By Melissa Hemphill,
While most of Revelstoke is thinking about what to do on top of the snow at this time of year, The Local Food Initiative (LFI) is already thinking what will grow under the snow when it melts. From now until late February the LFI is hosting a Seed Sale and Seed Swap to get you access to some amazing local seeds for a good cause.
Imagine all the colourful pollinator flowers, varieties of herbs, leafy greens and the array of vegetables you can plant for your summer garden. “The day I receive my seed catalogues in the mail always makes me think of spring, no matter how cold it is outside or how much snow lies on the ground”, says long time gardener and local resident Nadja Luckau. Some plants, such as onions, need to be started indoors as early as February, so right now is the ideal time to start planning what to grow this year.
You may be familiar with the Local Food Initiative; we are a non-profit that hosts a variety of amazing events (like the Midsummer Nights Green), educational programs (Garden Guru, Farm to Table or Little Sprouts), and workshops related to growing, preserving, and celebrating all things food.
This year for our Seed Sale and Swap we are partnering with Naramata Seeds, a small company from the Okanagan that supplies a great selection of organic heirloom varieties, and West Coast Seeds, a popular seed supplier from Vancouver that boasts a wide selection, many of which are also organic. You can view the catalogue and place an order for West Coast Seeds through our website now until February 22nd at http://www.revelstokelocalfood
In addition we will have seed packets from Naramata Seeds available for purchase later on when we host our Seed Swap on March 22nd, also at the Winter Farmer’s Market. Seed packages often contain more seeds than you will need, but they don’t last forever. Bring your surplus seeds to our Seed Swap to trade with others or add to our Seed Library at the Okanagan Regional Library. This is a great opportunity to swap seeds with fellow local gardeners, exchange knowledge and maybe find seeds that have been saved in Revelstoke for years. Even if you don’t have seeds to swap, still come and check out our table as we accept cash donations in exchange for seeds to help run the seed library, which is hosted at our local library year round. We encourage people to take seeds from the library and return some the following year after they have saved their own. If you have extra seeds to donate, this is a great place to leave your seeds to pay it forward, so that another gardener can pick them up.
Happy Gardening, Revelstoke!
