New seed library opens in Linn County, aimed at combating food insecurity

The founders of a new seed library in Linn County hope the free resource will engage beginning gardeners, including those who live in urban areas, to grow their own food as well as community connections.

Garnet Stanger, the master gardener coordinator and volunteer manager for ISU Extension & Outreach in Linn County, helped spearhead the seed library.

“We want to empower individuals to provide for their families and community in a whole new way,” she said. “We hope to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables. We hope that this effort leads our community to become healthier, more educated and more connected.”

Stanger said another driving force to create a seed library in Linn County is the rising cost of food.

“The demand for food pantry assistance is growing. There are three things that people request most from food pantries and are hard to provide: protein, dairy and produce,” Stanger said. “We can't help with the first two categories, but we do know how to grow produce. We can do this one small thing, and we hope that others will join our efforts by taking seeds and growing food intended for donating.”

The majority of the seeds in the Linn County seed library are donated by stores in the Cedar Rapids metro area that cannot legally sell the seeds after the planting season.

The seeds and produce grown from them cannot be resold.

What does the seed library do?

The new seed library is led by ISU Extension in partnership with the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program — HACAP — which is a nonprofit organization that serves low-income families across east-central Iowa.

Stanger said HACAP has been a “valuable, long-term” partner of Linn County Master Gardeners’ community gardens.

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“When the Master Gardeners wanted to start a seed library, we learned that in order to be officially permitted by the state, we needed a food pantry partner,” Stanger said. “HACAP seemed like the natural first choice.”

According to Iowa Code 40.16, "a qualified seed library may be a library district formed under Iowa Code section 336.2, a library board functioning under Iowa Code section 392.5, or an Iowa food bank or Iowa emergency feeding organization recognized by the Iowa Department of Revenue."

“Since ISU Extension and Outreach and the Master Gardener Program are not a library district or an emergency feeding organization, we needed one of those organizations to partner with us in order to get a permit,” Stanger said.

Stanger said HACAP was eager to join the effort. The nonprofit’s role includes connecting Extension with local food pantries and clients in the area, so they can identify community members who may benefit the most from having a garden.

Aron Brecht serves as the food donor relationship manager for HACAP and has been working with Stanger and her team to develop the seed library.

“The goal of this new seed library is straightforward, to provide seeds and educational resources to every person interested in growing food, which is a wonderful thing in and of itself,” Brecht told The Gazette in an email. “How that access enables our community’s ability to support one another and experience the benefits of growing your own food is what will make it such a beautiful project.”

Brecht said the HACAP Food Reservoir’s role in the project is to ensure Iowans using their services or are working with the nonprofit partners are aware of the program so they can benefit as well.

“Many folks that grow food feel such a deep sense of joy and purpose from doing it. The Linn County Master Gardeners are the perfect partners for increasing our community’s access to not only the seeds, but the educational resources on how to get them to grow,” Brecht said. “We also want the community at large to know they can participate in helping their local food bank, food pantries and meal sites by donating anything they grow.”

High demand for seeds

Kayla Cook, library assistant at the Coralville Library, spearheaded their seed library in 2021. She said the idea to launch the project came from a library patron who asked if they had one.

Cook said since its inception, the Coralville seed library has been stocked “100 percent” by community donations.

“We've been very lucky to have a lot of people willing to bring in their extra seeds if they've purchased (them) for their own gardens,” Cook said. “They've brought us a few extra packets that they've gotten.”

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Cook said she isn’t surprised a seed library was launched in Linn County because the demand is so high.

“At this point, I struggle just to keep the seed library full,” she said. “Usually within about a month, everything's cleared out, and I'm struggling to get more in, to put out for more people.”

Since it’s a community garden, Cook said their supplies are replenished only when community members donate them.

In “February and March we get a lot of stuff coming in, and then we catalog it and put it out for anyone to use,” Cook said. “And then it kind of peters off during the summer but then in the fall, and sometimes in the beginning of winter, we'll get some more coming in.”

In addition to the Linn County Seed Library and the one at the Coralville library, seed libraries also exist at the Iowa City Public Library, in Marion, Hiawatha and Ely.

An educational effort

In addition to making seeds available, Stanger said there also will be an education component to the library.

The Linn County Master Gardeners team is hoping to hold classes at the Extension office in Hiawatha and at partner food pantry locations.

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Generally, she said the classes will include gardening basics like planning a garden, patio gardening, planting and harvesting, nutrition classes, meal planning, recipes and food safety.

Stanger said they expect to have the education classes up and running next year, when they can “do it well with more intention.”

The Linn County Master Gardeners have two main areas of focus, Stanger said: sharing the university’s science and research horticulture information with Iowans through education programs and fighting food insecurity.

Stanger said that last year alone, Linn County Master Gardeners and nonprofit partners grew, harvested and donated more than 12,000 pounds of fresh produce to local food pantries.

“That number is impressive, but if we want to have greater impact, we need help,” she said. “We believe if we give people access to resources like seeds and education to begin growing food, we can empower individual to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for their own families and encourage them to give back by donating their produce to others in need.”

Brecht said he hopes the Linn County library strengthens the community.

“Our hope is that people use this seed library to grow their own food to either use themselves, or share, whatever works best for them,” Brecht said. “We also hope those using the seed library find a deep sense of community, no matter what their reasoning for growing is.”

Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

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Comments: olivia.cohen@thegazette.com