Blackett said Senatobia is also making plans to start a Seed Garden for its patrons.
“Growing your own vegetables is a healthy and cheaper alternative that buying them in a store,” Blackett said. “The word is getting out in the community, and we are excited about offering this service.”
