Visit WRSL on Facebook for current events and information
Saturday April 23 – 10 am to noon
Adopt a Seed Kit & Share the Gift of Seeds
Help us clean and package our seed harvest. You can help by taking a Seed Kit home to process our seed harvest, so we are ready to distribute seed packets to the public for the next season. In 2021 our distribution locations expanded to Ketchum, Bellevue and Carey, as well as Hailey. Demand for seeds is on the rise as more families are interested in growing their own food and saving their own seeds.
If you are interested in contributing to our seed cleaning and packaging effort, please request a Seed Kit by emailing [email protected]. The kits include bulk seeds, along with instructions. We will make arrangements for you to pick up a kit. Once you have processed the seeds, you can return them to the Seed Library.
Your contribution will ensure the processing of the seeds that have been donated to the Seed Library, so that seed packets are ready for free distribution to local gardeners, and ready for planting your 5B Resilience Garden come spring!
You are also invited to share your seed harvest with the Seed Library. We accept any seed surplus you may have, whether harvested locally or sourced from other producers.
Send an email to [email protected] to participate. Experience the joy of engaging in the ancient community ritual of seed saving!
Seed Library
Our Seed Library includes flowers, herbs, vegetables, melons and grains. Our seeds are free. They are distributed seasonally to local gardeners at our events, and through 4 distribution points: Ketchum YMCA, Hailey Public Library, Bellevue Building Material Thrift, and Itty Bitty Farm in Carey. Subscribe to the eNewsletter to stay informed.
Do you have seeds that were not planted? We will gladly receive any seed surplus you may have. Hopefully you are letting your plants go to seeds, so that you can harvest seeds when they mature. Your contributions allow us to continue distributing seeds for free to our local gardening community.
About WRSL
The Wood River Seed Library (WRSL) is a community-based seed saving and sharing project. Building Community, Educating, Networking and Seed Stewardship is our mission. Our purpose is to grow, save and share seeds for free within the Wood River Valley. Our locally produced seeds are adapted to our local environment and weather. By preserving these seeds, our seed librarians maintain a diversity of open pollinated varieties for the future. We strive to inspire growers to rejoin the ritual of seed saving.
The Wood River Seed Library was founded by RMSA co-founder John Caccia in 2014.
WRSL’s co-managers Manon Gaudreau and Dustin Cousins love to hear from you. Your suggestions and questions are always welcome. Connect with us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.
WRSL now accepts charitable donations through the fiscal sponsorship of the National Grange Foundation. Details are on the Donate page.
Past activities
5B Resilience Gardens info sessions
Cultivating Community and Hope
Monday August 10 at 5:30 pm or Wednesday August 12, 2020 at 10:30 am
We invite all interested gardeners to join us in one of two info sessions hosted via Zoom. Presenters will discuss resilience gardening’s guiding principles, share visuals of the principles in action, and highlight ways for gardeners to get involved. The first info session will take place on Monday August 10 at 5:30pm, the second on Wednesday August 12 at 10:30am, both via Zoom. Simply use this Zoom link to join an info session at the specified time: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89461294613
For details on 5B Resilience Gardens visit localfoodalliance.org/blog/5b-resilience-gardens
5B Resilience Gardens first garden tour
Thursday August 13, 2020 at 1 pm
Join us for our first 5B Resilience Gardens tour at The Hope Garden and the Upper Big Wood River Grange on Thursday August 13 starting at 1pm. While The Hope Garden has been serving the community for many years, the Grange Garden has just broken ground this past spring. We will tour both, discussing the ways resilience gardening principles are being realized, and how to include additional principles as the gardens continue to grow. Due to COVID concerns, we are limiting the number of participants on this tour. Please register with Amy – [email protected] to participate. We suggest riding a bicycle, if possible, to reduce our carbon footprint of the tour. Masks are recommended and we will maintain physical distance and be outdoors. We will meet at The Hope Garden, next to the Courthouse on First Avenue, and make our way to the Grange at 609 S. Third Avenue after that, followed by a trip to the Hailey Farmers’ Market just across from the Grange at Roberta McKercher Park.
