ERIN – Gardeners can pick up seeds and learn about growing food and flowers at the Seedy Saturday event here on March 11.
The annual event is from 10am to 3pm at Erin United Church. Parking and admission are free.
Erin Seedy Saturday is organized by Jen Edwards, an Upper Grand District School Board trustee who operates the Erin Seed Library and the Erin Public School Seed Library.
Seed libraries offer free seeds to the community to encourage gardeners to start growing from seed.
Though people are encouraged to bring seeds to trade to “keep the library going for everyone,” this is not a requirement and people are welcome to take seeds without offering any to exchange, Edwards said.
“It’s all about experimenting and learning,” she noted.
Seedy Saturdays is a national grassroots initiative that prioritizes decreasing barriers and keeping gardening “costs as low as possible,” Edwards said.
“Anyone can come out … and get some information so you can grow your own food or flowers – you need flowers too for the pollinators,” she added.
The event will feature movie screenings, a workshop, kids’ crafts, virtual presentations and almost a dozen vendors with a range of products, including seeds, rain barrels, garden signs, honey and maple syrup.
The two movies will be screened on the main floor of the church at 11am and 1pm.
The first is Pollinator Friendly Gardening by Bob Wildfong, which Edwards describes as more of a presentation than a movie.
“The second is a movie-movie,” she said – Kiss the Ground narrated by Woody Harrelson. The cost of the screening is “sponsored by grant funds,” and the movie is also available on Netflix.
The workshop, facilitated by Edwards, goes on throughout the day and is called “The Get it Done Seed Planting Workshop.” Participants will plant tomato, eggplant and pepper seeds.
“These ones really need to be planted early,” Edwards said, as they need more time to grow inside.
“There will be photos of all the different tomatoes so they can start their seeds right there and bring them home – then you’ve got it done and you are golden,” she said.
There will also be virtual presentations available online through the Erin Seed Library website.
The presentations are provided by Seeds of Diversity, an organization based out of Waterloo that is “a huge help in everything,” Edwards said.
Seeds of Diversity “protect the people’s seeds” by going through seed catalogs to identify seeds that are no longer available, finding out who has those seeds, and keeping them going, Edwards said.
“So that our food supply is not narrowed down to what’s just in the catalogs.”
The organization gives free seeds to the Erin Seed Library and provides videos as educational resources.
Vendors on site
There will be 11 vendors/tables set up this year.
It’s important to support local vendors, Edwards said, and she hopes “people come and learn some stuff and get some seeds and get the gardening excitement happening.”
For more information about visit erinseedlendinglibrary.weebly.com/erin-seedy-saturday-2023.html.
