The following article was submitted by Meredith Gadzinski, an Adult Services Librarian at Manitowoc Public Library.
Last year, I attended the Seed Swap at MPL that the Lakeshore Seed Collective organized and I left with some vegetable seeds. Not that I was actually planning on planting a vegetable garden because my prior first attempt at vegetable gardening a few years earlier failed and the little produce I managed to grow was stolen by squirrels.
However, undaunted, I grew some veggies inside the house from the seeds that I had collected from the Seed Swap until the threat of frost had passed. I was very skeptical about how they would do and how much harvest I would actually get from my indoor sprouted vegetable garden.
I was pleasantly surprised, though, that they all did really well. In fact, the veggies I grew from seed did better than the veggie plants I ended up purchasing afterwards in late-May. We’re still eating veggies that I froze from my garden last summer and they definitely taste better than store-bought.
There is something special about eating plants you grow yourself. Harvard Health Publishing circulated an article about backyard gardening that states that growing your own food helps you to eat more fresh fruits and veggies. When you grow your own, you control what kind of fertilizers and pesticides come in contact with your food, and veggies that ripen in the garden have more nutrients than the ones you find in most supermarkets because that produce has to be harvested early.
My biggest take away from last summer’s gardening experience is that growing plants from seed is much easier than I imagined and I wound up saving money in the process.
I am excited to share with you that MPL is launching a Seed Library on Saturday, March 11, in conjunction with Lakeshore Seed Collective’s 3rd Annual Lakeshore Area Seed Swap. MPL partnered with Lakeshore Seed Collective and Manitowoc County Historical Society to make this fantastic new offering a reality. A huge “Thank You!” to Manitowoc County Historical Society, which donated a lovely vintage Card Catalog where the seeds will live during their time at MPL. It’s fantastic to be able to use an historic piece of library furniture to house this collection. Lakeshore Seed Collective has been instrumental in helping to bring the Seed Library into existence and without them this new seed collection at MPL could not have been possible. If you haven’t noticed, I’m genuinely excited to give free access to seeds to our community!
Meredith Gadzinski
Manitowoc Seed Library is a collection of open-pollinated and heirloom seeds that you can “check out” to plant and grow at home. Right now, the Seed Library is made mostly of vegetables, but we do have a few annual and perennial flowers, as well.
Our seed pool depends on donations to increase the variety of what we can offer, so if you have extra seeds leftover from previous seasons that you won’t be using moving forward, please donate them so that other members of the community—who may not be able to afford plants or seeds—can have access to them.
“Checking Out” seeds from the Seed Library is very easy:
- Choose your seeds
- Fill out the Seed Checkout Form located on top of the Seed Library. This form asks for your name, the common name and variety of each seed packet you’re interested in, and the packet number
- Hand in the filled-out form at the Main Service Desk with the seeds you’ve chosen.
- Please only take up to 4 packets of seeds per visit.
- If you have more questions about the seed library please look at the Seed Library landing page on our website: manitowoclibrary.org/seedlibrary.
I know that there is snow on the ground currently and winter is still roaring away in Manitowoc. But, it’s never too early to plan your garden. Personally, I have been thinking about mine since early-December.
And seeing as the new Seed Library is housed within the friendly confines of Manitowoc Public Library, it should come as no surprise that we have plenty of books on gardening to help guide you in your planning. I think that this quote by Roman statesman and philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero, sums things up nicely: “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Stop by MPL for the Seed Swap on March 11 and while you’re at the Library, check out a few seeds from MPL’s new Seed Library to help to make your garden grow!
