Sowing the seeds of sustainability
Taradale Library is sowing the seeds of sustainable gardening practices in the community through the opening of a Seed Library.
The initial stock has been made possible by the donation of vegetable, herb, and flower seeds from Kings Seeds. Since then, we have received seed donations from other companies and members of the community.
Nicola Saunders, Napier Libraries Manager, says the seeds are available for anyone in the community to take away and plant at home.
“This is a special service we want to provide to the community, regardless of whether people are library members. We can support their interest in gardening as we have plenty of information about all sorts of plants, and ways to nurture their growth. We would love keen gardeners to harvest some seeds to keep our library going, and we would appreciate seed donations from other growers too.”
The seeds have been stored in envelopes library staff made from deleted, damaged books, which would otherwise have been recycled. The library recycled old card catalogue units to store the seed envelopes. Part of the fun for staff is seeing people excitedly look through the drawers to see what seed are available.
“Using the seed library can help people develop their understanding of nature and where food comes from,” explains Nicola. “The idea of setting up a seed library came from a conversation between librarians. There are other libraries in New Zealand and internationally that have set up seed libraries. The staff thought this was something Napier people may like.”
To launch the seed library, we ran a seed planting workshop to pass on planting tips to young gardeners aged six-plus. Library staff helped tamariki plant their seeds in egg cartons to take home and watch them grow. This event was partially sponsored by Mitre10, who supplied us with seed raising mix and a selection of seeds.
Each seed envelope has a QR code that leads people to tips and tricks for growing their seeds. We also encourage people to share what they grow by tagging us on Facebook and Instagram. We’re looking forward to watching this service grow!
Article from: Napier Library.