Annual seed swap scheduled for Sunday
CONWAY — Instead of buying each other flowers for Valentine’s Day, couples could just attend a seed swap together.
The Faulkner County Library in Conway will hold its annual seed swap from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, when people can bring plant seeds to share, listen to live music, attend workshops and watch a documentary about the history of seed swaps in Arkansas.
Kim Doughty of Conway, an Arkansas GardenCorps service member, said the idea is to help beginning growers. Doughty oversees the Faulkner County Urban Farm Project, a garden north of the library, which is co-hosting the event.
“[The seed swap is] not always around Valentine’s Day, but we like to have it early in the year. The earlier you get your seeds, the earlier you can start planting your garden,” she said. Doughty said the holiday might seem like a “weird choice” to hold [the seed swap], “but hopefully, maybe people will be wanting to get out with their family, and it’s a chance to get their kids out, too.”
Children’s activities will include face painting and an area where kids can make Valentine’s Day seed packets in which to take their seeds home, Doughty said.
Tables will be set up in the lobby of the library, 1900 Tyler St., for
the free event.
“People can set up their own little booth and spread their seeds out and sit there and talk to people about what they have,” Doughty said. “It’s perfectly fine if you don’t have seeds to bring; we have enough that we can share with everybody.”
A seed-starting workshop will be held from 2-3 p.m., designed for people who may never have started plants from seeds.
A seed-saving workshop is scheduled from 3-4 p.m.
“That will help people to figure out how they can save seeds from their plants at the end of the season,” Doughty said. “You can save the seeds from almost every plant,” although some are harder than others. “We want to try to save those heirloom varieties that our grandparents have been saving over the last generations. Those varieties are so special and have been grown for so many seasons; they have adapted to our climate in Arkansas. These heirloom varieties haven’t been genetically modified. They’re heat tolerant, really nutritious, … really delicious vegetables.”
Don Greenland of Vilonia, who will lead the seed-saving workshop, agreed with Doughty.
“There’s a lot of interest in what’s called heritage vegetables,” Greenland said. “Traditionally, up until probably the ’50s, many small farmers saved their seeds from year to year to grow out again. That’s fallen by the wayside. Some of the varieties are rather rare; some varieties, a heritage seed does real well in the area it was developed in. So you can go ahead, and by saving your own seed, you can develop a seed stock that grows well in your garden. It’s a challenge. Say you get a good-tasting tomato; you can save the seed out of that tomato, and maybe another tomato or two, and keep yourself a line of tomatoes that really taste good. The same way on green beans, for example.”
Greenland has had lots of practice.
“I’ve been growing seeds for the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. [in Mansfield, Missouri] for about 10 years,” he said. “At the seed swap, I’ve got some okra seed — okra pods that the seed needs to be taken out of,” and possibly others. “I’m a little light on seeds this year because of the drought.”
Greenland said he has participated in the seed swap at the Faulkner County Library several times.
“I just enjoy talking to people who are growing other things,” he said.
Doughty said she is particularly excited about the documentary Seed Swap, which will be shown twice, from 2-3 p.m. and again from 3-4.
“It’s a history about seed swaps in Arkansas, and it follows Dr. Brian Campbell, an anthropologist who worked at [the University of Central Arkansas]. It follows him around and gives the history of some of the seed swaps in Arkansas and the importance behind saving seeds,” Doughty said. “We’ll have a room with seats set up in it for the documentary. People should feel free to come in and sit down for a little bit and watch it and then go to a workshop.
“I think our goal is just to … get people interested in becoming involved in their local food system again, and starting to save seeds and planting a garden is a really good way to do that, and also teaching people who don’t have any experience with gardening or seeds, and give them some,” she said.
For more information, contact the library
at (501) 327-7482.