We started our Seed Library in the hopes of bringing our community together and helping with food insecurity in our area. We started planning in October of 2023 and were finally able to make it a reality in April 2024. It was a lot of hard work and dedication from myself, Megan Friend, and the other seed managers Nicole Bega and Amy Dickinson.
We have a lot of support from our local University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener Program, who provide us with our native plants and come to all three of our branches to assist our patrons with tips on how they can be successful in their home gardens. Several of my wonderful coworkers have been a huge help in packaging our seed donations and have worked extremely hard to make our seed library a success.
So far we have reached almost 500 patrons. Our mission is to bring the members of our community together and give them access to free seeds and the information they will need to grow their own plants. We hope to cultivate a flourishing network of gardeners, plant enthusiasts and avid learners who are dedicated to the sharing of seeds and knowledge. We believe that gardening can play a huge role in saving money, creating community, developing valuable life skills, and generating access to healthy*, fresh produce.
We have a garden out front of our Leonardtown branch that the Master Gardeners have helped to maintain. The Master Gardeners have a strong focus on trying to plant natives not only for sustainability, but also to educate the public on how beneficial they are for our environment here. Visit our website for more information.