From Packets to Produce: The Seed Library Taking Root in Saline

“The Seed Library is an important resource, and I am very proud to help bring it to our community.” – Jessica Lash, Saline District Library Assistant Director

Back in 2022, the Saline District Library (SDL) first began offering its Seed Library – literally, catalogs with packets of seeds. The original idea of a seed library bloomed when Laura Foess-Wood suggested the program to then Saline Library Director Mary Ellen Mulcrone and Assistant Library Director Jessica Lash. Lash recalls, “I had been looking to start this, and Foess-Wood was the catalyst to get it going.”

Growing the Seed Library

Lash recalls it first “started small, with donations and purchases from seed companies.” Now Lash says the Seed Library has grown to “about 150 types of vegetables, 30 types of herbs, and 85 types of flowers. That means more than 15,000 packets of seeds were filled by volunteers from staff and members of the Friends of the Saline Library.” 

To give you an idea of the wide variety of seed offerings, there are no less than 5 types of watermelon seeds – Blacktail Mountain, Criss Cross, Moon & Stars, Picnic, and Small Shining Light. And if you’re unsure of which variety to choose, well just ask your reference librarian.

The Seed Library is an Important Community Resource

Lash explains what makes the Seed Library an important program. “It provides community members with free packets of seeds to start growing their own food or flowers and introduces gardeners to unique varieties they may not find elsewhere. Most seeds purchased are organic, and many are heirloom varieties; meaning they are open-pollinated, not genetically modified, and have been passed down for generations and cultivated for 50+ years.”

So come visit the Saline Library. Browse the seed catalog, pick out your 5 packets of seeds, and cultivate your passion.

Contact Assistant Library Director Jessica Lash at [email protected] for more information, of if you would like to post photos of your garden from the Seed Library.

Featured photo: Various Vegetables Seeds. Photo by Sue Kelch