Seedy Saturday offers local green thumbs an early start to their gardening
Gardeners, from novice to expert, take note: The Kingston Area Seed System Initiative (KASSI) will be holding their annual Seedy Saturday on Saturday, Mar. 14, 2020.
“Seedy Saturday is a warm-spirited celebration of seeds, gardening and community,” says Dianne Dowling, Kingston Area Seed System Initiative board member. “By March, gardeners are really looking forward to the end of winter, and the start of the growing season, but it’s too early for outdoor gardening. So, they come to Seedy Saturday, and have a great time, browsing among the seed packages at the vendor displays and the seed swap table. I tell people to come to Seedy Saturday with a list, because otherwise, you’ll want to buy one of everything!”
“This year is the 13th annual Kingston Seedy Saturday,” Dowling continues. “A measure of how people have responded to Seedy Saturday is that we keep outgrowing our locations. It started out on Wolfe Island, then moved to the Wilson Room at the downtown branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library. Then we held it at Unitarian Place on Concession Street. We have been in the auditorium in LCVI for a few years now, which is a great place for our event. Lots of light and open space in the auditorium, room for our workshops and a lunch area, accessible by car, bus or on foot, and easy for the vendors and community groups to move their displays in and out. It seems to be just the right size to give the event a great community feel — lively and varied, but not crowded or overwhelming.”
What can you expect at seedy Saturday? You can visit the seed swap table, and tour the displays, including several regional seed vendors and community groups connected to gardening, food, and farming. Great snacks and a delicious soup and bread lunch will be available for purchase.
“We will have a children’s activity in the morning and then a couple of adult seed-saving presentations in the afternoon, and we have lots of great local seed and garden-related businesses lined up as vendors, and many great community groups have tables as well,” shares Cate Henderson, Accredited Organic Landcare Practitioner. “The focus of the event is the seed swap table — where people swap their own home-grown and saved seeds — we always have lots of seed growers swapping throughout the day.”
Stop by LCVI at 153 Van Order Drive, to learn more about seed-saving and swapping, and gardening in the Kingston climate. This event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a donation is requested at the door. The donations benefit seed security activities by the Kingston Area Seed System Initiative (KASSI).
Visit the event on Facebook: Kingston Seedy Saturday
The Kingston Seedy Saturday Committee is a committee within KASSI. Many hard-working volunteers organize this wonderful event each year. A listing of all the Seedy Saturday (and Seedy Sunday) events in Canada can be found at the Seeds of Diversity website, www.seeds.ca