The Thorne Community Recreation Association had an earthy smell Saturday morning for the community’s second annual Seedy Saturday event, which brought together local gardeners to swap seeds and pick up new techniques.
Christine Anderson, one of the event’s organizers, said last year’s event received an overwhelmingly positive response, so it was a no-brainer to have another this year. She explained how the seed swap works.
“When you have a garden, you save your seeds at the end of the season and bring them to the seed swap,” Anderson said. “So you’re exchanging your seeds for the seeds from someone else’s garden.”
Valerie Bridgeman was coordinating the seed-swapping tables.
“Someone just brought more seeds and added them,” she said. “I brought a box. It has encouraged people to get gardening so they can collect seeds and share them.”
Several talks were also scheduled throughout the day, including one about native plants given by Trish Murphy and one about creating animal sanctuaries, given by Eric and Katharine Fletcher.
The event also featured local artisans, who Anderson said were invited because they produce something related to gardening or help divert waste from the landfill.
This year, Anderson was in charge of the canteen. She saw a chance to teach people about alternatives to throwing everything in the garbage.
“What we’re trying to highlight here is that there’s no need for a garbage can,” Anderson said. “We’ve made sure that we have dishes and compostable products and a place for recycling.”
She hopes that more people will take up composting, especially because it can help grow the seeds picked up at Seedy Saturday.
“It keeps a lot of things out of the landfill and it becomes something usable to put into your garden,” Anderson said. “You turn a whole bunch of garbage into something that’s viable and useful to help give you a great garden.”
