Residents Help Package Seeds for the Seed Library Ahead of Spring

Fifteen Norwood residents gathered in the Simoni Room at the Morrill Memorial Library on Saturday, Feb. 21 for a seed packing party, where they filled envelopes with different seeds that will be stored in the seed library for later use.

Norwood Conservation Agent Carly Rocklen, the Morrill Memorial Library’s Liz Reed and Darshana Merchant organized the seed packing parties.

Rocklen noted, “Volunteers package the seeds for the seed library,” by filling small envelopes with a small number of seeds, 10 in many cases per package, for people to check out.

Additionally, the seed packing parties can be a meaningful activity for members of the community. “We have volunteers with special needs, and this is a great way to help them learn skills,” Rocklen noted, “Also, the seeds are used at school gardens,” which can help educate students through a hands-on activity.

Dympna O’Carroll, a local nurse, said she appreciated how this activity was doing a great service for others in the community. “It helps the town’s wildlife and native species,” she noted, “which leads to others participating in a great outdoor activity that fosters wellbeing and community building.” O’Carroll discovered the seed library after learning about it through the Norwood Community Garden.

The seed packing party also attracted Becky “B.W.” Westerland and her daughter Zara. They joined the party for a Saturday morning activity. They previously used the seed library for their own special purposes.

“I used milkweed to feed caterpillars so they can turn into butterflies,” said Zara, “And some spicy peppers.” For one of her teachers, Mr. Quinn, she added. “I’m hoping to grow cherry tomatoes, my son’s favorite,” replied B.W. “We also plant native flowers and a mix of plants” to help the town’s sustainability efforts.

Many of the seeds are planted in the Norwood Community Garden’s plots, near the Coakley Middle School and Endean Park. Ann McGrath, a member of the garden’s administrative tasks team, noted the seed packing party is one of several initiatives to help new gardeners develop their plots and discover a love of gardening.

“We partner with the Norwood Fruit Farm [the Norwood Community Orchard] and some of the Norwood High School programs,” McGrath noted. “We have work parties [in spring] to prepare the garden for the season.”

McGrath also believed that people from “every walk of life can grow a range of things” in the garden.

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Reed and Merchant founded the seed library in 2024, after taking inspiration from one at the Concord Free Public Library in Concord, MA, and a suggestion from Ilex Jones, Assistant Director of Community Development for the Town of Norwood and the former Conservation Agent.

“Ilex thought the seed library was a way to address the issues of food security, sustainability and conservation.”

Reed noted the seed library was immediately popular thanks to its great variety of seeds for food, pollinator gardens along with seeds showy, native flowers like zinnias and cosmos. However, some other seeds, like beans, are easy to cultivate, and not as popular in the seed library, according to Reed, as those seeds are relatively easy to harvest and collect by gardeners. The library has previously held informational sessions on how to save and sow seeds for native plants to educate gardeners.

The Morrill Memorial Library’s seed library is located indoors, just next to the entrance, in a wooden cabinet. In the cabinet are drawers filled with seed packets. Patrons can check out these packets to plant in their own gardens, and they can read instructions to learn how to plant the seeds properly. Also, there are three seed packing parties planned next month, all at 7 p.m. in the Simoni Room, on Monday, March 2, Monday, March 9 and Tuesday, March 17. Learn more about the seed library at https://norwoodlibrary.org/seed-library/