If you would like to be involved in the initiative, please complete a membership survey (https://forms.gle/Emaj21m2tXhxQt5E6). Once the survey is completed, a 5B Resilience Gardens representative will provide additional information to each prospective member based upon survey responses.
Also visit localfoodalliance.org/blog/5b-resilience-gardens
Past Activities
Seed Cleaning & Packaging Parties
Friday October 4, 4:30 to 6:30 pm at the Grange
Saturday October 26, 10 am to 12 noon at the Grange
Wednesday November 6, 5:30 – 7:30 pm at Natural Grocers on Main Street, Hailey
Work parties are planned in the fall and winter for receiving seed donations, for seed cleaning and packaging. If you are saving vegetable, herb, melon, grain or flower seeds, you are invited to share some of them with other local gardeners by donating seeds to the Wood River Seed Library. If the seeds are not already cleaned, we will clean them together. We will then catalog them, put 10% in our Seed Vault, and the rest in our Seed Bank for free distribution to the public.
Donating seeds makes you a member of WRSL! There is no membership fee. Bring your dry seeds, preferably in paper bags or in (repurposed) glass jars to ensure proper aeration. Either cover the jar with a piece of cloth held by a string or rubber band, or pierce a few nail size holes in the lid. If your seeds are completely dry, the cover can remain intact, but do not fill the jar more than one third full so there is plenty air space for the seeds to breathe and continue to cure without getting moldy.
Please label your seed donations with your name, the source of the seeds, the location where the seeds were harvested, the name of the seeds, their characteristics and qualities, and optional notes. This information is needed to fill out the back of the WRSL seed packets, shown here.
Of course, each work party is an opportunity to “borrow” some seeds and share your harvest with other like minded people, and have fun too.
All gardeners at heart are welcome to join us in handling our precious locally grown seeds, reverently saved by members of our community. This event is an opportunity to learn about seeds saving and seed growing, and chat with other like minded gardeners. By saving and distributing seeds for free to local gardeners we contribute to the biodiversity of our seed-shed.
Thank you for helping WRSL in its mission!
Bloom Community Farm tour and Seed Saving demo
Monday August 12, 3 to 4 pm
Lynea, Food Production Manager of the Hunger Coalition, will give us a guided tour of the farm. The Bloom Community Farm connects our community over the shared joy of growing good local food. Through education and agriculture and the Volunteer for Veggies Program, it inspires a resilient future for all members of Blaine County.
Master Gardener and WRSL co-manager Manon Gaudreau will also talk about seed saving. Saving seeds contributes to biodiversity and resiliency. By saving the seeds from our gardens and farms, we allow crops to adapt to our local climate. This talk complements the seed saving class at the Hailey Public Library on Wednesday August 21 at 5:30 pm.
The Bloom Farm is located at the end of Fox Acres Road, past Wood River High School, east of Hailey, in the Quigley Canyon.
Saving the Seeds from your Garden
Wednesday August 21 – 5:30 to 6:30 pm
at the Hailey Public Library
Learn how to save seeds from the vegetables and flowers in your garden. We will talk about the basic steps and the different techniques used to harvest, clean and store the seed. Saving seeds is a rewarding activity and a gesture to contribute to biodiversity and built resilience.
Seed Packaging Parties at the Grange
Saturday June 15, 10 am to noon
Wednesday June 19 3 to 5 pm
We will be packaging our WRSL seed harvest into seed envelopes for distribution during the 4th of July parade in Hailey. All gardeners at heart are welcome to join us in handling our precious locally grown seeds, reverently saved by members of our community. This event is an opportunity to learn about seeds saving and seed growing, and chat with other like minded gardeners. By saving and distributing seeds for free to local gardeners we contribute to the precious biodiversity of our seed-shed.
