Seed Saving Workshop

By CSU Horticulture Program Associate, Linda Langelo

Join us on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at the Burlington Library on 321 14th Street in Burlington, Colorado starting at 10 am to 11 am to attend a Seed Saving Workshop in support of the Burlington’s Seed Lending Library. Learn how to grow vegetable varieties you never thought you could have in your vegetable garden year after year.

Did you know we have a vanishing vegetable heritage? According to Suzanne Ashworth, who wrote Seed to Seed, from 1984 to 1987, 54 of the 230 mail-order seed companies in the United States and Canada went out of business. With that unfortunately, many seed collections were dropped. To be exact, 943 non-hybrid varieties were lost. Organizations such as Seed Savers Exchange put together a catalog titled, Garden Seed Inventory of non-hybrid vegetable varieties. Some of the other organizations dedicated to seed saving are Heritage Farm and The Flower and Herb Exchange.

In Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance started in 2014 by three avid seed collectors. Their mission was to connect communities with the seeds that sustain them. Their goal is building a network of seed stewards, distributors, educators and seed storage facilities throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Libraries in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and other western states have joined in the network. Burlington Library is looking to do the same. Keep the old varieties alive. Keep our genetic heritage alive.

The workshop will introduce participants to the basics of seed germination, the type of seed to use seed saving, basic terminology and everything you need to know to get started. We will also cover Burlington Library’s goals as a seed lending library and as a patron how you can participate.

For more information visit www.ext.colostate.edu.