April Showers Bring May Flowers (and Peas and Spinach and…)

With all the rain we’ve had in April, May should be spectacular.

Here’s something else spectacular—in addition to offering lots of great books about gardening, CADL Foster and Okemos now both have a Seed Library! This new collection is a joint project of Capital Area District Libraries and MSU Extension.

We’ve started with donations and seeds saved by local gardeners. Stop by and look through our supply (I didn’t even know there were so many varieties of tomatoes!). Choose some seeds to “check out” and plant in your garden. There is no charge but we’ll have you fill out a simple form to help us keep our database updated.

Then at harvest time, return a portion of your harvested seeds to the library to replenish the collection. The method of saving seeds differs by kind of plant, but we have some really good books available to help. We will also have some workshops closer to harvest time.  

Over time, as more people participate, we will build a larger collection of seeds that have grown successfully in our area. We think of the Seed Library as a way to connect community members through sharing seeds and stories. Some people plant varieties that have been popular in their families for generations. We would love to hear any stories you might have!

CADL Foster has been operating our Seed Library since spring of 2018, where the service has been so popular it's now expanded to CADL Okemos! The Okemos' Seed Library will be available to the public after May 5.

Capital Area District Libraries’ Foster branch is located at 200 North Foster Avenue in Lansing. For more information or to share your story, call 517-485-5185

Capital Area District Libraries' Okemos branch is located at 4321 Okemos Road in Okemos. For more information, call 517-347-2021

Jean B., CADL Foster