 Saving the Seeds from your GardenTalk at the Hailey Public Library Wednesday August 21 – 5:30-6:30pm Learn about how to save seeds from the vegetables and flowers in your garden. We will talk about the basic steps and the different techniques used to harvest, clean and store the seed. Saving seeds is a rewarding activity and a gesture to contribute to biodiversity and build resilience. |
Wood River Victory Garden Program 2019
The free program is offered in partnership with the Wood River Seed Library (WRSL), the Hailey Public Library (HPL), the Grange, the Hunger Coalition, and the UI Extension and its volunteer Master Gardeners. The full program includes talks, onsite garden workshops, seed and plant exchanges, online YouTube videos and online documents.
The program starts at the Hailey Public Library, 7 West Croy Street in Hailey, on Thursday February 28, 5:30 to 6:30 pm with the launch of the HPL Seed Distribution cabinet, serviced by WRSL, and a talk about Seed Diversity by Manon and Amy.
The Hailey Public Library will once again be a distribution point for the precious local seeds saved by WRSL members, and available for free to gardeners who are invited, in turn, to grow vegetables, herbs, flowers and grains, save the seeds from their crops, and return harvested seeds to WRSL.
There will be 3 gardening talks at HPL, 7 West Croy Street in Hailey, and 2 Seed & Plant Exchange events at the Grange, 609 South Third Avenue in Hailey:
Thursday February 28 – Seed Library Cabinet launch, talk about how it works, and the importance of seed diversity, 5:30 to 6:30 at HPL
The preservation of seed biodiversity is an important reason for harvesting and saving local seeds. Like human bodies, and animals, plants are adapted to different weather conditions. Different seeds of the same species have the ability to germinate and grow in different conditions. The seed industry focuses mostly on replicating a few kinds of seeds that are suitable to favorable large scale growing conditions. The preservation of seeds adapted to micro-climate conditions outside of the main growing areas, like in the Wood River Valley, are left to gardeners and communities who preserve their own seeds. It is critical that the diversity of seeds be preserved to allow for the continuous expression of the many genes that allow for the adaptive nature of plants. Each year, many crops become extinct on the planet due to climate change, natural disasters, wars and human decisions. Seed saving by local gardeners, and seed banks like WRSL contribute to our food resiliency.
Tuesday March 26 – Growing cool season vegetables – what, when and how, 5:30 to 6:30 at HPL
A cool season plant is either frost tolerant or cool temperature tolerant, allowing it to flourish in temperatures lower than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Includes onions, broccoli and other cole group, kale, spinach, lettuce, chard, bok choy, peas, carrots, radishes, beets, turnips, asparagus, potatoes and some herbs like cilantro, chervil, dill, parsley, arugula and oregano. Cool-season crops are generally planted in the early spring when temperatures are cooler, long before the danger of frost has passed, or seeded outdoors in the fall to allow for early germination in the spring. Many of these crops can also be planted in late summer for a fall harvest. Cool season crops do well in the Wood River Valley in spring and fall, but are not happy in the high heat of summer.
Thursday April 25 – Growing warm season vegetables – what, when and how, 5:30 to 6:30 at HPL
A warm season plant may be injured by frost and should be planted well after the danger of frost has passed, which is generally in June in the Wood River Valley. Includes the Cucurbitaceae family cantaloupe, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, and watermelon, the Solanaceae family eggplant, pepper and tomato, as well as beans, sweet corn, sweet potato, and basil. The harvest needs to be done before frost sets in.
Each of the events in the Wood River Victory Garden Program is free and open to all. Please register by contacting Sarah Busdon, UI Extension at (208) 788-5585, by email [email protected], or in person at 302 1st Avenue South in Hailey, Monday to Thursday. Registrations can also be done at one of the events in the program. Upon registration, participants will be given access to the online video channel, and will receive email communications about additional events, and links to suggested online resources. The UI Extension also has printed versions of the gardening resources for a fee.
Gardening and seed saving is invaluable for food resiliency, and empowering for the whole local community: whether growing plants, sharing gardening and seed-saving knowledge, offering your garden for a visit, harvesting seeds and sharing some of them with WRSL, attending WRSL seed-cleaning and packaging parties, servicing our distribution points, starting seeds for our plant exchange, dividing and sharing your perennial plants and house plants.
