Brock relaunches seed library for students and the public

Students heading to and from class were eager to check out the seed starting workshop last month, with many picking up a packet or two of seeds to try their hands at gardening. ~ Luke Edwards photo

By Luke Edwards

There’s so much potential packed into each tiny seed: the promise of a beautiful plant, delicious produce, and for Madelaine Legault, a sense of optimism.

Legault is PhD sustainability science student at Brock University’s environmental sustainability research centre. For the last several months she’s been one of the key cogs in the effort to bring back Brock’s seed library, a program open to students and the general public that launched in 2022 but took a hiatus last year.

“Seeds feel really hopeful,” she said during a seed starting workshop held on campus last month.

A passionate gardener herself, taking after her grandmother, Legault is the type to check her pots on a nearly hourly basis each spring to see if any tiny plants are pushing through the soil.

Like many, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the new hobby on her. As spring 2020 progressed and it became obvious people were going to be spending a lot of time at home that year, she got into gardening. Now it’s a passion.

“I’m a seed nerd,” she said, with a laugh.

The return of the seed library after a one-year pause seemed to be a welcome move for many students. Halfway through last month’s workshop Legault said they’d already had about 30 students stop and pick up a packet of seeds or plant a few seeds in a starter pot made out of old egg cartons.

For the rest of the spring and through the end of August anyone will be able to stop by the Brock library and browse the catalogue, which has a wide variety of flowers, vegetables and herbs. Visitors can take up to five packets of seeds per visit.

Those who take advantage of the seed library are invited to pay it forward by saving any seeds they collect at the end of the growing season to help restock the Brock collection, making it a circular system.

Isra Alsahli helped start a campus group this year called Brock Students for Circular Economy, and was out at the workshop helping visitors get started and learn about growing their own plants.

“I think the seed library is a great example of a circular economy because it’s really closing that loop of consumption,” Alsahli said.

The library also helps students and members of the public reconnect a bit with food production and gain a better understanding of the food system. And with prices for everything going up, Legault said growing a few vegetable plants can provide you with delicious produce without hurting the wallet. Her favourite crop to grow is beans, which offers a unique mix. Not only is it one of her favourite vegetables to eat, but the different varieties offer all kinds of colours and designs.

In preparation for the season they’ve also updated their seed growing and saving guide, which offers some tips for would-be gardeners along with a catalogue.

Brock has partnered with West Coast Seeds, which offers organic seeds. And new this year, they’ve also partnered with Kayanase, an Indigenous greenhouse and ecological restoration operation in Oshweken that focuses on native plants.

“I’m really happy we got to purchase some seeds from them,” said Legault.

Much of Legault’s work in her PhD program involves climate change, which can at times be depressing as she’s constantly reminded of where the planet could be heading. However, events like the seed starting workshop helps balance that out.

For more information visit the “Ask Us” desk at the James A. Gibson library at the Brock campus, or visit brocku.ca/sustainability/seed-library.