It’s a natural progression: You enjoy gardening, so you decide to level up and grow your own garden starts. That means buying seeds, so seed catalogs begin to inundate your mailbox. You soon realize that buying seeds is just as addictive as any other shopping habit, and seeds aren’t cheap. They typically range anywhere from $3 a packet in the grocery store to absurd prices like $20 a packet from niche seed supply houses. For most home gardeners, a whole packet of seeds isn't necessary unless you’re talking about carrots or radishes. That's why you should get excited about seed libraries, which can save you money, give you access to locally tested seeds, and help you find other people who share your love of gardening. A seed library is only different from a book library in that no one expects you to return the seeds. Simply, someone decides to make their seed bank available to others in an easily accessible way, and you can take a few seeds of any kind that suit you, and leave behind any seeds you have to share. You can find seed libraries in institutions like actual libraries, tool-lending libraries or other community spaces. You can also Google “seed library near me.”
