Today we are interviewing Kari Witthuhn Henning with Appleton Seed Library. Kari provided this introduction for us.
April 2016 // Our first community seed lending library opened at the Appleton Public Library.
Our model is that you will be able to borrow seeds to grow food, learn to save seeds, and thus strengthen our local seed diversity. The idea is that people save and trade seeds with each other and the library provides the opportunity and education to make it happen.
Collectively, we believe that the saving and sharing of seeds has become a lost art as the landscape changed from the intimate to the industrial. Historically, seeds were treated as sacred, a living trust passed down to us by our ancestors. Our aim is to revive the diversity of local seed, share skills and motivate new conversations of chance.
By growing a plant from seed, eating its fruit and returning it back to seed, we become fully engaged in the rhythm of nature, grow more attuned to the world around us, and gain a deeper understanding of our own place in the web of life.
What is the Appleton Seed Library?
Appleton Seed Library is a community based seed sharing library. We steward a collection of open-pollinated and heirloom seeds that you can borrow-grow-share. By combining the generosity of seeds with the model of returning a portion of what you borrow, we are taking part in an ancient exchange between the plants and humans.
A goal of the Appleton Seed Library is to encourage community connectivity by the means of ‘borrowing’ seeds to grow food & learning to save seeds thus strengthening our local seed diversity. We hope that people will collectively save and trade seeds as we provide the opportunity to educate and grow alongside you.
Currently we are operating out of our home base but the Appleton Seed Library began as a self-serve station within the Appleton Public Library. We upcycled the drawers of an old card catalog to house seed packets that could freely be taken upon filling out a membership form. By filling out a membership form, members can check out seeds, grow them with intention to let some plants go to seed, then save some of those seeds to plant next year or share with other gardeners.
This idea of having a community seed library where you can borrow, germinate, grow, share, save and share seeds for the next growing season is a fundamental relationship with food and our local community. Why does every community need a seed library?
The concept seems so simple and needed. It’s a way to engage a spectrum of young and old, those marginalized to the affluent. It’s a skill that was very much a part of life just a few generations ago, one that fostered so much connectivity. Having a diversity of locally adapted food crops leads to more food security for all. It also offers nutritional security when we can grow our own food and share the abundance with our community. Both elements that we are seeing more and more vulnerable as our times change.
Additionally, there are so many partnerships that can emerge within the local food web and seeds truly are the beginning to it all. For example, our seed library has made successful connections with Riverview Gardens, St. Joseph’s Food Pantry, ELS groups , Girl Scouts., nursing homes, numerous school gardens, local church groups, chefs, and partners with several local businesses in various seed/food related endeavors.
Home gardeners, as well as market farmers, are much better suited for exploring diversity in food flavors and the concept of seed preservation can go hand in hand. So in our eyes, the saving and exchanging of seeds is a means of building stronger communities in many ways.
Why are seeds important?
Seeds are one of the foundations of life. Seeds are like living ancestors with memory and stories. Seeds need to remain in the hands of communities versus large corporations. Without getting political, I will encourage readers to do a little research on how much seed is controlled by large chemical companies. In less than a century, seed heritage has shifted from public trust to privatization. When we relinquish simpleness for convenience, that seems like a dangerous path. Seeds, though small in nature, are truly one of the building blocks of life.
I think one neat facet of growing crops from seed is the exploration into different flavors and cultural heritage you can find. For example, if you know from what region of the world your family is from, there are fellow seed savers out there that would love to share seeds with you so you can experience some of the staple varieties that were grown and used there. A pea isn’t just a pea, there are three types of peas; English Pea, Snap Pea and Snow Pea and from those 3 categories there are probably 100’s of varieties you can grow. Each one has a reason why it was selected and saved from generation to the next and it’s also important to have that diversity so we don’t ever have to revisit the potato famine tragedy. In this example, the lack of diversity in one food crop made it susceptible to a massive crop failure.
Where do you first remember developing a relationship with seeds?
