The Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) has a seed library. This is yet another free service the library offers.
There are many happy folks planning their gardens who were so very thankful for the HEPL Seed Library. There were several seed packing events in March. Between the last few events and all the master gardeners who took seeds home to pack and label, the library was able to open the Seed Library on March 4th with every seed variety available. The library continues to be open today.
The library thanks their PSA team for assisting with packing seeds, making origami boxes for the card catalogs, organizing and filling the drawers, organizing and putting out donated seeds in labeled jars in each building, printing and hanging signage, handouts,
banners, as well as planning and packing extra of what still needed to be packed for outreach events and for high demand seeds, too many hours in March.
How has the public respond to the Seed Library?
It opened on the 4th of March and by the 6th the library was filling it again with an additional 2,700 packages. Just at Fishers, the library has given out over 10,000 seeds and people love this service. Good thing they have over 73,000+ ready for the year!
Are you not familiar with the seed library? You can find out more at https://hamiltoneastpl.org/seed-library-2024/.
In short, the Seed Library contains small packets of seeds for flowers, produce, and other items that library patrons are free to take. These are non-GMO and open-pollinated. There are a limited number of packets you can take, but for most people, it should be enough for a small garden or flower areas. I’ve gotten pepper, tomato, and flower seeds! Check it out!
The packets also include information on the plans such as how hard they are to grow. This allows you to look for ones that are easy to grow if you don’t have a green thumb. Some of hte specific varieties that the library listed having this year include:
- Homemade Pickles cucumbers
- Red Malabar spinach
- Anaheim peppers
- Greek oregano
- Long Island Cheese pumpkins
- Amana Orange tomatoes
- ageratum (floss flower)
- annual candytuft
- Ohio spiderwort
- common ironweed
- zinnias
- Suyo Long cucumbers
- Moon & Stars watermelons
- shishito peppers
- Munstead lavender
- Genovese basil
- Pacific Beauty calendula
- Nigella
- Blue False indigo
You are welcome to take seeds as long as they last. Some of the seeds listed above are likely to be gone now that the library has been open for a month. You can also find information at the link mentioned earlier for donating seeds as well.
And of course, if you need to learn more about gardening, various seeds, different flowers, or a plethora of other information related to a Seed Library, HEPL is happy to point you to books, videos, and more.
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