Seed exchange hosted at St. Paul’s

by Sylene Argent

In celebration of spring being just around the corner, a seed exchange event was held inside the hall at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Saturday, March 9.

Pat Jackson helped organized the seed exchange through the Essex County Gardening Group, which has an online membership of around 1100 members.

  Herb, vegetable, native plants, milk weed, and flower seeds were available for a donation or through exchange.

Visitors to the event had the opportunity to exchange packages of seeds or take some seeds to start their own garden with making a donation, which were collected for Essex Community Services.

  Thanks to the generosity of the eventgoers, $490 was raised for the Essex Community Services, which provides foot care clinics, friendly visits and reassurance, and a transportation program.

  Admission into the event included submitting a non-perishable item for the Essex Area Food Bank or St. Paul’s Clothing Cupboard. As a result, more than 150 non-perishable food items were collected for the Essex Area Food Bank. In addition, several bags of clothing were forwarded for the Clothing Cupboard.

A few vendors, selling gardening-related items, were also onsite, as were two master gardeners, from whom visitors to the event could get care advice for the seeds they picked up. Representatives from the Essex County Orchid society were also available to talk about this type of flower and provide tips for care.

  Representatives from the church also used the opportunity to sell books to benefit its bursary program and host a baked goods table.

Jackson was impressed with the foot traffic the event attracted. In the two hours it was open to the public, she estimated around 300 individuals attended. Part of the success of the event, she suspected, is that interest in gardening has increased.  

Door raffle prizes were offered to the event, which Jackson was pleased to accept and present to lucky winners.

Organizers of the event also made the petition to protect Windsor’s South Cameron Woodlot from becoming a residential area available for anyone who wanted to sign it. Some of this area’s designation as a provincially significant wetland was recently retracted.

  The Essex Centre seed exchange was the third event this group has hosted, Jackson noted, adding in previous years, the event was held in Harrow. It was moved into Essex Centre because of its more central location.