In Universal Gardener Speak, January is Seed Starting Time. Southern gardeners in Zones 9 and warmer will start sowing seeds indoors right about now, with the timeline moving down the calendar the farther north you reside. Regardless of where you are in the garden planning and sowing process, you are likely considering where you’ll find the seeds to fill your spring seeds.
Your options include your stash of leftover seeds from last year, but they aren’t guaranteed to germinate well. Store assortments are reliable, but you want more than the basic and standard varieties. Catalogs offer tons of choices you’ll drool over, but they can be pricey.
Have you considered a seed swap as your source?
What Is a Seed Swap?
Simply put, seed swapping is a grassroots-based activity where gardeners exchange seeds. It can be as loose as swapping seeds with friends, family, and neighbors or something more formal such as a community-wide gardening event and exchanges through online gardening communities. The idea behind seed swapping is to share what you have and appreciate from your garden as you receive that same sentiment from a fellow gardener.
Seed swapping has been taking place for as long as societies have been cultivating crops. Think about the journey pepper species took from Central and South America to become bedrock ingredients in Thai cuisine, for example. The exchange of seeds has also helped ensure crop health and diversity by protecting valuable crop genetics in various parts of the world. The world’s seed banks are essentially the modern culmination of history’s long practice of seed swapping.
Reasons for Seed Swapping
But let’s circle back to the modern-day grassroots version of seed swapping. People participate in seed swapping today for various reasons.
Promoting genetic diversity. On a local level promoting genetic diversity is still a factor for swapping seeds, even though a commercial seed industry exists. By exchanging seeds within your community, you are preserving the varieties that serve your community best—and likely grow really well there, too. Local varieties are adapted to local conditions and are more resilient than, say, a widespread commercial variety.
Less dependence on the corporate seed trade. Large commercial seed businesses cannot economically offer all existing seeds. It’s just not possible. Their offerings may also include genetically modified varieties and hybrid varieties whose seeds do not grow into true-to-type offspring.
It’s environmentally friendlier. Locally swapped seeds are passed hand-to-hand or mailed locally, bypassing the packaging materials and shipping process from far-off places.
It’s a community builder. Swapping seeds locally helps to build relationships between gardeners within a community garden or neighborhood. And as the seeds exchange hands, information is passed along, such as “This variety really likes our neighborhood’s mineral-rich soil,” or “Watch those Blue Jays, they really love this tomato.” It’s an educational exchange as much as it is a material one!
It’s fun! You don’t know who or what will show up at your seed swap! You might find your new favorite tomato variety or something a neighbor bred on her own. How exciting to participate in growing something so beloved and rare! Each packet of swapped seeds holds amazing and unknown possibilities.
Prep Seeds to Swap
Seed swapping might sound fairly simple—and it is—but do take care in how you go about exchanging seeds. Preparing yourself and your seeds for an exchange shows respect for the eventual recipient and the seeds themselves, as well as positively contributes to the community.
Take care in saving your seeds. Saving seeds deserves its own blog post in the near future, it’s that important. There is a certain way to save each type of seed. Seed Savers Exchange has tips for seed saving, as does the Organic Seed Alliance.
Label! Do not rely on your memory for seed identification. Trust me, you’ll forget what variety is in which packet. Include information about plant type, variety, heirloom/hybrid, date of harvest, and preferred growing conditions (light, soil type, and the like).
Keep ‘em clean. Go through each seed packet to remove any dirt, debris, and dried non-seed materials. This is especially important if the packet has been unopened for a while as seeds may have become inviable in the meantime.
Record what you receive. Keep a journal of what seeds you receive, one entry per page. As you use that allotment of seed, record how it’s growing for you and the weather it’s experiencing. That way you have notes about the variety to pass along to the next recipient at the next seed swap.
Finding or Hosting a Seed Swap
Now that you know all about seed swaps and how to prepare your seeds for one, you are naturally excited to attend one! Seed swaps are often held in late fall after harvest or in early spring as gardeners prepare for the growing season ahead.
Find a seed swap event in your area by contacting local gardening groups such as community gardens, community centers, and farmers markets. These venues are all about education, so seed swaps would be right up their alley. If these organizations don’t host a seed swap themselves, someone attending may have knowledge of local swaps. Online bulletin boards and community forums may also have seed swap groups and have information about local or regional seed exchanges.
Perhaps you’re a seasoned pro at attending a nearby seed swap but would like to host one for your own community. Seed Savers Exchange has an incredibly useful hosting guide on their site. The “How to Organize a Seed Swap” resource includes all the details you’ll need to consider to host a swap of your own.
Once You Have Your Seed
You’ll want to grow your seeds in potting soil that will start them on their journey to becoming healthy and thriving young plants. Our Seed Starting Blend Potting Soil is just what they’ll need. This 100% organic potting soil helps all types of seeds get growing on the right foot. It is well-draining yet moisture retentive, which is perfect for healthy root development. It’s composed of coconut coir, aged pine bark, rice hulls, earthworm castings and enough OMRI-listed fertilizer to see the seedlings through their first 2-3 weeks. All seeds should be lucky enough to have such an excellent start to their lives!
