vbprog said:@Evan I would love to give those climbing hyacinth a shot here in zone 6.

Send me your mailing address and I'll send you some! My dad used to grow them in NE Ohio

Evan

The seed library sounds like a neat idea , I have not heard of one before.

I read that the seed exchange at one library was shut down. I will try to remember where I was reading that and come back and post details when I find them. Having a seed exchange in that way was a good idea, but I think because local/state/federal tax dollars help to fund the library then the library had to comply with a bunch of rules and regulations. Perhaps the 'seed library' could be placed in a church building instead of a library?

Or the Master Gardener group could do a seed bank.

Well, I couldn't find the thread for that post I mentioned, but it seems that whoever shut down that seed program at that library was short-sighted. These programs are popping up everywhere!!

http://seedlibraries.weebly.co...

I did look seed libraries up and there are some nice looking ones ...What a great idea .
the Master gardeners is a great idea also thought of having one at a community garden.

Many Master Gardener programs have seed exchanges at their monthly meetings. There may be a fee to attend.

Greene--I read the same thing about a seed library being shut down. Our Master Gardeners group does not do a seed exchange, although some of the other counties do. I think it's really sad that such events have been shut down due to too many regulations. I am perfectly happy to decide which seeds I want to grow, and choose my sources to match my needs. It seems a shame it needs to be more than that.

Can you remember which seed library was shut down? I search back through my posts on Cubits as I thought that's where I had seen it.

If your Master Gardener group does not currently have a seed exchange perhaps you could bring up the idea at a future meeting?

We have a plant and seed swap meet. It is not very extensive and a lot of common seeds. Anyone know of a large seed bank on the internet? It would be nice to donate seeds you have, to get a few that you would like to try.

This isn't free but interesting. Has anyone ordered from here?

http://www.seedsavers.org/onli...

Yes seedsavers is huge, I joined for the first time last year and just bought seeds, didn't list. They are the largest non government Seedbank according to wikipedia:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki...

Teresa, Seed Savers Exchange has been around since the mid 1970s; it's a huge network of gardeners offering seeds of everything imaginable, as well as SSE does put out a catalog of varieties that they maintain in large enough quantities to offer that way. Anyone can order from the catalog (which helps support the SSE); if you become a member you'll have access to the online list of seeds (as well as potatoes, garlic, etc.) that members are offering and will also receive the print version (which is huge, something like 500 pages). As a member you can also list your own seeds, and then the price you pay to other members is lower. I've been a member kind of off and on practically since the beginning and highly recommend them.

Thank you, Sandy I plan on checking it out.

You're more than welcome!

Too bad they only seem to offer info on the member seed exchange via video.

That video is soooo hard to view, I cannot find a way to make it go full screen, and even more difficult for me to listen. The voice goes from quiet to non-existent. I almost fell asleep listening this morning.

Did you see this, under the "memberships" area ? --

http://www.seedsavers.org/Memb...

and you can browse the online member listings here: https://exchange.seedsavers.or...

this is the link to the home page: https://exchange.seedsavers.or...

Thanks Sandy. Those links did show more of what could be available.

I'm glad that helped, Chelle -- I will say that their site is not the easiest to navigate... I had to save the link for the online seed listing to my favorites because I kept forgetting how to get there.

I have a link in my signature block so a website that lists many local seed libraries. The ones local to me seem not to have many seeds yet! It's in the back of my mind to bring one of them some seeds next time i have a clean, isolated harvest.

http://www.seedlibrarian.com/

(Checking the link, I see that their locator map is being revised and isn't active right now.

One aspect that I really like is that seeds "borrowed" and then multiplied locally with reasonable isolation are bound to be selected for local conditions and to resist pests and local plant diseases. After being "checked out" and "returned" a few times, genetic drift will have improved them for local conditions. If the seed savers also select for healthy vigorous plants and the best fruits, genetic drift need not lose the special traits that made them a desirable variety.