Seed and Plant Exchange – Celebrating Earth Day
Veggies, flowers, herbsSaturday April 13, 2019
10 am to noon
at the Grange Hall
609 S. 3rd Avenue, Hailey
Celebrate Earth Day by sharing your seeds and plants with the community. Meet other local gardeners, get inspired to grow delicious and nutritious food for your family. Learn which flowers to plant to attract pollinators.
Local gardeners are invited to bring their own saved seeds, potted plants and starts, dug-up perennials from their gardens to share with the community during this annual Seed Exchange.
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, free of charge, but donations to The Hunger Coalition are encouraged.
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.
WRSL also shares its collection of seeds through the Hailey Public Library, starting in March, and through the Community Library in Ketchum, until supplies last.
Summer Seed Exchange and Plant Sale
Veggies, flowers, herbsSaturday May 25, 2019
10 am to noon
at the Grange Hall
609 S. 3rd Avenue, Hailey
Potluck Dinner Celebration – Was postponed and has yet to be rescheduled
Join us for a “Send Off To The Farm” party in honor of WRSL founder John Caccia who is moving away from the Wood River Valley to relocate to a 21 acre farm along the Snake River, half a mile downstream from Banbury HS.
John Caccia is a long time silversmith and has created quite a collection of silver jewelry and leather braided bolo ties with a soul, among other things. He is turning the page on his Mountain Angels business and his Golden Door Gallery in Ketchum, which he will close at the end of January. Until then he invites everyone to stop by the Golden Door Gallery, located across the alley from the Ketchum Post Office, to check out his sterling “Seed Beads” that depict peas in a pod and other garden related jewelry pieces.Seed Vault Packaging Work Party
Saturday January 19, 2019, 10 am to noon, at the Grange
We will be preparing a portion of the 2018 WRSL seed harvest for safekeeping in the Seed Vault at the Grange. All gardeners at heart are welcome to join us in handling our precious locally grown seeds, reverently saved by members of our community. This event is an opportunity to learn about seeds saving and seed growing, and chat with other like minded gardeners. Our Seed Vaults contribute to our regional food resiliency.Hope Garden Tour and Work Party
Wednesday June 13, 2018, 6:30 to 8 pm
After a guided tour of the Hope Garden, corner of First Avenue North and Walnut in Hailey, which feeds our community, we will get our hands dirty! Bring your hat, gloves and knee pads if you need them. Tools will be provided.
WRSL Seed Saving Talk by Bill McDorman and John Caccia
Monday July 9, 2018, 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Bloom Farm in Hailey
Drive or bike to the very end of Fox Acres Road, past the gate and into the Quigley Canyon. The Bloom Community Farm, and its sheds and greenhouse, is enclosed by a high fence.
The Wood River Seed Library (WRSL) is a group of local gardeners and seeds savers who grow and save seeds. These locally produced seeds are adapted to our local environment and weather. By preserving these seeds, our seed librarians maintain a diversity of open pollinated varieties for the future.
WRSL share the best of each year locally grown seed harvest with the community. Since 2016, The Community Library in Ketchum has been a host and distribution point for these local seeds. In 2019 we will also have a distribution point in Hailey (to be announced). Seeds are also distributed at punctual events held during the year, including seed exchanges. Gardeners are encouraged to plant these seeds, harvest the seeds from the plant they grow, and return their own seeds to the WRSL. Seed distribution will start in the spring and extend into early summer.
The Upper Big Wood Grange is partnering with the Wood River Seed Library for the safe keeping of our local seeds. A Seed Vault, located at the Grange Hall in Hailey, will house a collection of seeds representing a percentage of the seeds saved by the WRSL seed librarians. The vaulted seeds will assure a backup supply for the WRSL in case of emergency. The WRSL otherwise distributes its seeds to gardeners interested in stewarding locally adapted seeds and crops. The collection includes many varieties of vegetables and flowers.
Visit the facebook page of the WRSL for updates.
For more information, and to join the WRSL, contact co-manager Manon Gaudreau [email protected]
WRSL is affiliated with RMSA, Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance