The Homer Seed Library is a germinating community project.

The idea behind a seed library is that people in the community can "borrow" seeds, grow the plants, and then save some of the seeds to return to the seed library.

There are some very successful seed library projects across the country, from Tucson to Oakland to Phoenix, which distributes an average of 1,000 seed packets per month across nine of its 17 branches. These programs have proven to be immensely popular and enriching for local communities, says Rebecca Newburn of Richman Grows Seed Library, “It’s great if we have all this
sustainability, but unless we have access to seeds, all the other aspects of sustainable agriculture really don’t mean anything.”

Over time, people will return more than they borrowed and the seed library will grow. Gardeners are encouraged to only return seeds which they are fairly certain have been saved correctly.

The Homer Public Library has agreed to host the Seed Library, and we are hoping to open it in the spring of 2021.

The benefits of a seed library are many.
• Offers a free source of seeds in the community to encourage people to grow their own food.
• Fosters a community of gardeners and seed savers that can exchange information and make everyone's gardens (and seed saving) more successful.
• Provides education around seed saving, gardening, and local food sources.
• Develops seed varieties which are acclimated to our local area.
• Promotes seed interdependence. As a community we can become more self-reliant and not depend on outside sources of seeds for our gardens.

As you can see, a seed library here in Homer would be a wonderful community resource which would increase our food resiliency.

We envision this as a community-led project including children as well as adults. We have two families involved and are inviting more people to join. We will be applying for more grants to pay for a program director and educator.