My enchantment with seeds began in my mother’s cut flower garden. My first experience saving seeds was not with veggies, rather the swelled pods of marigold, strawflowers, zinnias, and local prairie plants. To this day, it’s hard for me to resist slipping a ripe seed pod from any garden I visit. I love the characteristics, colors, and all sorts of variances that can be selected from in the seed saving realm. For example, if you grow a mixed zinnia packet, you can begin to save seed from your favorite and best-looking blooms instead of the whole lot. By doing so over the years, you are selecting for the color and strength of those specific flowers.
How did your interest and relationship with seeds germinate into starting a seed library?
In 2015, as a way to reconnect with my mother, we went through the UW-Extension’s Master Gardener program. Taking the time to develop my horticultural gifts and simultaneously moving to the country led me back to growing a garden and perennial food crops. The same winter upon graduation from the Master Gardener program, sometime around the time of bright cheery seed catalogs arriving, I heard a Tom Ashbrook interview on seed libraries. Instantly my interest to find a local seed library peaked and the notion took root.
The concept of seed sharing as a means to save money, build community and preserve diversity in our food systems were the driving forces in my exploration. Seed packs plus shipping can get quite pricey! A simple search online led me to conversations with two library locations within the state that were doing just that. Visits to the Waupaca and LaCrosse libraries were the next steps in my journey. Gleaning from their insight, resources and overall encouragement was a huge step. That same summer I also attended the Seed Savers Exchange Annual Conference in Iowa. This experience solidified my decision to go forth, that the need for others to join the crusade of keeping seeds in the hands of communities was greater than I understood at the moment yet I could not ignore the calling. Fast forward 6 years and we are still in the slow but steady race of building our locally adapted seed collection.
In the years of our existence, our efforts have expanded well beyond the simple sharing of seed. We’ve also given countless lectures, hands on demonstrations, seedling giveaways, host a yearly heirloom tomato tasting event, have a seed steward grow out program, and we even hosted a whole day seed saving field day. We are very open to any and all collaborations!
I read that you said, “We wouldn’t be eating anything if it wasn’t for seeds. So it’s bringing back this reverence to honor your food, honor the food system,” (your quote from a story at Fox 11). Can you share about this idea of honoring our food system?
In my opinion, the local food system is fragile and underappreciated. Not to get too opinion-based, but those growing our food locally are the essential front-line workers who are overworked and underpaid. When we become disassociated with fundamental building blocks of life, we are in danger of passing the handling of our life and future generations to companies that don’t have our best interest in mind. Both home gardening and supporting local growers is an honorable way to fight against the notion of loss of control. Not only is the food more nutrient-dense, but it’s also a much smaller eco-footprint and you participate in the local plant, animal, insect, mycorrhizal, human food chain. When you understand cycles in the natural world, you often work to protect them instead of disrupting them. Almost everything we eat starts or can be connected with a seed in some way, that is a powerful concept worth looking at closer.
How do you personally practice this reverence?
For me, it’s been an ever-evolving practice. I do start with gratitude and continue to increase my knowledge of not only seed stewardship but also soil health, carbon sequestering, water usage, and reaching beyond organic when it comes to growing food. By working the land, I am consistently aware and filled with wonder, humility, and reverence for the perfect life cycles that are in motion all around me. It truly feels like a privilege to participate in a small way. I choose to do a little in a lot of ways to bring meaning and reverence to the cycle.
I want to bring more reverence into my awareness of the incredible value of seeds to our lives. Can you share some ways to develop regular practices of reverence for our seed friends?
My journey to increased reverence began with reading, watching, and educating myself on the bigger picture of what was happening to the diversity of seed crops and modern-day farming practices. Through this, I found incredible mentors and like-minded folks that were on a similar path which led to much encouragement. What I initially discovered was eye-opening and felt daunting but that knowledge led me to do my part to make a change.
FInding ways to be hands on is also key to understanding how you can play an active role in the bigger picture of plant life cycles. This can be as simple as deciding you will learn one crop or one flower’s life cycle and then following it through all the stages of its growth. Learn where it originated from, what soil PH it prefers, how to best nurture its seed production , how it’s pollinated, what pests or disease it is prone to. It’s like getting to know a new friend, once you have the knowledge, it’s there for a lifetime.
