The sixth annual Great Indy Seed Swap will be held Saturday, February 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Bona Thompson Memorial Center, 5350 E. University Ave, in Historic Irvington.
This is a free admission event for Indy’s urban gardeners at all levels (beginner to expert): flower, vegetable, fruit. If you save seeds or just love gardening, bring your seeds and stories and share with others. If you are new to seed saving, come and learn from Indy’s seed-saving community. Several expert seed vendors from across the Midwest will also be selling seeds to help you get started.
What is a Seed Swap? It’s a chance to trade seeds you’ve saved of plants you know and love with other like-minded seed savers. Never saved seeds? Perhaps you have some old seed packets lying around you never planted. If so bring them! In fact, if you have seeds in any form and know what they are, bring them: a potted house plant, a bunch of seeds in an old shoe box, a half-used packet from 2005. The Number 1 way to make a seed swap successful is simple: BRING SEEDS.
For the beginners we will have a seed saving tutorial in the other room of the Bona Thompson around 12:15 p.m. There will also be refreshments, including chili!
Seed saving and swapping has become a popular aspect to gardening. There are many advantages to swapping seeds with fellow gardeners in the area, who are familiar with how a plant will grow in this climate. There are some seed swappers who specialize in certain fruits, vegetables, or herbs, and will have hard-to-find varieties available for sale or swap. Frugal gardeners especially appreciate the fact that these events allow them to expand their plantings at little to no cost. Several seed swaps have sprouted in Central Indiana in the past few years, and the trend continues to grow every year.
Seed saving of heirloom varieties is a tradition that goes back many decades as gardeners saved the seeds from reliable or unusual plants unique to a region. Immigrants have brought seeds from traditional fruit and vegetable plants from their homeland to grow, adding to the diversity of plants available in the U.S. Seed savers are credited with helping to bring back “old” varieties of vegetables with better or different flavor profiles, spurring a whole movement that includes farm-to-fork dining options, a renewed interest in food preservation at home, and a new generation of urban gardeners.
The Great Indy Seed Swap is a great way to get to know local gardeners as well as get new seeds for planting in 2019. For more information, contact Pete Kuhns by e-mail (pkuhns@gmail.com)
