Skip to main content

Libraries Add Seeds to Circulation

Fri, 03/10/2023 - 12:31
Kathleen Ernst, who's in charge of the seed exchange at the Montauk Library, let Grace and Laura Niggles select some wild flower seeds to plant in their garden.
Jane Bimson

With the East End frost-free date about a month away, for gardeners now is seed-starting time. Resources for experienced, casual, and beginner growers include free "seed libraries" at most local libraries.

Details may vary, depending on library policies, however, the concept is to make gardening more accessible by supplying seeds, as well as literature and handouts about how to get going.

The Montauk Library seed exchange is an ongoing effort not just to hand out packages from commercial suppliers, but to encourage local gardeners to save their own seeds to donate back to the collection. The goal is to ensure a "robust variety of seeds that do well in the Montauk climate." Library cardholders can take up to five packets per month. A seed-saving guide is on the library website.

In Amagansett, community service hours are available for teenagers who help out at a March 29 seed-sorting session. Kimberly Parry at the library has more information. The library typically has had a big selection, including vegetable and flower old standards, herbs, greens, and some more exotic types, such as Thai basil, fennel, and bok choy. Seeds will begin to be available the week of March 20.

Sag Harbor's John Jermain is beginning to stock its seed library, with more varieties to be added soon. East Hampton's opened this week; it also takes donations of saved seeds.

Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton is in on the seed thing, too.  It has a wide variety of herb, flower, and vegetable seeds available throughout the spring, summer, and fall. The staff tries to time it so that at any given time patrons can plant what they select the day they pick it up. For example, in early spring there are different varieties of lettuce, kale, and onions then as it gets warmer, tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. Patrons can take up to three packets of seeds per visit from collection, which is maintained in a repurposed card catalog. The library accepts seed donations, though not a requirement. The seed library is "open" whenever the library.

In the winter months, Rogers Memorial has windowsill garden kits with recipes or instructions for things like dry-herb rubs or herbal sachets and all the seeds necessary to get started. These been a big hit and help keep the seed library active all year, Sara Fiore, the reference librarian there, said.

The time is now for cool-weather planting. National Weather Service statistics available from 1999 on have Montauk's latest-frost date as about April 9, though frosts have been recorded as late as May 1 (in 2008). In Bridgehampton, the average annual freeze-free date is April 22; in 1992, frost formed on May 20, in a freak cold spell.

Villages

L.V.I.S. Fair Is Set for Saturday

The Ladies Village Improvement Society’s annual fair happens on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and this year’s “is bigger than ever,” the society says. Not only will the carousel be back, but the Playland area for kids will be expanded. There will be face painting, a roving magician, a bubble artist, and pony rides for the little ones. 

Jun 12, 2025

Montauk Chemists Opens, Minus Pharmacy

Frank Calvo, the longtime pharmacist at White’s Drug and Department Store, which closed on Oct. 31, has opened Montauk Chemists on Main Street and is selling over-the-counter merchandise including vitamins and self-care products. One week after an inspection of the store’s pharmacy, however, he is still awaiting New York State approval to operate it. 

Jun 12, 2025

Slow Start at New Gosman’s

In some ways, Gosman’s Dock, one of Montauk’s few remaining family-owned and operated businesses until its October 2024 sale, closely resembles the complex of restaurants and shops long revered by locals and visitors alike. In other ways, though, it is markedly different under its new ownership. 

Jun 12, 2025

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.