A BIG THANK YOU to the anonymous donor(s) who dropped off over 200 new packages of seeds for the seed library!!!!!
Yes, you read that correctly. This week when I checked on the White Bear Lake Seed Library, I found two paper bags filled with over 200 vegetable, herb and flower commercial seed packets. All of them heirloom seeds and unopened!
That really made my day. Not only did it rain on Friday for our very thirsty plants but it ‘rained’ seeds for the seed library!
Also a big THANK YOU to all you who have donated seeds in the past! Without your generosity there would be no WBL Seed Library.
Watch for information about seed packaging or seed cleaning (removing the seeds from the seed heads or pods) next month. Volunteers will be needed!
A little trivia fact: Last year the WBL Seed Library found homes for over 3,000 seed packets.
So far, this year over 2,300 seed packets have found new homes!
Saving Seeds
If you picked up a packet of seeds for the Grow-a-Row project, some of your bean or pea pods may be close to harvesting. Please wait until the pods are brown and dry before picking as the seeds need to stay on the vines until they are dry to be viable.
Even if you didn’t pick up a packet of pea or bean seeds specifically for the Grow-a-Row project, you can still save seeds for yourself or the Seed Library. In fact, the Seed Library needs lots and lots of seeds this fall in order to stock the drawers for next season.
If you are new to saving seeds or want to learn more about how to get free seeds, attend the next Seed Talk on September 13 at 6:30 pm via Zoom.
Register for this event at: Saving Seeds Event
There are many other events and resources of interest to gardeners:
WI Hazelnut Week
August 15-20, 2022
Learn. Discover. Get Started.
The 1st Annual Wisconsin Hazelnut Week is being held August 15-20. Find an event nearest to you to learn about hazelnuts, connect with other growers, and get started on your hazelnut enterprise. All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required
For More Information and to REGISTER
Watch the Hazelnut Week Trailer to Preview the Events
Event Schedule
Monday, Aug 15 - Hazelnut 101 Webinar
Thursday, Aug 18 - American Hazelnut Company Field Day, La Crosse, WI
Friday, Aug 19 - Central Wisconsin Growers Cluster Field Day, Amherst, WI
Saturday, Aug 20 - Northern Wisconsin Field Day, Ashland/Bayfield, WI
Saturday, Aug 20 - Southern Wisconsin Field Day, Spring Green/Barneveld, WI
Jason Fischbach, UW-Extension Emerging Crops Specialist:
Minnesota Arboretum Fall Classes
Classes range from Chinese Garden Design, Climate Ready Gardening, Minnesota Plants, Stone Sculptures for your Garden, and more.
Register here.
Feeding the World: Localism, Ecological Resilience, and Farmer Agency
The widespread narrative on why we’re experiencing a food crisis is that it is because of high fuel and fertilizer prices, the disruption in market chains caused by the war in Ukraine, and lingering COVID impacts. But that’s not the whole story. When there is a food crisis, the common narrative is that increasing productivity is the answer and that global agribusinesses and global markets can meet these needs.
This “feed the world” narrative has been adopted by the media, businesses, and even American farmers who take pride in the idea that they are solving a world food crisis. But what we are seeing is not a food-shortage crisis. Rather, it is a structural problem of our food system that has resulted in high food prices.
In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Agriculture Specialists Nina Prater and Lee Rinehart compare the “feed the world” narrative to another narrative centered around “food sovereignty” and discuss what farmers, organizations, and governments can do to enable communities to achieve that sovereignty.
Free podcast ATTRA podcast
Contact info for the Seed Library:
Email: wblseedlibrary@gmail.com
Blog site: WBL Seed Library
Pam
