Planting a seed: FVRLibraries and Vancouver Bee Project seed libraries growing in popularity

Books and movies aren’t the only things you can check out from FVRLibraries. Several branches now offer a seed library, where residents can get seeds for a variety of plants and flowers at no cost.

“Community members come in. They check out packets of seeds. They grow those seeds during the growing season, and then hopefully at the end of that season, they collect some of those seeds to then bring back to the library. And the cycle goes around and around and around,” said Zoe Nash, branch manager of the Washougal Community Library, 1661 C St., Washougal, which houses a seed library.

Seed libraries can be also found at branches in Cascade Park, 600 N.E. 136th Ave., Vancouver; Battle Ground, 1207 S.E. Eighth Way, Battle Ground; and White Salmon Valley, 77 N.E. Wauna Ave., White Salmon. The library is available to all Clark County residents. A library card is not required.

“We love it. It’s so popular,” Nash said.

Along with gardeners returning the following year with their harvested seeds, the library gets donations from local groups including Washington Grange No. 82, Friends of the Library, gardening clubs, the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program, among others. When it comes to seed donations, the library is ready to take most any plant offered.

“Ideally, it would be heirloom varieties, because they are the best, especially for local conditions. However, we don’t always get back what we have so we’re pretty nondiscriminatory at this point of what we take into the seed library, just so that we have seeds,” said Rachael Ries, branch manager at Cascade Park Community Library.

The program began in 2018 when the first seed library launched at the Washougal branch. Ries, who was the branch manager at the time, said she was approached by community members asking for a seed library. The next year, they asked again. The library decided to partner with the Master Gardener Program to get the project off the ground.

“I had two volunteers who helped sort seeds, get them labeled, helped set up the format of kind of our seed catalog,” she said. “Washougal is unique because it has raised beds in behind City Hall.”

The idea was to plant seeds in the raised beds and then harvest the seeds. That harvest is still happening now, although the program has grown beyond their capacity.

Older library patrons will likely be more familiar with the cataloging system used at the Washougal branch.

“It’s just like an old card catalog. You pull out a drawer, you find the packets of seeds you want, you take them home,” Nash said.

The library does ask patrons to follow a few guidelines. Visitors can check out three seed packets per visit. Store seed in a cool, dark and dry location. When returning seeds, seed varieties should be separated, with a label and date donated included.

Like dandelions, the popularity of the seed library has grown rapidly.

“Especially during spring when people are gearing up towards that, we get a ton of people that come in,” Nash said.

The seed packets also have information about where and when to grow the seeds. The library has resources available for patrons needing additional information on the seeds they are checking out.

“Sometimes we pair that with other programs, like the Master Gardener Program, so we will have some kind of knowledgeable people available … so that if people do have gardening questions they can generally come either to the library program or the Master Gardeners directly,” Nash said.

“We usually will have some books out on display or resources that are close. Not all the time, because they get checked out, so it’s hard to keep it stocked. But if people have questions, we’re happy to answer their questions,” Ries said.

Bee Project

Gardeners wanting to plant only native species can check out Vancouver Bee Project’s seed library, which launched this fall. Vancouver Bee Project offers seeds from the Portland Plant List, a list of plants found in the region prior to settlement.

To get the program going, Vancouver Bee Project hosted several fundraising events, spokesman Kyle Roslund said.

“We had plants that were sponsored and purchased, and seed — native seed — that was sponsored and purchased as a startup. We had about six events at River City Church, and then we did another half-dozen pop-ups where we just went to other events, where we took plants and took seeds and provided them to community members,” Roslund said.

In all, he said they gave out 3,046 packets of native plant seeds and 1,835 plants with 1,701 individuals participating.

The program is available to all Clark County residents and is free of charge.

“We did it with the idea that people will engage and bring seeds back next fall to share in the library again,” he said. “A big part of what we do is try and educate folks on native plants, which need to be planted in the fall.”

Roslund said the seed library is a great way for homeowners participating in the Watershed Alliance’s backyard certification programs to get access to native plants, which can be expensive when purchased from local nurseries or online.

Although Vancouver Bee Project won’t know how successful the program is or how many seeds will be returned until next fall, Roslund was confident the program will continue.

“It’s just a great way to build community, get important plants out into the world and network. For folks to be able to trade those plants and seeds, and talk about their struggles and other things, that’s always good,” he said.