Eastman Seed Savers growing community with Seedy Saturday event
With garden season fast approaching, the Eastman Seed Savers are hosting a Seedy Saturday event to get everyone ready to plant something new. This event, which will take place at the Gordon Howard Centre on March 23, consists of a seed swap, demonstrations, presentations, and more gardening-related goodness.
“The idea of a Seedy Saturday was penned a couple of decades back. It gives everybody a chance, [especially] those people who are very dedicated to collecting their own seed to trade with other like-minded people,” said Jane Seniw, chair and founder of the Eastman Seed Savers.
Seniw says that residents who are seed collectors and have an abundance of seeds that they want to share can bring them down to the event in order to swap with fellow gardeners. Their seeds should be in a sealed package and labelled with information about the seeds including the variety as well as basic characteristics of the plants as they grow such as height and time from planting to harvest/full maturity.
All seeds are welcome be they vegetables, flowers, or native plants. Some seeds that Sinew says to look out for before they are gone are: krim and Manitoba tomatoes, seed bombs of native seeds, acorn squash, chili peppers, petunias and zinnias.
“What is very interesting is that people come forward and they start to tell their stories. A lot of these seeds are what one would look at as being a heritage seed, or an heirloom seed because it’s a seed that’s been used within that family for generations,” said Seniw.
Another great part about swapping with other local gardeners is that if a seed has been grown in our region for generations it will be more likely to be hardy to our local pest pressures as well as weather conditions meaning that these seeds can have a better chance of doing well in your garden.
The Eastman Seed Savers started with the hope of hosting a local seed swap event which would be more accessible than driving into the City of Winnipeg.
“Back in 2005, a group of us started throwing around the idea of starting something very similar to the Seedy Saturday that was always being held in Winnipeg. We felt instead of always driving to Winnipeg, could we not hold something similar here? So, we contacted the Seeds of Diversity, and they’ve been very supportive and encouraging,” said Seniw.
Record Photos by Katelyn Boulanger
In the past, they’ve held events in Beausejour, Tyndall and Garson. This will be the first time that Seedy Saturday will be held in Selkirk.
Seniw says that in addition to the seed swap at this event, there will also be demonstrations where a variety of seed containing parts of plants will be opened up and the presenters will show residents how to harvest their seeds as well as how to tell which are the viable seeds that will grow into a plant.
“This year, I’ll be giving a short explanation on the difference between heritage seed, hybrid, versus open-pollinated and things like that,” she said.
There will also be a presentation Anessa Maize will be giving on the ecological approaches to soil help.
Seeds aren’t even the only thing that are going to be swapped. There will also be a table where residents can bring their previously read gardening books in order to swap them with others so we can all learn more.
If residents want to learn more about future events from the Eastman Seed Savers or join the group of local gardeners they can contact Sinew at treelady@mymts.net.
“Even if a person doesn’t, has never saved seeds, or isn’t sure how to, they’re welcome. If they want to just come in and listen to myself or Anessa, they’re very welcome. If a person has never saved seeds and wants to participate in this Seedy Saturday not a problem,” said Seniw.
This event runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on March 23 at the Gordon Howard Centre. Admission is by donation.
