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The Suffolk Master Gardeners opened the city’s first seed library at the North Suffolk Library on March 18. During its first three days, 22 people used the seed library, with almost everyone taking more than one kind of seed.

Each packet contains 5-20 seeds, depending on the plant, and anyone may take up to three packets each week. When “checking out” their seeds, visitors are asked to write the date and what seeds they took in the seed library binder.

Master Gardener volunteer Stacy Morgan Smith said this year, they wanted to target food insecurity in the city. Because Suffolk is considered to be a food desert, Smith said the seed library is meant to increase food security, improve nutrition, and build a more sustainable future.

Together, Smith and Sandy Buck, another Master Gardener volunteer, designed the seed library to look like an old library card catalog. It’s stocked with vegetables, herbs, flowers, and native plant seeds that people are encouraged to take. There’s also a spot where patrons can donate unopened seed packets.

Smith will check on the seed garden weekly to restock it when necessary and take any donated seeds to repackage them and replenish the seed library.

 “We just want to make it easier for people to have access to healthy food that they can grow,” Smith said.

While other seed libraries Smith has been involved in have proven successful, she said education is a vital component.

“Buying seed and using seed aren’t always the same thing,” she said. “So our goal is to teach people, once you take that packet of seed home, what to do with it.”

Smith said the areas that have the most success with their seed libraries are the ones that prioritize community engagement and education.

Simple instructions for the various seeds are included in the seed library, but the Master Gardeners’ contact information is also made available. Smith said they encourage anyone who has questions to reach out to them.

She said the Master Gardeners also organize presentations and workshops throughout the year to help educate people on different gardening tasks, such as how to save seeds for future planting. 

At the Earth and Arts Festival, the Master Gardeners will have a question and answer table to provide any gardening-related assistance. 

They also host a series of monthly classes in partnership with the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. Classes are free to attend and are held at the Franklin Foodbank with the purpose of teaching new home gardeners how to grow their own vegetables, herbs, and fruit. The next class is about planting and sowing summer plants and is scheduled for May 21.

The ideal situation for a seed library is for it to be self-sustaining with seed donations. However, Smith said success is not measured by how many seeds are donated, and the main goal is to have people using seeds.

“Hopefully, we’ll get donations of seed from businesses or someone who bought too much of something,” Smith said. “As long as we get seed donated or supplies donated, we can continue to do it.”