Huntsville Public Library’s collection is growing, but not in the way you might think.<\/p>\n
HPL started a seed library, Seeds @ HPL, in 2014. It’s a collection of heirloom seeds from vegetable, herbs, ornamental and native plants that library patrons can \u201ccheck out\u201d in the spring and summer with the condition that they will return new seeds collected from those plants in the fall.<\/p>\n
To help sustain the seed library, staff have planted a small community garden for the purpose of harvesting seeds at the end of this year’s growing season.<\/p>\n
“We have a few vegetables planted there and we hope to harvest seeds to keep our seed library going,” says Cortney LeGros, HPL’s Coordinator: Outreach, Programs & Partnerships. “Vegetables are hands down the most popular seeds and they are the ones we always get donated back.” The library’s garden includes tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower and kale.<\/p>\n\n\t\t