It’s been said that a garden is like a story, with each season adding a new chapter. Well, who better to guide gardeners of all abilities into a new chapter of gardening that our friends at the Portage County District Library?
Just as in the previous two seasons, librarians Lisa at the Aurora branch, Megan at the Garrettsville branch, and Sarah at the Windham branch will have a wide variety of seeds available for gardeners of all ages and abilities. They’ll also offer special programs at each location. Just as in previous years, seeds and programs are available at no cost – just one of the many ways your local library helps make your life more fruitful.
This year, the program will experience incredible growth with help from some key gardening resources within the community. Firstly, the Portage County OSU Extension Office and the Portage County Master Gardner Volunteers have joined in to provide additional learn-to-garden programs at each branch. Next, these groups are supplementing PCDL’s seed collection, helping to provide a larger assortment of seeds. In addition, there’s on-demand gardening advice via the Master Gardener’s telephone hotline and OSU’s in-person diagnostic services.
The PCDL Little Seed Library opens on the first day of spring — Thursday, March 20th, and will be open during normal branch business hours. The Aurora and Garrettsville Library branches will both house small seed displays. And while the central seed collection remains at the Windham branch, seeds can be ordered and sent to any PCDL branch for patron pick-up by contacting Sarah at Windham at (330) 326-3145.
To kick off the growing season, the Little Seed Library at Windham will host two in-person events at the Renaissance Family Center. The first takes place on Thursday March 6th, when the public can drop in between 11 am to 3 pm to help representatives from the OSU Extension office, PC Master Gardeners, and PCDL sort and package new seed for the collection. Everyone is welcome to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Little Seed Library on Thursday March 20th.
That day at 4 pm, Seth Kannberg from the OSU Extension Office and Matt Herbruck of Birdsong Farm in Hiram will lead a seed-starting demonstration. In addition to the program, rare seeds will be provided to each participant. Be sure and register your spot, as seats are limited, and you won’t want to miss out!
Also, each Monday from March 24th through April 28th, free, curated container garden kits be available for free pick-up at the Windham Library from 10 am until 6 pm to help you get a head start on this season’s chapter of your garden.
Find out more, or register on the ‘Events’ page at portagelibrary.org, stop into a branch, or call (330)326-3145 for the next chapter of your gardening story.
