Seedy Saturday!

Seedy Saturday (or Sunday), if you aren't familiar with it, is, at heart, a big seed-swap. I didn't have any seeds to swap, but went anyway :)

Even though it looked like this yesterday:

Luckily enough, I made it safely to the event, only having one little spin-out on the ice-covered roads. Yikes!

There were speakers and vendors, including a good selection of seed vendors: Tree & Twig, The Cottage Gardener, The Plant Lady* and Urban Harvest (I hope I didn't forget anyone!). I bought seeds from all of them - and in fact, The Cottage Gardener was nice enough to bring my seed order with them. Now that's customer service!


In addition to seed vendors, other organizations, such as Seeds of Diversity and Sustain Ontario had information booths set up. I've been thinking about joining Seeds of Diversity for a while, and may just do that this year.

The speakers were interesting.

The first talk was given by Susan from Start Me up Niagara, a local organization that, in their own words, "is about meeting basic needs for food, housing, income, healthcare, treatment, social contact which have positive impact on the quality of decision making and improved life condition." Last year they started their own garden, helping the people they work with develop skills while growing food used to in their meal program and given to those in need in the community. Talk about a win-win situation!

The second talk was given by author Steven Biggs, who gave an inspiring talk about expanding your garden by using containers. I used containers last year to grow my hot peppers, and they did REALLY well.  I'm going to use containers again this year, and possibly for more crops. Steven uses containers for a lot of different crops - from figs to chard to ornamentals to, well, just about everything he grows.

The third talk was given by local chef Mark Picone, and was a great overview of some local vendors for some unexpected foods - vinegar, nuts, cheese, flour and more. He gave me a couple of leads for some items I've been looking for, which is fantastic. He also made one comment, which will be explored in a future post...

I had to leave after the third talk, missing the last two, but I'm glad I went. I definitely recommend it for anyone interested in gardening, and will definitely go next year. Hopefully with my own seeds to add to the swap ;)

It may be too late this year, but if there is an event in your area, try to go next year. It's a great way to meet like-minded people, find local resources, and, of course, support your seed habit!
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* I can't find a web site, but Ann is located in Dundas, Ontario, and includes her e-mail address on her seed packets. I don't want to publish it here, but if anyone wants it, send me an e-mail!