{"id":8548,"date":"2020-10-06T21:15:44","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T21:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=8548"},"modified":"2020-10-06T21:15:44","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T21:15:44","slug":"seed-library-harvests-new-community-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/10\/06\/seed-library-harvests-new-community-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Seed library harvests new community partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newcastle Libraries will harvest the flourishing momentum for home vegetable gardens with the launch of the City\u2019s first free Seed Library today.
\nOne of the unexpected outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a national surge in the number of people growing their own fresh herbs and vegetables at home.
\n\"NewcastleSeedLibrary-1.jpg\"Newcastle Libraries will help cultivate this trend further by offering a variety of free seeds that residents can \u2018borrow\u2019 from the library to plant in their own gardens.
\nResidents will be encouraged to share in the fruits of each other\u2019s labour by returning seeds from their ensuing harvest to the library in order to help re-stock and expand the collection.
\nDeputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen said the Newcastle Seed Library was an innovative community partnership project that would continue to flourish and grow as more people became involved.
\n\u201cGardening is a fantastic pastime with many benefits for your physical and mental health and wellbeing,\u201d Cr Clausen said.
\n\u201cGrowing your own vegetables is also a fantastic way to teach children about the life cycle of plants, while learning new seed-saving skills yourself. The best thing is you don\u2019t need a huge amount of space to get started, with many of the plants able to be grown in pots.
\n\u201cCity of Newcastle already has for years been collaborating with residents to successfully establish community gardens throughout the local government area. The Seed Library initiative takes that support one step further by offering free, easy to grow seeds that locals can take and plant in their own gardens.\u201d
\nThe Newcastle Seed Library will start with certified organic varieties including basil, tomato, zucchini, pumpkin and bush bean.
\nManager Libraries and Learning Suzie Gately said residents were encouraged to stay involved beyond their initial library \u2018loan\u2019 by returning their own seeds to share with the community.
\n\u201cOur motto is \u2018borrow and grow, harvest and share\u2019. Newcastle Libraries members are invited to take home the free seeds for their garden, grow and return the same variety after harvest, and add other varieties of seeds to the library too,\u201d Ms Gately said.
\n\u201cSharing seeds through the Newcastle Seed Library will help preserve rare, tasty and historical varieties for gardeners in our community, while the return of successful seeds will allow us to develop a collection adapted to local conditions.\u201d
\nThe Seed Library is being piloted at Wallsend Library from 6 October, with additional branches to potentially be added depending on demand.
\nLocals will be encouraged to subscribe to the Newcastle Seed Library newsletter for free seed saving tips, while tutorials on the Newcastle Libraries website and regular free seed saving workshops will help them build skills and confidence to grow from seed.
\nFor more information visit the\u00a0Newcastle Seed Library website.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newcastle Libraries will harvest the flourishing momentum for home vegetable gardens with the launch of the City\u2019s first free Seed Library today. One of the unexpected outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a national surge in the number of people growing their own fresh herbs and vegetables at home. Newcastle Libraries will help cultivate … Continue reading “Seed library harvests new community partnership”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}