Getting people growing things - a small impact from sharing starts...

Last year I grew way too many tomato starts from my saved seeds. So I shared them. I explained I didn't know what some of the varieties were, just that they tasted good so I saved them.

I gave some to the neighbours.

I gave some to relatives.

I gave some to some to very distant relatives who were going through some hard times.

I probably gave away 50+ plants. I thought I was just setting them up for a year of tomato growing.



This year, feedback is trickling back. The family that is still in hard times, normally buys tomato starts and grows a garden. They saved seeds from my plants, saying they grew better than anything they bought in the past. This year, they have already planted seeds and will share with their parents/family and maybe return one variety to me!  I will offer them some squash seed, I think.

Another relative lives in a low income housing development. She saved seeds from the plants I gave her last year, and bought seeds, has started plants, and is planning on giving dozens away to her neighbours. She wants some of our rhubarb and maybe some other things...

A friend I gave squash to (not at all a gardener)  saved the seeds and plans to plant them in some scrub land to see if they grow. He also grew his first tomatos from my starts last year.

Anyway - smiling this morning. It cost me next to nothing to grow and share tomato starts. But the ripples from doing so.... We will see.  

I will give more seeds and more starts away again this year. It will be interesting to see where they end up.

You leveled up from grow gardens to to growing gardeners!

Catie George wrote:Last year I grew way too many tomato starts from my saved seeds. So I shared them. I explained I didn't know what some of the varieties were, just that they tasted good so I saved them.

I gave some to the neighbours.

I gave some to relatives.

I gave some to some to very distant relatives who were going through some hard times.

I probably gave away 50+ plants. I thought I was just setting them up for a year of tomato growing.

Awesome!  You not only helped with food production, but with delicious food production that your network got to enjoy.

A friend of mine (urban permaculturist, small lot) set up a table on her driveway, with a few packs of seeds, and a sign offering the seeds for free - along with the name of a food bank that would welcome any unwanted veggies. Despite the nothing-but-lawns vibe on her street, the seeds went right away, and she did another giveaway shortly after. When the town launched a seed library pilot, most were in parks or at community sites, except for the one on her front lawn. She was expecting pushback from neighbours about the seeds, but she got a bunch of happy growers instead.

We have just started saving seeds on a large scale this year, but last year our extras went to a relative with gardening ambitions. This year I have a few interested people, but y'all are inspiring me to be bolder with the offers.

I love this; spreading the  heirloom seeds and helping others...can't beat that.

Happy to see this bumped back up, I remain convinced this is the easiest and most successful way to encourage local food production that I have ever tried.

This year almost no one wanted my tomatoes. Everyone was growing their own from seeds :)

Extra starts and some extra seed this year went to the food bank who were very excited to receive them. I gave away tomatoes, cabbage, brocolli, squash, zucchini, melon, and cucumber starts.

For people without a big network in their areas, that's another possible way to share with the community. A single tomato start in the grocery store was over $5 this year, so i suspect many people who recieved them would otherwise not have grown plants. I stumbled across another local woman who is growing tomato and pepper starts for the local church who has a small garden for parishioners, which might be an option for the more religiously-inclined.

Cost to me for my donation  is likely under $10 and it's money I would have spent anyways, as I always plant extra for insurance. I always feel guilty for not donating produce to the food bank, but we eat or save every single thing I grow.  

When I was just starting gardening about 15 years ago, a neighbor invited me to save seeds from her garden, to dig up volunteers, and take cuttings whenever I felt like it.  What a gift!  We've moved twice since then, but I still have some of the perennials that came from her yard.

That neighbor was definitely "growing gardeners" and it stuck!

Now I run a small business making self-watering pots to make seed starting easier so those precious baby plants don't die on you.  (I used to kill a lot of seedlings!)

These days I'm always growing too many seedlings.  Whenever anyone comes into the shop, I try to send them away with a free plant.  In spring it was tomatoes and cucumbers.  The last few weeks has been kale, and now I have lettuce and celery coming on, far too many for me to grow myself!

It's such a gift to start seeds and grow seedlings to give away.

Here we give away extra seeds and plants in our local buy nothing group, there are always many takers. Last year I gave away 100 sweet potato slips all rooted. I also gave away 200 cucumbers, and make produce boxes for the elderly on our street. I love how happy it makes them. Sometimes they offer me fruits from their fruit trees. Our next door neighbor has told me to just harvest all the pomegranates from their trees. In return they get pomegranate wine.
The neighborhood kids often descent on my food forest garden. They know I don’t mind them picking a snack. They also help if I need it. This spring they helps me plant onions. While there I answer questions about fruit and vegetables, and now their parents comes for advice too. 2 of the kids asked me how to get their mother a mulberry tree, something she has missed since they left their old home. I promised to propagate a cutting for her, this fall.
I also offer the gift of time and knowledge to new gardeners, and free garden tours discussing permaculture and food preservation. I have been asked if I can do a fermentation class, but so far hasn’t had the time to do it.
My buy nothing group also has a box for seed sharing, that goes from family to family. Some only take seeds, some only add seeds to it, and some do both.
It’s a great way to grow new gardeners and support your local community.

Best thread ever!  This just makes me so happy, I love getting seeds and starts from my friends and then dividing what I have for the same or other friends.  Since all I have is patios and balconies as we're stuck with apartments, I don't have a lot of extra but I do what I can and feel thankful when people have extra to share with us.

I feel like these are wonderful ways to human, I love seeing the amazing things people are doing for each other and the earth.