More than 230 varieties available for home delivery or pick up from NCO’s offices.
Long awaited buds are forming on flowering trees, poppies are peeking their heads out of the cold ground, and the sun is shining longer and longer with each passing day. Spring’s imminent arrival is near! If you’re a gardener, you know this is the most exciting time to sow the seeds in planning for bountiful spring and summer harvests.
NCO Gardens Project’s free seed library has more than 230 varieties available to order for home delivery or pick up from North Coast Opportunities 413 N. State Street in Ukiah. Visit bit.ly/ncoseeds to place your order today, or contact gardens@ncoinc.org to have an order form sent to you.
This season, the seed library is stocked with more than 10,000 seed packets donated by local farmers, seed savers, and businesses. The bulk of the seeds were donated by a grange in Oregon and distributed to Gardens Project and other Mendocino County organizations by North American Organics.
For more than 10 years, Gardens Project has operated the free seed library, and has watched its popularity rise during the pandemic while seeds have been in short supply elsewhere.
“Expanding our seed library through an online order form at this critical time when food insecurity has peaked across the country has allowed us to reach far more
community members than ever before,” said NCO Gardens Project Manager, Sarah Marshall. “Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve distributed seeds to more than 1,200 home, school, and community gardeners, along with public health emergency preparedness information and resources to connect community members with pandemic food access programs.”
The seed library is made possible by the participation of many community volunteers. Each year volunteers at the Ford Street Project categorize and sort through the seeds under the direction of horticultural therapist and gardener Carolyn Brown.
Generous donations help Gardens Project keep the seed library free for all by covering costs of shipping and staff time for packing orders. To donate in support of the free seed library, visit https://bit.ly/DonateSeedLibrary.
To learn how to save seeds for your personal use, or to contribute to the Gardens Project or Mendocino County Seed Libraries, view the series “Mendo Seed Talks” on the NCO Gardens Project YouTube Channel. Local experts Jen Lyon and Carolyn Brown share tips on basic seed saving techniques, as well as detailed instructions on how to save garlic, bean, and corn seeds.
Stay up to date with NCO Gardens Project by following @NCOGardensProject on Facebook, or by emailing gardens@ncoinc.org to sign up for the newsletter. If you’d like to donate recent seeds that have been tested for germination, contact Sarah Marshall (707) 462-1958.
[This archive item was originally published on Monday, February 28, 2022]
