Want to grow a new vegetable variety? Get seeds from these SLO County libraries

In late December 2014 an idea was planted to provide seeds, some unique or rare, for backyard growers in San Luis Obispo County.

Elizabeth Johnson, organizer of the San Luis Obispo Seed Exchange, met with county library director Chris Barnickel and assistant director Chase McMunn to discuss seed libraries in county branches.

The Nipomo branch was chosen as the first county seed saver repository because it’s next to the Nipomo Native Garden. Cindy Jelinek, president of the Nipomo organization, is a longtime gardener and seed saver and has been active for several years with Johnson to make rare organic seeds available locally.

In March and April 2015, several work days were scheduled at the Nipomo branch community room for SLO Seed Exchange volunteers and library volunteers. Thousands of seeds were packaged in small amounts, so as many varieties and seeds would be available to the public as possible.

Kim Pendleton, now retired, was the Nipomo branch manager in 2015 and was instrumental in developing the program there.

He made sure there were books available about seed saving, developed a check-in process for seeds and “how to grow” sheets for every variety available to the public. He developed educational presentations for home gardeners so they would be successful in growing the seeds, and he helped to educate other branch librarians as the program grew.

The grand opening of the Nipomo branch seed repository was April 23, 2016. Pendleton then assisted the Arroyo Grande Regional Branch Library and the Los Osos Library in their efforts to start their own seed-saving programs.

In 2016 a large warm and cool vegetable seed donation, mostly organic, was given to the libraries from Sue Girard from the seed company Botanical Interests. In the year ahead, Johnson hopes to expand the program to several more library branches in San Luis Obispo County.

A lot of the seeds available at the libraries are grown by SLO Seed Exchange members who are very skilled seed savers and grow organically.

Carolyn Leach, a San Luis Obispo County resident, used the seed library last spring. She was looking to try some new vegetable varieties and was able to “check out” seeds for carrots, beans, squash and collards. The green bean variety she received was such a big success that she plans to grow this variety every year along with her usual green beans. A few of the other plants did not grow as well so she felt she had mixed results.

Leach said her vegetable garden is not that big so she can’t allow her plants to go to seed to give to the library. However, she did donate a few envelopes of seeds that she had bought.

If you do get seeds from the library, each packet will be labeled with the specific seed variety and include growing instructions.

To participate you must have a library card from the San Luis Obispo County Library system. Borrowers are allowed to get up to 10 seed packets every three months (spring, summer and fall).

You are encouraged to save seeds and donate back to the library, but it is not a requirement. You are also encouraged to attend library and other community workshops on gardening and seed saving.

A few of the program goals are to encourage the community to establish and improve gardens, grow tasty and healthy food, and cultivate flowers to beautify San Luis Obispo County.

Gardening can sometimes be a challenge, but these local seed libraries have all the resources you need to help you grow a beautiful and tasty vegetable garden!

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 7:25 AM with the headline "Want to grow a new vegetable variety? Get seeds from these SLO County libraries."