With absolutely no risk of contradiction I declare that Seedy Saturday in Almonte was an unqualified success. It took place at the Almonte Civitan Club on Saturday and was a jam-packed auditorium full of vendors of heritage seeds, a seed exchange table, presentations on gardening and booths for the Neighbourhood Tomato, our Almonte Seed Library, Lanark Master Gardeners, Seeds of Diversity and Almonte Horticultural Society. But most of all it was a perfect venue for gardeners to network and dream of the coming gardening season and to talk about new community garden ventures. By closing time over 500 visitors had come and viewed the treasures and purchased tiny grains of hope and left inspired for the rapidly approaching gardening season!
Congratulations to Johvi Leeck, a young entrepreneur and owner of gardening venture ‘Beyond the Garden Gate’. She had the vision and the drive to put the whole thing together (along with a bit of help from mom and dad). Johvi has an infectious enthusiasm that drew a flock of enthusiastic volunteers from her amazing network of gardening gurus. Thanks are also due to the volunteers of the Civitan Club who went out of their way to help make the event a huge success (and also sold some incredible date squares!). I look forward to the annual appearance of Seedy Saturday in Almonte – one more ‘star’ in the constellation of events and festivals that make Almonte such a perfect place to live.
Seedy Saturdays are a remarkable phenomenon. The Canadian charitable organization Seeds of Diversity has taken on a loose organizational role, providing some guidance and some publicity for these events. They are not one event, but a series of separate events, which have sprung up across the country, each individually and uniquely organized under the same general themes of encouraging the use of open-pollinated and heritage seeds, enabling a local seed exchange, and educating the public about seed saving and environmentally responsible gardening practices.
For more details on the great network of Seedy Saturday events taking place across the country, check out the Seeds of Diversity website. This year Seedy Saturday in Ottawa takes place March 5 at Britannia Park (Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre) and on a smaller scale there is a Seedy Sunday in Perth on March 6 at the Royal Canadian Legion.