Residents in southeast Saskatchewan will be able to participate in a seed exchange on March 15 at the Estevan Public Library.
A seed exchange, or “Seedy Sundays” as they are often referred to across Canada, is a grassroots movement involving gardening enthusiasts who collect and share all aspects of gardening.
Estevan’s first annual Seedy Sunday, which is sponsored by the Estevan Community Gardens Committee in partnership with South East Regional Library and Sun Country Health Region, will feature seed vendors and exchanges, garden workshops, children’s activities, community groups, musical, refreshments and prizes.
Proceeds will go towards the Slow Food group.
“It all leads back to sustainable gardening,” said Barb Wright, public health nutritionist for Sun Country who is also a prominent figure with the Estevan Community Gardens.
The garden workshops will cover vermicomposting, seed saving and a basic introduction to planting.
Chantelle Dubreuil, the Estevan Community Gardens co-ordinator, said she looks forward to some of the interested parties participating in the Seedy Sunday to carry over to the gardening community, which took shape last year in Estevan.
A number of flower beds now dot a piece of property ln Lynd Crescent, a contribution made by the City in 2014, and now provides gardeners of all ages to grow any number of fruits and vegetables.
“We want to use it to promote better health,” Dubreuil said, noting the importance of knowing where a lot of food comes from and how to grow it. “It’s not all just pretty flowers.”
She said in addition to the four to six new flowerbeds, interest in the community gardens has spread across the city, including to St. Mary’s, where one class is hoping to use the program as a teaching tool this spring.
Dubreuil said the local community gardens is looking forward to finalizing its numbers around April in order to commence planting shortly after.
“It’s all about funding,” Wright said. “But that becomes clearer as more people come forward to let us know if they are coming back.”
The weather, she added, is also a significant factor that determines when the program really gets underway, referring to the committee’s late May commencement last year due to wet weather.
“Sometimes it’s Mother Nature who decides what time we start,” Wright said.
She also thanked the Estevan library’s involvement with the local community garden, as it has provided them with a venue for the Seedy Sunday event.
“They’ve been so great to us,” Wright said.
