Courtesy: dreamstime.com

By Abby Zieverink

GPPL SEED LIBRARY

GPPL kicks off seed library program for local gardeners

Aug 12, 2021 | 12:16 PM

It’s not just readers who are able to borrow materials from the Grande Prairie Public Library (GPPL), but also aspiring and expert gardeners too.

GPPL adult program coordinator Marci Banack says they have created the Seed Library, which is geared to getting more people in the region involved in gardening and to help gardeners in the community share their plants.

“A lot of people in Grande Prairie grow a lot of flowers and vegetables that do produce seeds, and a lot of them go to waste. So, we can give back to our community by upcycling your seeds,” explained Banack.

“Because they are grown here in Grande Prairie, it gives us a little bit more of an idea of what we can grow. Especially when you don’t know.”

The idea of a seed library is for residents to go into GPPL, sort through a variety of labeled seeds, and take ones they would like to grow.

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Banack says at the end of the growing season, residents can harvest their seeds, and return them to the library, similar to a give some-take some concept.

“As every gardener knows, you are always left with an over-abundance of seeds by the time you are finished planting your garden,” Banack said. “So, we thought why not have them available for people to pick up and exchange?”

Banack hopes this program will make the gardening community flourish and bring advanced, beginner, and intermediate gardeners together.

“I know some people get in a rut with the same flower over and over again… Then there’s some that are quite extravagant with their flowers, and a little bit of a more advanced gardener, so those people are great because we can always see a different variety of seeds.”

Banack says the idea came from the City of Grande Prairies planting program and felt the seed library would be a good opportunity to give back to the community.

“We were giving them out for them, and we realized we had a lot of seeds… So why waste them? Let’s use them for the community.”

Banack says there will be a shelf in the library where anyone can stop, exchange, take, and leave seeds of any kind for the seed library.