To increase anything, you have to put forth effort. By starting small with ‘easy’ to save seeds, it is a beautiful way to enter the world of seed saving.
How is saving and sharing seeds a collective art?
As with any art form, there is amazing diversity, cultural heritage, and story behind each work. When others are actively participating in the collage of plant stewardship, the diversity in this collaborative art form will remain ever-evolving. Each seed, just like different art forms, has its own limitations, handling needs, tools, and needed dedication. Seeds evolve within their growing conditions from year to year, thus getting stronger to the growing conditions, pests, soil, and available daylight in our region. This knowledge gets encoded into seeds from generation to generation, which is referred to as local adaptation.
How can growing a plant from seed and returning it back to seed grow our personal relationship with the cycles of nature?
In my experience, it’s the slow steady pace you are dedicating to that does the transformation. To build a relationship, you must invest in that relationship. Within the act of following a seed from germination back to seed, you are choosing to be a student, open and available to learning all that can unfold in that journey. I would have to say, no two gardeners stories with seed are the same, yet touchingly similar. It’s an ebb and flow storyline of life and death, repetition and circular movement.
How can we get started with seed saving?
First, I’d say be realistic and allow yourself grace. With any new skill, learning takes time yet learning is in the doing! If you begin with the ‘easy to save’ category. Seeds like beans, peas, lettuce, tomatoes are both easy to grow and easy to process seed from. The flowers of these plants have both male and female parts that self-pollinate the flower which ensures true-to-type seeds that can thus be confidently saved from generation to generation. Having a seed-saving book such as Seed Garden is also a wonderful investment. Online learning is ever-growing as well, there are so many webinars, “seed schools” and other valuable resources out there to give you the knowledge needed to go forth.
For readers that are just getting started in exploring their own seed-saving interests. What are some good plants you can recommend for me to start with saving their seeds?
In general, the plants in the Leguminosae, or pulse family (peas, beans, peanuts…), Solanaceae, or nightshade family (tomato, pepperm ,eggplant…) or Compositae or sunflower family (sunflower, lettuce, marigold…) are often a great starting point. As always, nature can surprise us but these are noted to be wonderful entry level seeds to begin with. If you are more of a flower lover, start with Wisconsin native prairie plants as most of that process can be successful by simply replicating what nature does.
How does Appleton Seed Library support the culture of self-sufficiency?
I’d say we best support by leading by example. By sharing the knowledge and resources that have helped us, we are encouraging others to establish their own footing in the self-sufficiency practice of seed saving. By definition, self-sufficiency means you strengthen your environment by making it more productive and more low cost. That is why we are always looking for other gardeners to join our efforts as we can only sustain so much in one growing season.
How can participating in a seed library support more diversity?
Growing a garden is a personal memoir in an essence. The plants that are chosen should have intent, meaning and vision. By seed saving/sharing with others, you are able to connect a little about what is meaningful to your story of diversity. The diversity of seed is diminishing and new varieties are being lost each year so by participating in what interests you, we are taking steps towards honoring diversity.
How can people in the community participate in the Appleton Seed Library?
I love this question as it certainly varies.. Anyone can participate in the borrow-grow-share aspect. We also need help connecting our efforts to others in the community that are doing similar projects, this helps us cross-pollinate and collaborate to greater lengths. We also offer workshops and wish to see more of the community attend them, these can be found on our Facebook page. The need for members to participate in specific crop grow-out initiatives is also a need. Monetary support for our ongoing education efforts and supply list needs is also a way to participate. If there is ever a question of current ways to participate beyond the obvious, we always welcome emails as needs are ever-evolving.
Is there anything more you would like to share with us?
I often say you can either complain about something or do something about what you don’t like in this world. When I found out the biggest seed companies in the world are owned by chemical companies that work to put patents on seeds, I knew there was a big problem. My hope is that by sharing what I do, it creates a ripple effect to inspire others in joining. If something you read in this interview sparked you, follow that spark! Try not to be overly concerned about where it will lead you, be open to wherever it takes you.
Where can we learn more about Appleton Seed Library?
Currently we have a Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/aslibrary or email theseedguild@gmail.com