Can I donate to the seed library?

Please note that our return drawer is only for seed that has been saved from library stock. If you are a seed saver already and would like to share some with the library, we would certainly appreciate it. Please contact the seed librarian, Marisa Hendron, before dropping off seed, so it can be catalogued before distribution. Marisa Hendron can be reached by calling the library at 376-4985, via email at library@oiseeds.org, or during library service hours at the front desk.

Can I use seed from the library but not return it?

The purpose of this library is to build knowledge of seed saving practices and to gain a larger resource of seed over time for our community. To that end, if folks take seed out but don’t return any, it will cease to be a sustainable enterprise. If you want to grow plants from local seed but aren’t interested in saving it, you may want to consider a local/regional seed company such as Greenheart Gardens, Resilient Seeds, Uprising Seeds, Adaptive Seeds, Peace Seeds, Wild Garden Seeds, or Horizon Herbs.

What if I can't grow enough seeds to meet the suggested population size?

Listed population sizes are for commercial scale and we realize for the home gardener it may not always be possible to grow 100 broccoli plants. The general rule is to save from as many plants as you can. Some crops are more affected than others by the size of the genetic pool—for example, carrots need a large population or genetic diversity is quickly lost. You can still save the seed, but when you return it to us please let us know the population size. One nice thing about having a community seed library is that we can combine resources. If several of us grow Red Russian Kale, we can then “mix” our seed crops together to keep genetic diversity strong.

What if I don't have enough room to create the ideal isolation distance between varieties?

Don’t worry, you’ve got options. Try isolating by time. Let just one variety of brassica crop go to flower per year, and save another variety the next year. You could also try hand pollinating—squashes are a fun and easy way to start. You can check our resource section for more information.

My plants may have cross-pollinated with ones they should not have; can I still return the seed to the library? (i.e., I grew different varieties of summer squash but did not hand pollinate)?

Yes, but let us know the circumstances when you fill out your return label so that others know about your experiment. Hybrids are a part of nature and can yield useful and interesting results, but some folks are interested in keeping varieties pure.