Want to plant some seeds? They’re waiting for you at the library

Editor’s note: In 2024, Siouxland Libraries decided not to host the seed library for a second year.

Some years, the rabbits would eat everything Rachel Saum’s mother planted in her small backyard garden — until she foiled them by establishing raised beds.

Despite that early example of how frustrating gardening can be, Saum herself became devoted to green, growing things.

“After I graduated from college, I took an internship on an organic farm outside of Sioux Falls,” she said. “Working with them through the summer season, I realized how wonderful it was to work outside all the time with different plants. I love cooking, too, and I wanted to have really fresh ingredients.”

To help others expand on their enjoyment of gardening — and to introduce them to the hobby — two years ago after reading about seed libraries, Saum decided to start one in Sioux Falls. This month, the Common Roots Seed Library expanded to Siouxland Libraries, opening a place to pick up vegetable, herb and flower seeds at no cost.

The seed library will be set up in the Ronning Branch Library, 3100 E. 49th St.

“We’re going to try it for one year at the Ronning Branch,” library associate Allie Kantack said. “Hopefully, it will continue, and we could possibly locate at other branches or move it around so everyone has access to it.”

Saum, who works for a farming operation in New Mexico, started Common Roots Seed Library in 2021. She runs it locally with the help of volunteers. A seed library is a free community resource that takes donations of seeds. People can check out seeds that they want to grow, plant and tend them over the summer and enjoy the produce. People are urged to let some of the produce go to seed. They then harvest those seeds and return them to the seed library for others to use the next spring.

“I had seen examples of seed libraries existing in other cities,” Saum said. “I had become interested in heirloom seeds and preservation of unique varieties adapted for local areas, and I decided Sioux Falls should have a seed library.”

Saum shared her idea with other passionate gardeners, who supported her idea. She consulted with seed libraries in the Midwest, including some in Yankton, Omaha and Minnesota to determine how to set up one. Saum is a fellow with the BAM Institute of Civic Biodesign, and Common Roots was her first project with the nonprofit.

Saum started collecting seed donations, keeping them at home while she searched for the right location. The initial site was the Union Gospel Mission, then it moved to Sweetgrass Soapery in downtown Sioux Falls, a friend’s retail store with space for a seed shelf.

Then, she approached Siouxland Libraries.

“The whole goal is to get more seeds in the hands of those who want to grow a garden and not have cost or knowledge be a barrier,” Saum said.

Siouxland Libraries’ staff has established a sustainability committee to determine how the library can fit into the city’s proposed sustainability plan, Kantack said. The young committee already has revamped its recycling and waste management guidance so employees know what to recycle and what to throw away. The committee also is working on recycling high-volume items like books, CDs and DVDs.

Offering a seed library fits into the larger library’s goals, Kantack said.

“As the library, that’s what we care about: helping people learn and grow in their lives,” she said. “That’s why we feel it’s a good fit to have a library at one of our locations.”

The model Siouxland Libraries is using is “borrow, grow, return,” Kantack said. Even those who don’t have a library card can stop at the Ronning Branch to browse the seed library, pick out the varieties they want and take them home to plant. In the fall, they can come back with the seeds they have harvested and fill out a form.

In addition, the library has a large section of gardening books, from landscaping to produce and flowers that can be checked out, Kantack said. It also will offer monthly classes through Common Roots on different aspects of gardening.

“We’re just really excited to engage with our community in a new way, help people learn a new skill or develop a skill and be part of the growing experience with them,” Kantack said.

The seed libraries at the Ronning Branch and at Sweetgrass Soapery currently are stocked with community donations. Some of those include partial packets of seeds people did not use, along with donations from seed companies that focus on open pollinators.

“I have an inventory of over 100 different varieties of seeds, all kinds of lettuces, any vegetable you can think of, decorative pumpkins and gourds, and prairie plants as well,” Saum said. “A lot of people are requesting perennial native plants, so I’ve sought out donations of those seeds as well. It’s all over the map.”

People sometimes confuse a seed bank with a seed library, Saum said. A seed bank’s goal is to store seeds. A seed library wants turnover, getting plants into the hands of people who want to grow them.

At this point the demand has not outpaced the donations,” said Saum, who runs Common Roots as a volunteer. “I’ve been really lucky that way.”

Through Common Roots, Saum wants to normalize the conversation around seeds and seed saving. People shouldn’t be intimidated by seed saving, she said, because there are easy ways to do it.

“Even if it fails, it’s all just an experiment to see what happens,” she said. “It’s fun to find a community of people interested in gardening.”

More information

Seed library classes will be offered on the third Wednesday of the month from May to September. Registration is required. An introduction to the Common Roots Seed Library will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, at Ronning Branch Library. Information is here.

For general information on the seed library program, click here.