No Seedy Saturday 2021 Instead March is seedy every day

TREASURE HUNT: At Wildwood's Glade Farm (above) and other farm gates, seed libraries such as this one on Hammond Street (below) and elsewhere, you can find top-notch seeds and plants this month.

Instead, March is seedy every day

BY PIETA WOOLLEY

Two days before Seedy Saturday 2020, everything was ready for the annual event. The Recreation Complex was ready to host the seed trade, vendors, education seminars, and food booths. Over that week, however, it had become incresingly clear to event organizer Ellen DeCasmaker that the unthinkable was happening: an infectious disease, the likes of which hadn't been seen in decades, was about to storm Canada. Sure enough, that Thursday, the Provicinal Health Officer banned indoor gatherings. Seedy Saturday was cancelled. "Now there’s no question at all," said Ellen on the phone from her home on Zilinsky Road. "There will be no in-person Seedy Saturday this year, unless a miracle happens. Hundreds of people going to that one hall and foyer at the same time? It would be one huge super-spreader event." Trust seed enthusiasts, though, to rise to the occasion of this gardening-obsessed pandemic era. There may be no central event this year, but March will be very seedy indeed. On Facebook, the Seed Traders of Powell River are vigorously trading and selling seeds. This is Seedy Saturday 2021's online presence (though you can also check out Seedy Saturday Powell River for more). At press time, melons, tomatoes, poppies, beans and much more were being swapped by the 150-or-so members. It is a private group, but anyone can apply to join. Watch for online workshops and exhibitors pages throughout the month. Seedy Saturday also has a presence at the Winter Market at the Community Resource Centre on Joyce Avenue on Saturday mornings from 10 to noon March 6 and 13.

Free seed libraries have been popping up around Powell River, as a COVID project. One is on Hammond Street, and one is at the Children's Centre in Cranberry. Both were made with funds from the Neighbourhood Small Grants program, as coordinated by Lesley Thorsell.

Tracy Pihl built them; Lucas North donated the windows, and Meryl Thorsell lettered them "Seeds and Reads." Trade or take seeds–they're free.

At Glade Farm, longtime seed and seedling proponent Wendy Devlin says the action at her farm mail box is "hot." Eggs, plants, seeds and other gardening goods get traded constantly without anyone standing close enough to breathe on each other.

Watch for more seed and seedling trading at farm gates around Powell River this spring. Need a map? You can find last year's Home Grown local food and agriculture magazine here (find it in the archive of prliving.ca, or directly at bit.ly/3uroHsO). Or, wait til the new one is out May 1.

FEED ME SEYMOUR: At Eternal Seed on Zilinsky Road, you can usually shop for plants and seeds. But, COVID has brought fevered gardening enthusiasm. So this year, owner Ellen DeCasmaker is just selling seeds online.

Fiddler's Farm owner Kevin Wilson – also the mastermind behind the Urban Homesteaders School of Powell River (UHSPR)– is taking his classes online this year. And they're free! He doesn't have dates yet,but March's offerings will likely include sessions on starting seeds – using plastic cell packs / using recycled containers / using soil blocks; potting seedlings; and making a light stand to grow seedlings.

"There will be more gardening topics to follow," said Kevin. "These are all going to be short, focused sessions on Zoom, with info that people can use right away."

Follow Kevin's work at the UHSPR Facebook page, or at UHSPR.ca. It's worth a trip to his website just to check out his wonderful Pandemic merit badge program. Lots of fun for anyone who has been baking bread, sewing face coverings, washing your hands, growing food or otherwise adapting to life under COVID. Anyone new to seeds and gardening can also go to Mother Nature, Springtime Nursery, or any other expert-rich garden store for help.

Ellen DeCasmaker's south-of-town shop, Eternal Seed, is normally a spring destination. But with the dangers of the pandemic and her absolutely thriving online sales, she will not be opening the store this year.

"It started last year – as soon as COVID hit and people were told to stay home and they started worrying about TP – then our sales dramatically increased," said Ellen. "We're seeing the same thing this year. I started getting spring seed orders in October. Some bigger seed companies have already closed online ordering for a week here and there. One of the big ones is not even selling to home gardeners this year – just market gardeners."

So in other words, the good news is that COVID (and other recent apocalyptic-like events) have greatly increased local and international interest in food gardening. The bad news is, traditional stock is low. Thank goodness for Powell River's seed enthusiasts who have created a thiving, local, accessible scene for seeds that grow well here. Ellen approves. "I really feel people should grow more of their own food if they can. It's so much healthier."

Even with all of this activity, Seedy Saturday can't really be replaced, though, according to Ellen, "in person knowledge-sharing is so much better. It helps us become more confident. We figure out that if someone else can do it, we can do it too."

Until we can breathe on each other again safely,we'll have to make do with what we have, and grow our confidence in the dirt. | pieta@prliving.ca