The Westport Farmers’ Market will hold its 14th annual seed exchange to promote seed saving and learning about seeds on Thursday, March 7 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m..
The Westport Farmers’ Market sets out tables that they fill with base seeds. Growers will come to the event and they can take seeds, exchange seeds, or give seeds. These growers can be background growers, people who are interested in starting growing, or even people who are interested in saving seeds for things like food insecurity. Additionally, there is a requirement that the seeds must be organic.
“People really care. These plants become family members to them,” Lori Cochran-Dougall, Executive Director of the WFM said. “There was a guy that was there last year, and he had been growing the same green bean for 22 years, and he wanted to share the seed.”
Seed saving is a popular tradition dating back to before civilization. However, this process has been lost over time because of large seed companies. Thanks to food and plant preservation, seed libraries, and seed exchanges, the tradition and practices have been preserved.
“The whole purpose of the event is to teach people the value of seeds and to teach people the value of growing their food,” Cochran-Dougal said. “And then also how to actually save seeds if they’re interested in doing it for the upcoming year.”
