Manitou Springs Seed Library

If you’re looking for the most active place to find updates, and seed saving news, please visit us on our Facebook page.

Manitou Seed Library on Facebook

Last time I looked it was still 2012 and the holidays were looming. Now it’s February and a gardener’s fancy is turning to thoughts of seeds and planting and soil. And water. Some water would be good. Like 2012, this is turning into an extremely dry winter. Hopefully our spring snow season will arrive and recharge some of the moisture on our parched soil and reservoirs.

I’m pleased to announce that the Manitou Seed Library will be partnering with Venetucci Farms to create a pilot project for Seed Production. Located at the Farm, we’ll be growing heirloom vegetables with the express intent to produce true-to-type seeds for the seed library and as a place where hands-on seed saving classes can be taught. If you’re interested in volunteering to be part of the Seed Production Garden, please contact me at the email listed on the “Contact” tab. This is a fantastic opportunity and I’m very grateful to Susan Gordon and Venetucci Farms for being partners.

In conjunction with the Colorado Springs Urban Homesteading Group, I’m offering a basic seed saving class on March 11 at the Cheyenne Mountain Library. This class will be a primer on the differences between heirloom, hybrid, and GMO seeds as well as a basic introduction to the concepts of successfully saving seeds. Space is limited so RSVP if you;re interested in attending. If you can’t make this class, there will be others soon so stay tuned.

Basic Seed Saving. March 11, 7PM. Cheyenne Mountain Library.

The Manitou Seed Library will be at the Good Earth’s Spring 2013 Homesteading Fair with a table and lots of information and perhaps even some seeds for you to take home. Stop by and learn about the Library, what we do and introduce yourself.

Spring 2013 Homestead Fair. March 16, 930AM- midafternoon.

Good Earth Garden Ctr.

Hope to see you soon.

-David

Happy Autumn to everyone. I hope harvest and Halloween, the last lingering fruits of your gardens and the first frosts have all been fantastic.

Since the last update we held several more classes and so far this season, have had more than 75 people attend one of the Basic Seed Saving presentations. Between the classes, appearances at great events like Herbfest and Local Food Week, and seed check outs from the library itself, we’ve reached more than 200 people in this, our first year.

We have lots of plans in the works for the winter months ahead. Here’s a little teaser…

Per your requests and questions- a more detailed and in-depth seed saving class will be offered in the New Year, featuring hands on saving techniques like wet seed fermentation and the hard-to-describe paper bag method, as well as information on how to build simple saving tools like a seed table and isolation cages.

We’re also starting the process of looking for a partner to help create a seed saving demonstration garden for the 2013 season, right here in El Paso County. Having a space dedicated to seed saving will let us have classes in the field, doing actual harvests, using techniques from the classroom, and adding to the seed library from another local source. More soon as this idea moves forward.

And lastly, we’re exploring the possibility of adding food tree seeds to the library. Obviously, tree seeds work on a vastly different time scale than our typical garden favorites, but that’s no reason to pass them by. There’s a Greek proverb that says it well, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

These projects take work and time and MSSL is always interested in volunteers who would like to be involved.  Please contact us if you’d be interested in donating some time or resources to any of the above efforts.

Thanks for reading, and stay in touch.

We’re pleased to announce that another opportunity to catch the 1 hour, basic seed saving class is coming up, in case you couldn’t make the first one.

Basic Seed Saving
Monday, August 27th, 7PM
East Library
Colorado Springs CO

This is an encore edition of the free basic class that was offered last week at the Old Colorado City Community Library. We’re trying to make our way around the region to let those who may Coinstar agent not want, or be able, to travel very far, have an opportunity to attend a class.

The Fountain class will be rescheduled very soon.

Yes, we do indeed, and finally, have a social media presence.

Manitou Seed Library on Facebook

We are pleased to announce our first seed saving class!

Basic Seed Saving
Old Colorado City Community Library
August 7th, 7-8PM.
Free.

Come and get an introduction to the art of saving seeds from common garden favorites. This one hour class will cover the differences between the easy to save plants like beans and lettuce, through the harder and stranger ones like carrots and brassicas (broccoli and its cousins). If you are thinking about saving seeds and not sure where to start, this class is a great start on the things that you’ll need to keep in mind.

Contact us for more information.

David

It was the first rainy day in a month here in Manitou when Jeanette and Nina rolled into town with their newly completed Mobile Seed Broadcast Van. They recorded stories, worked through some technical bugs and got to see the seed library and share some of their own stories as well. Look for them as they travel cross country and say ‘hi’!

Dr. Shiva speaks beautifully www.coinstar-order.com on the necessity to save seeds and re-engineer our food systems, to rethink the ways that progress and growth are measured and to create durable communities.

Vandana Shiva on seeds and community

Great news!

The Manitou Springs Seed Library will host the Mobile Seed Broadcast on July 3rd, as they travel cross-country from New Mexico to Vermont. The Seed Broadcast is a mobile seed and story project that is stopping at 8 seed libraries across the country and collecting people’s stories and experiences-

From their website-

“Seed Broadcast is a collaborative project exploring grassroots seed action through collective inquiries and hands-on creative practices.  Throughout the year, we gather to discuss critical issues surrounding seed and food sovereignty, visit local farms and gardens to experience what is happening in the field, and engage in creative projects, to dig deeper into the real how-to’s of local agri-culture.”

As part of their visit to our brand new seed library, we’re looking for people who are willing to talk with them for a few minutes, and share their experiences as growers and as new (or experienced) seed savers. They are making an archive of these stories and if they record you, you’ll be provided a copy of the session. It’s a great chance to come out, see the new Seed Library and meet some like-minded people from our region that are doing interesting and important work.

Respond in a comment or email if you’re interested in sharing your experiences, thoughts or stories with the folks from the Seed Broadcast. They will be on-site all day, and talking to everyone so even if you feel shy, there’s a lot of great info you can pick up.