Sudbury’s green thumbs gathered at Science North Sunday, Feb. 26 for the 2023 edition of Seedy Sudbury.
Gardeners dreaming of spring gathered to swap and purchase seeds, listen to speakers on all things gardening, attend a workshop of seed saving and check out the 23 booths with displays related to gardening or agriculture of all kinds.
Rachelle Rocha, who’s on the event’s organizing committee, said gardening gained popularity during the earlier part of the pandemic, with people looking for activities they could do in their own backyards.
The gardening craze was such that seed suppliers were even selling out.
“But I think a lot of that has stuck,” Rocha said, adding that the Seedy Sudbury event was full when it opened Sunday morning, and people were “still streaming in and out and participating,” several hours into the event on Sunday afternoon.
“I'm super excited about the uptake,” she said.
Rocha said the event has its roots in an initiative started by Seeds of Diversity Canada — an organization dedicated to seed saving — around four decades ago.
“And so they thought it would be a good idea for each major city across the country to have their own local seed exchange,” she said.
“So around 2004 or 2005, some organizers here in Sudbury started having events. And so once a year usually at the end of February or early March, you pull the seed collections out and you make them available for trade.”
Rocha said the goal of this year’s event is to increase interest in seed-saving among Sudburians.
“Next year, we hope that our seed swap table will be much more full of seeds that people have grown themselves in this region, so we end up with climate-adapted seeds,” she said.
While Seedy Sudbury couldn’t hold in-person events during the earlier part of the pandemic, Rocha said free seeds were distributed to Sudburians.
Among the locations used for seed distribution were Seasons Pharmacy and Culinaria on Lorne Street, little free libraries and the seed library at the Greater Sudbury Public Library’s main branch.
If you’re interested in seed saving and swapping this coming growing season, email [email protected], visit the Seedy Sudbury Facebook page or phone Seasons Pharmacy and Culinaria at 705-222-2200.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
