Farms to Tables: Huron County Seed Library usage continues to grow into second decade

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Last year, the Huron County Seed Library marked its 10-year anniversary. Growing from humble roots and community activism, the library has continued to see a surge in usage year over year with more and more people getting their hands dirty and growing their own food.

 

Back then, it was the now-defunct Huron Food Action Network (HFAN), a volunteer-driven group, that proposed the concept of a seed library in Huron County. Its members had seen similar programs working in neighbouring communities and wanted to bring it to Huron County. At the time, the group, which was associated with what was then the Huron County Health Unit, brought it to the county as a concept, suggesting that the Huron County Library system would be the perfect way to administer the program throughout the county, with branches in all its corners.

 

Tanis VanderMolen, the Branch manager for the South Team, says that for her, seeing this initiative grow out of a citizen-driven, grassroots idea has been one of the best things about the Huron County Seed Library, which she now oversees as part of her duties with the library.

 

Initially, the Seed Library was anchored at branches in both Exeter and Wingham with some of the available seeds spread throughout all of the county’s 12 branches. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, the library made some changes for practical reasons, centralizing the Seed Library in Exeter, that have proven to benefit the Seed Library and its users in the years since.

 

Having everything all in one location makes the cataloguing and inventory processes a lot simpler, VanderMolen says. In addition, as the person in charge of it, having it in one location gives her a lot more control over it when it’s in one place.

 

Now, that’s not to say that the seed-curious residents of Huron County and avid gardeners alike have to pack the car and head to Exeter to get their fix. The library’s inter-county transportation system can transport any seeds that a patron requests to a branch of their choosing, just as the library has done for years with books and other forms of media through the library.

 

Users have to have a Huron County Library card, which VanderMolen reminds is free to obtain for all Huron County residents, and there is a limit of two packs of seeds per person at a time, but the Seed Library has become a great way for budding gardeners to dip their toe in the gardening pool without a full financial commitment from a garden centre. 

 

However, it’s not just that. VanderMolen says that it’s become somewhat of an unofficial community for members of the local gardening community. Not only are there seeds available to those who want them, but many people have begun donating seeds to the Seed Library, bringing the project around full circle and allowing the library to rely less on purchasing seeds and to lean more on its local gardening partners and people who are in the know.

 

VanderMolen took on her current role in 2020, right when the changes with the Seed Library were going ahead. She was a perfect match for the Seed Library, as she had grown up as an avid gardener, dating back to when she was about nine years old, and has a personal interest in the natural, relaxing world of gardening.

 

She says that she had access to land when she was young and was encouraged to get involved in gardening. She instantly loved it and found she was able to get more in tune with the world through gardening, learning - up close and personal - about weeds, soil, pests (both helpful and unhelpful) and plants. Bringing that level of expertise to the position has been beneficial to the Seed Library and helped VanderMolen to know about purchasing the seeds for the Seed Library, organizing donations and doling out advice and best practices when called upon to do so.

 

VanderMolen tries to buy seeds for the Seed Library that are a little harder to come by and ones that are more difficult to save, keeping in mind that many of her community partners have been instrumental in bringing in seeds when they have them. The selection and offerings are always changing, depending on the year, the season and the way the wind blows for VanderMolen, so users can always be checking back to see what’s new in which season.

 

In addition to the Seed Library’s community partners and VanderMolen’s purchasing prowess, the Seed Library has benefitted from great relationships with a number of garden centres and seed shops, such as the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library, West Coast Seeds Canada, No Frills in Grand Bend, Tourne-Sol Co-op in Quebec and more.

 

The relationship between the Seed Library and its community and users has also expanded in recent years. The library hosts a number of Seedy Saturday events throughout the spring, connecting people with seeds while also offering a forum for seed swapping, plant best practices and more, while the Seed Library itself has been the beneficiary of a lot of volunteer labour, with interested locals helping to sort, package and prepare the seeds for those looking to plant them.

 

For more information on the Huron County Seed Library, visit the Huron County Library’s website.