Victoria has a dormant seed swap happening this Sunday

This week, Seedy Sunday—a local seed exchange, marketplace and community hub for gardeners and plant lovers—is back in full swing on Feb. 25 for the first time since the pandemic.

Hosted by a group of volunteers from the Victoria Urban Food Table, it’s one of the oldest seed exchange events in the world that allows volunteers to celebrate unique seeds, learn about gardening and climate-adaptive food growing, and buy locally grown seeds from fellow gardeners and farmers.

Along with several local vendors from plant nurseries such as Metchosin Farm, Full Circle Seeds and Satinflower Nursery—one of the Island’s largest purveyors of indigenous plants (there are just a few, click here for the full list)—there will be a line of speakers eager to share their experiences with gardening and impart useful knowledge about growing plants.

Creating and maintaining resilient gardens, special growing techniques, the significance of native plants and the very basics of gardening are all topics that participants can expect to learn more about, along with plenty of opportunities to ask questions in panel discussions.

Seed exchanges are much more than a trade of ornamental plants to decorate your front porch—they’re a celebration of diversity, a solution for food insecurity and an important educational tool to help bring awareness about the health and sustainability of local ecosystems.

Gillian Rowen, a longtime volunteer at the seed exchange, notes a dramatic change in the seeds people are bringing in for exchange that indicates a growing interest in sustainable gardening.

“Since 2001, when I started organizing the seed exchange at Victoria Seedy Saturday, I’ve noticed that every year more and more people are bringing in vegetable seeds to trade, as opposed to the ornamental plants that we used to see,” they said in a news release.

Want to learn more about the seeds you can grow in your garden? Seedy Sunday is taking place this Sunday, Feb. 25 at Quadra Village Community Centre and Neighbourhood Gym at 901 & 950 Kings Rd.

Entry to the seed exchange is by donation and all ages are welcome. Find more information about vendors, speakers and the Compost Education Centre on their website.