Seed swap encourages community involvement

The Community Seed Swap gives local gardeners an opportunity to share seeds to improve the health of their plots

Tables+set+up+outside+the+Moscow+Public+Library+will+include+plant+seeds+both+packaged+and+unpackaged+for+participants+to+trade.

COURTESY OF FLICKR COMMONS

Tables set up outside the Moscow Public Library will include plant seeds both packaged and unpackaged for participants to trade.

RACHEL KOCH, Evergreen reporter

On Saturday, the Moscow Public Library will host an event for novice and experienced gardeners alike.

At the Community Seed Swap, participants will trade plant seeds, which will allow them to grow plants they may not have been able to find otherwise.

The Seed Swap will be part of Palouse Exchange-A-Seed (PEAS), which is a seed lending library operated by the Latah County Library District.

“Seed swaps are a common component of seed lending libraries,” PEAS Manager Linda DeWitt said. “You’re getting the community [involved], and hopefully, those seeds have adapted somewhat to our very local environment.”

At the event, PEAS will set up tables outside the library offering both packaged and unpackaged seeds, as will event partners Moscow Food Co-Op, Food Not Lawns and Idaho Master Gardener, she said.

“[The Seed Swap] helps promote ongoing seed saving, but also the local diversity that you want in your seeds for optimal growth,” DeWitt said.

Seed saving is a practice in which gardeners limit how many seeds they receive from the packages commonly found in stores, she said. This allows participants to save money and reduce single-use plastic.

DeWitt has reached out to local gardening clubs, encouraging them to attend, she said.

“There are an awful lot of people around here who save seeds routinely,” DeWitt said. “My hope is that we have a good turnout of local gardeners that will bring their saved seed[s].”

The Seed Swap will be a free event, as is every other program and event that the Latah County Library District provides, said Bailey Gillreath-Brown, the adult services manager.

“It encourages people to get out there and garden, especially using whatever available space they have to … invest in growing and eating local,” Gillreath-Brown said.

The Seed Swap will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at 110 S. Jefferson St.