The Seed Exchange

It’s February in McCall, which means there is 3 feet of snow between me and any garden soil. To keep our spirits up, a bunch of my fellow gardeners brought their seed stashes over for an exchange.

There was a lot of seed swapping! I ended up with four different colors of nasturtiums, a purple broccoli, and a tiny ‘blueberry’ tomato, along with a dozen other ‘testers’. Most of them were plants I’ve wanted to try, but you can only buy so many seed packets each year. It was a great opportunity to use up some aging seed packets too. We put the seeds into paper envelopes and sealed them with masking tape, or put the seeds directly into the tape and then labeled them. Way more important than the seeds themselves was the information that came with them! With each variety came an update on when it was planted, how it tasted, and how well it grew right down the road. One participant just moved to a new place and is starting her garden next year, so she only took home a few flowers and herbs, but a WHOLE LOT of information.

In addition to seeds, everyone brought their favorite gardening books to exchange. Now we can take advantage of the cold and read about homestead projects, mycorrhizae, and planting schedules until the snow melts.

-Sam