Sudbury seed exchange coming to a library near you

Morning North6:11Sudbury library to establish seed library

Doreen Ojala approached the Greater Sudbury Library with the idea of establishing a seed library. They took her up on it. She visited our studio to talk about it.

A new initiative for green thumbs in the Sudbury area could help weed out bad seeds.

The Greater Sudbury public library is just about to launch a new seed exchange that will let people save and swap seeds.

Sudbury gardener Doreen Ojala approached the library with the idea, after hearing about seed libraries being used in other communities.

"You're basically trading seeds in your community and developing a repository of locally grown seeds that are adapted to your own climate."

Ojala said she thought the concept could work in the north, and it could provide access to more heirloom seeds.

"We're losing a lot of our seed heritage and people really want to save that heritage. There's a huge growing, not just in Sudbury but everywhere, concern about the loss of these heritage varieties that are often more resistant to climate or disease or drought."

She said there are many benefits for gardeners.

"Sometimes, when you buy from say a place that sells seeds, they're not necessarily adapted to your climate, and they may be genetically modified," she said.

"They may have pesticides on them that you don't want in your garden."

The seed library which is set to open later this year will be free to use.