Concord Seed Lending LIbrary now open!

The Concord Seed Lending Library has opened it's doors and is available anytime the Fowler Branch Library is open:

M - 9am - 7pm
Tu - 9am - 6pm
We - 9am - 6pm
Th - 1pm - 6pm
Fr - 9am - 5pm
Sa - 9am - 5pm

How does it work?

1. Come in to Fowler, go downstairs and browse through the seed cabinet to see what we have. Pick out some packages to "borrow" from the Super Easy or Easy seed drawers (if you'll be returning seed) or some packages from the Difficult drawers (but do not return these for now until we've developed seed saving classes for these types of plants). You may see some new varieties you've never grown before!

2. Sign them out on the sign out form. Bring them home and plant them. Grow them out and enjoy your harvest of a few of your plants then let a couple of your best plants go to seed. 

3. At the end of the season when your plants have gone to seed, gather the seeds from those plants and "return" some of your seeds for the library to restock their cabinet, keep the rest of the seeds for yourself for the Spring. Not sure how to save seed, see here. Next year,  come back and borrow some more seeds to start the cycle again! 

Why should you do this?

It's economical, you get to try new varieties that you've never tried before, you are supporting a community effort which is encouraging seed saving and you can feel good about keeping the seeds locally adapted to our Concord environment and weather. Please note that we're supplementing your regular garden plantings, we're not a store as we have only so much donated seed. 

Please come on by and take a look and choose some new varieties that you'd like to try today!

Composing Tour and Talk - May 8th, 4:30 - 6pm @Town Landfill Composting Station, Concord, MA

Hello Cousins Field Community Gardeners,

If you'd like to learn more about how to compost, come to this talk! This is good info to make our gardens healthier and happier. Please RSVP to deb01742@comcast.net so Debbie Barr knows how many to expect.

Thanks,

Kitty

SAVE YOUR PLACE ON THE COMPOSTING TOUR AND TALK

How to Compost (so your garden will thank you!) 

Rod Robison, Town of Concord Environmental Services 

Wed. May 8, 4:30-6 PM, @ the Town Landfill Composting Station and a nearby private home 

Learn about Town composting with Rod Robison, Program Administrator, Environmental Services, held at the DPW composting station; followed by a nearby private home composting tour and demo (directions provided at the Composting Station) and vermi-culture group order pick up with Ray Pourali, Green Planet.

Concord Public Works manages a drop-off program for yard waste recycling that is open to all Concord residents. Compost and wood chips made from collected yard waste are available for free to all Concord residents. RSVP for details: deb01742@comcast.net. We will meet at the Walden Street entrance (Rt 126), just across Rt 2, on the left before you reach Walden Pond. 

and if that's not enough...

Group order for Vermi-Composting Kits and Tea!

Some of you have asked if there are alternate ways to pick up vermi-culture products if you can't join us for the Composting Tour and Talk on May 8.  The answer is YES....we can work out other dates to pick up at my house. Please place your orders by Monday, May 6  so Ray of Green Planet will bring enough for everyone. (email deb01742@comcast.net). Kits are $10 (one per outdoor composter works just fine for my 2 person household); Compost tea comes in pint ($7) and gallon ($20). I spray on seedlings using greatly diluted tea to reduce susceptibility to pests and disease.  

Growing Your Own- Part 2: Herb Cultivation and Uses - Tues. April 9th, 7:30 at Harvey Wheeler

Hello Gardeners,

 Just a note to let you know about another garden-related event about herbs. Hope you might consider attending...

 Thanks,

Kitty

   

Growing Your Own- Part 2: Herb Cultivation and Uses

Cathy Hansgate, Ladybug Farm Produce

Tuesday, April 9, 7:30 PM at Harvey Wheeler Community Center, West Concord

What are the top 10 herbs you like to grow? Can you grow herbs in the shade? Which ones are good companion plants for vegetables? How can I grow herbs in containers?? Find answers to these and other questions, as we take a closer look at herb cultivation and uses with small farm owner Cathy Hansgate, Ladybug Farm.  Cathy specializes in cut herbs, vinegars and other herbal products. She now uses organic, nutrient-dense, sustainable practices to grow veggies, herbs and fruit, and is a member of NOFA-Mass., NOFA-NY, New England Hops Alliance, and the Mass. Farm Bureau. 

The program is free though donations are welcomed. Please help spread the word by sending this message to your friends...or members! You are our best ambassadors to gardeners of all skill levels. THANK YOU!  

