Calgary Seed Library
Calgary Seed Library
Organization: Calgary Seed Library
Website: https://www.calgaryseedlibrary.ca/
Contact: calgaryseedlibrary@gmail.com
Project description
Calgary Seed Library (CSL) is making it easy for Calgarians to get seeds to grow food, plants and trees with its community seed library and educational workshops. Focused on building a community around climate action and resilience, this local group is tackling food resilience through its seed borrowing strategy, ensuring accessibility for all. Users can borrow seeds, grow them and return new seeds to share with the community. With every new seed more adapted to Calgary’s climate.
You can find the seed library in the basement of The Next Page (Inglewood).
CSL also hosts informal 'Seed Pod' gatherings monthly in different areas of the city, as well as sharing seeds with community gardens, classrooms and organizations.
Benefit to Calgarians
CSL offers:
- Free, locally adapted, climate resilient seeds that will provide food, habitat, and ecosystem services for years to come.
- Easy-to-understand, culturally relevant education on growing, harvesting and saving seeds.
- CSL has hosted over 50 workshops to educate and engage the community on topics such as seed saving, climate resilience, food systems and community-building.
- Partnerships with other community organizations including:
- Calgary Youth Justice Society
- The Alex
- Highfield Regenerative Farm
Climate impact
As our climate changes, Calgarians need seeds that can grow in Calgary’s climate. By saving and sharing seeds in our community, the seeds continue to adapt to the local climate, ensuring Calgarians can grow their own food and plants year over year.
Having healthy, resilient seeds also ensures local animals and insects have places to live and food to eat. Sharing seeds and growing together makes our community stronger and better prepared for the future.
Innovation and inclusion
CSL wants to reach as many Calgarians as possible. This is why they partner with local organizations and adapt their educational workshops for diverse communities and cultures.
CSL aims to bring innovation into their work through their core values:
- Come as you are,
- Take breaks as needed,
- Trust and respect through accountability,
- Agency (only doing what you want to do),
- Generational importance, and
- The golden rule: only process seeds when in good spirits.
These values allow for flexibility, creativity and ability to reach diverse groups.
Seed saving is also key to our relationship with the land. CSL reflects on reconciliation by grounding themselves on the land. They honour local biodiversity, build community and build sustainable practices that challenge dominant food systems. CSL is always exploring what equity, diversity, inclusion and reconciliation means to them.