Monday, April 8, 2013

JSRCC Goochland Library hosts seed library

With the arrival of the first day of spring on March 20th, our thoughts turn to all things green, especially gardening.  As you begin to plan your garden and think about homegrown, fresh vegetables consider a new place to get the seeds you need.  Instead of going to a big box garden center and buying seeds from who knows where, why not “check-out” seeds from the new seed library on the Goochland Campus?

Betsy Trice, a JSRCC horticulture instructor, was instrumental in establishing the new seed library with the goal of providing a resilient community seed supply.  The initial seeds for the start-up inventory were donated by seed companies.  Beginning this spring individuals may check-out seeds after completing a free one-hour workshop on how to save seeds.  According to Betsy Trice, “The seeds on hand are mostly vegetables with a few flower and herb seeds. We hope the flower and herb offerings will be more robust by the next growing season.  We also hope the seed library will be a catalyst for the exchange of ideas and methods.”

The seed library is replenished when those individuals who borrowed seeds return them at the end of the growing season.  The hope is that those contributions will not just include seeds to replace those that they were withdrawn, but seeds for other varieties of plants thereby expanding the inventory of available seeds for the next growing season. 
So far, workshops were held on March 5th and March 19th.  Additional workshops are scheduled for April 1st and April 15th at 6:00 p.m.  For more information, please contact Betsy Trice at btrice@reynolds.edu.