Recent winter weather may make spring seem far away, but Gina Marie Walden at the Midtown Carnegie Library is looking ahead to sunshine and seedlings. She says, “now is the time to start to think, and plan and dream your garden.”
The library is ready to help kick-off the growing season this Saturday. Walden and library staff and partners from the Springfield Community Gardens, Master Gardners of Greene County and the Central High Botanical club will be celebrating National Seed Swap Day at the Midtown Carnegie Library from one to three.
Walden says you don't have to bring seeds to swap. Just show up. If you do have seeds, please come and share. The library will be sharing donations it hasn’t been able to use for its Heirloom Seed Library as well as expertise and guidance. She says the conversation and community at the now annual event alone is worth dropping in for.
Walden is the principal organizer of the Springfield-Greene County Library District’s Heirloom Seed Library and helps organize gardening programming. The seed library is in its eighth year and opens February 1 at the Library Center, Library Station, Schweitzer Brentwood and Republic branches of the Springfield-Greene County Library. It is also available at the Mobile Library. Once you have your seeds, you’ll be ready for the next garden program on the schedule: Seed Starting 101. That event will be Wednesday, February 21, 6:30 p.m. in the Frisco Room at the Library Station.
Walden says the seed library and gardening program at the library couldn’t happen without the library’s community partners. She says gardening doesn’t just provide food, it builds community and more.
Walden says, “planting a seed is planting hope for tomorrow, and it's a wonderful thing for everyone.” She welcomes anyone to visit the seed swap or the library to get started on their gardening journey.
*A note about the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library for the Library District: the elevator from the basement to the 2nd floor is not operational.