RSVP to ensure your seat at the table. RSVP by April 7 to  deb01742@comcast.net For details, go to. www.concordfood.ning.com

Seedy Sunday at Concord Fowler Branch Library 4/7/13 from 1-3pm

Hello Gardeners,

We hope you can join us next Sunday at the Fowler Branch Library for a "Seedy Sunday" event to help get the Seed Lending Library ready for it's opening on Earth Day, April 22nd. Please see the details below:

Welcome to Seedy Sunday!

Sunday, April 7^th

1:00pm to 3:00pm

Concord Fowler Branch Library

1322 Main St. Concord MA

Learn about our new Seed Lending Library

Donate open pollinated, and/or heirloom seeds to the seed lending library

 Sign up to help get the library ready to open on Earth Day, April 22^nd

We need helping hands to sort seeds, package seeds, and to stock the seed cabinet

Volunteer to be one of the maintenance crew ensuring that the cabinet is always stocked

Tell us what kind of seed saving and gardening classes you need and want

Meet area gardeners and we’ll have a fun, sharing afternoon together

Light refreshments will be served
www.concordseedlendinglibrary.org

"One Seed at a Time" Event at the Museum of Science 3/13

Hello Gardeners,

The Concord Seed Lending Library will be represented at a table by Enid Boasberg and myself, after the speakers presentation, from 8-9pm this Wed. 3/13 at the Museum of Science. Hope some of you may consider dropping by!

Kitty

A RENO FAMILY FOUNDATION SYMPOSIUM

One Seed at a Time Wednesday, March 13 | 7:00 - 9:00 pm Admission: $15 | Buy Tickets With Cary Fowler, PhD, special advisor, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and The Fruit Hunters creative team. Tucked away beneath the snow of the Arctic Circle is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Sometimes called "the doomsday vault," it's nothing less than a backup of the planet's horticultural biodiversity. Inside the vault, Dr. Cary Fowler and his team work with seeds from hundreds of crops that have nurtured humanity since our ancestors began tilling the soil. Their goal: to ensure that the world's food supply can survive the dangers of disease, famine, climate change, and identical GMOs. Nearer the equator, documentary filmmaker Yung Chang shows us how intertwined we are with the fruits we eat in The Fruit Hunters. Guided by devoted exotic fruit lovers, he takes us on a cinematic odyssey through nature and commerce, changing not only the way we look at what we eat, but how we view our relationship to the natural world. Following the program, taste a selection of exotic fruits and enjoy a cash bar, featuring tropical Bellinis. Learn how to extract and save seeds, where to trade, exchange or swap, and make seed "bombs" for random acts of gardening--just throw and grow! Funding provided by the Reno Family Foundation Fund

LAST CALL: SEEDS OF CHANGE: RECLAIM THE LEGACY OF SEED SAVING

This week, Thursday, March 14, 7:30 PM  

Bryan Connolly, field botanist, State Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program 

Thoreau Farm, 341 Virginia Road, Concord. 

Add "how to save seeds" to your gardening skills tool kit!  

Collecting locally adapted seeds is part of our agricultural heritage and an essential part in growing our own food.  We will learn about the history and utility of seed saving in the context of climate change,  including the seed sowing and saving cycle, self pollinating crops to grow, methods to isolate cross pollinating plants, seed borne pathogens, seed cleaning and storage. We may still buy seeds from companies and swap with friends...but it is possible to start saving seeds this growing season! Come learn how. Bring a friend...or come on your own! 

Connolly is a homestead farmer, FEDCO seed producer, and author of the Northeastern Organic Farming Association seed production handbook, the "Wisdom of Plant Heritage". 

Please consider bringing your leftover open pollinated seed from last year to donate to the Concord Seed Lending Library.

The program is free though we welcome donations to offset program cost and/or contributions of seeds for the opening of the Concord Seed Lending Library in April. Space is limited!   Please RSVP to deb01742@comcast.net. For details, go to www.concordfood.ning.com.

Gardening for Life, ConcordCAN!,  the Concord Seed Lending Library and Thoreau Farm are co-sponsors of this event.

"Seeds of Change" event Thurs. March 14th at 7:30 at Thoreau Farm

 

Find out how you can easily save seeds this summer and help grow the Concord Seed Lending Library. Join us on Thursday, March 14 at 7:30 PM at Thoreau Farm, 341 Virginia Road, Concord.  

Hope to see you there!
Kitty