Seedy Saturday adapts to provide ‘hope on the horizon’

Tamara Segal, registered herbalist with Hawthorn Herbals, shown at the popular Seedy Saturday event a few years ago, pouring samples of wild coffee she created from freshly roasted wild roots and organic grains, blended with raw cacao nibs. This year’s event is outdoors and will follow COVID-19 protocols

By Sharon Harrison
Prince Edward County’s version of Seedy Saturday, a community-driven, grass-roots seed exchange event, has grown and evolved over more than a decade but this year will be held in a smaller format accommodating COVID-19 protocol.

Usually held at Prince Edward Collegiate Institute with workshops, vendors, activities, food offerings, and more, this year the event focuses on a socially-distanced seed exchange.

For those eager to garden and are looking for seeds, Delhi Park is the place to head this Saturday, March 20 from 11 a.m. -2 p.m., near the community gardens area at Lalor Street.

While the event is usually held the last weekend of February to allow people more time to start their seeds, this year’s adapted event will coincide with the spring equinox.

“I was really inspired to do it in person this year, not only because we are so lacking for in-person events, and not only because it’s pretty tricky to facilitate an online exchange of seeds, so logistically it made sense,” said Tamara Segal, Seedy Saturday crew member.

She said what inspired her early in the year was listening to Vandana Shiva, who is a significant seed saver and organic farming advocate.

“I was listening to her being interviewed and later bought her book Oneness Versus the One Percent, so it’s really a lot about claiming our sovereignty, and included in that are our food sovereignty and our ability to be able to thrive with our own resources, but having to rely on the resources that are provided by the few who have the majority of the wealth.”

Segal says she was encouraged by Shiva’s message for small communities to get together and share resources.

“It’s about bringing in any innovation you can think of in terms of supporting you own resilience, and be open to any ideas and have conversations with people about all of this and as much as you can, try to do it in person, so that there’s actually an organic element to it, that it is in real life.”

The 12th annual PEC Seedy Saturday will have all kinds of packaged seeds ready for the taking, and all free free of charge, set up on physically-distanced tables.

People were asked not to bring seeds to the event this year as they have done in prior years. Seeds were collected in advance over the last few weeks when a call went out for people to drop-off donated seeds at various locations.

As the custodian of the seed bank, Segal still had seeds leftover from last year, and was able to add to the bank.

“I felt a responsibility to do this and get these seeds out into the community and perhaps it’s more important now than in previous years, and the big aspect of seedy Saturday is the free exchange “

“We built up the seed bank in advance of the day with the intention that we won’t have all these people dropping-off and picking-up seeds and it would just keep the crowds smaller.”

As well as seed sharing, the event will include representatives from a few local organizations, such as the Prince Edward County Master Gardeners, Tree the County and the Community Gardens.

Ruth Gangbar, of Ruth’s Canteen, and a favourite Seedy Saturday contributor from past years, will be serving warming chili on a pay-what-you-can basis, with a suggested price of $5.

“Ruth has been a wonderful asset and has been involved for the last few years and she’s always so supportive.”

This year, Gangbar will be donating 50 per cent of her sales back to the Seedy Saturday fund.

They will also be selling a limited number of organic cotton Seedy Saturday T-shirts for $25 (exact change only) with proceeds going back to Seedy Saturday.

Without the usual large contingent of vendors, the idea this year was to keep costs low.

“We don’t have to pay rent this year and not having vendors, but just making it really about free exchange of our own resources that we have, and creating an opportunity in-person and just have conversations about this.”

“Seedy Saturday always feels like there is hope on the horizon,” adds Segal.

Details of the PEC Seedy Saturday event tomorrow can be found on Facebook .