The Wood River Seed Library (WRSL) and the Grange celebrate Earth Day with its annual Seed & Plant Exchange.

Local gardeners are invited to come and share seeds and plants. The event is an opportunity to meet other local gardeners, get inspired to grow delicious and nutritious food for your family, flowers that attract pollinators, and indoor and outdoor plants that beautify our home and landscape, feed us, and/or feed the pollinators. This year we especially celebrate medicinal plants, the precious ones that are healing and tonifying for our body and soul, and deserve a space in our personal medicine cabinets. These same plants are also food and medicine for the wild animals, or our pets.

Bring your own saved seeds, potted plants and starts, and dig-up perennials from your gardens to share with the community. Or come as a volunteer to help out with the event!

Cool season vegetable gardening starts in the spring. Although there is still snow on the ground, the garlic, daffodils, parsley and spinach, among others, just want to peak up towards the spring sunshine. Spring is the time to make indoor or greenhouse starts, prepare our growing beds, raised beds and pots, so they are ready to receive transplants or direct seeding, and to divide perennials that have over expanded their allocated space.

Anyone looking for locally grown seeds is welcome to stop by the Grange and pick-up the varieties they are hoping to plant this Spring. The WRSL seeds are distributed free of charge, but donations are appreciated. And mostly, gardeners are encouraged to save seeds from their crops, and return some to the Seed Library.

The Wood River Seed Library (WRSL) will be sharing the seeds grown and harvested by local seed savers. Gardeners are encouraged to plant these seeds, learn the basics of seed saving, harvest the seeds from the plants they grow and return their surplus of locally harvested seeds to the WRSL in the Fall.

Locally produced seeds are adapted to our local environment and weather. By preserving and sharing these seeds, our seed library maintains a vibrant and diverse supply of open-pollinated varieties for local gardeners. This becomes an asset for a resilient community.

WRSL currently also shares its collection of seeds through the Hailey Public Library in Hailey, the YMCA in Ketchum, the Building Material Thrift in Bellevue, and Itty Bitty store in Carey.

WRSL will hold a second seed and plant exchange on Saturday May 27 with more seeds and plant starts, focusing  especially on warm season gardening. There will also be plant starts for sale from local producers.

Gardeners can sign-up to receive the WRSL Newsletter at woodriverseeds.net, or by contacting Master Gardener Manon Gaudreau at woodriverseedlibrary@gmail.com