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Jun 10, 2023

Check this Out: Garden Tools, Beginning Gardening and 'Seed Saving & Sovereignty'

Still to come in August: Nine gardening programs at libraries across the Oklahoma City metro area. The Metropolitan Library System continues to host the “Metro Grows” program the rest of August.

Still to come in August: Nine gardening programs at libraries across the Oklahoma City metro area.

The Metropolitan Library System continues to host the “Metro Grows” program the rest of August.

Here’s a quick look at Upcoming Gardening Programs – including the opportunity to check out and take home gardening tools.

Fall Beginner programs (registration required)

August 29 - 6:30 p.m. @ Bethany Library, 6700 N.W. 35 Street

Saturday, August 26 10 a.m. at Belle Isle Library, 5501 North Villa Avenue

Tuesday, August 22 6 p.m. at Ralph Ellison Library, 2000 N.E. 23 Street

Saturday, August 19 - 10 a.m. @ Village Library, 10307 North Pennsylvania Avenue

Friday, August 18 - 10 a.m. at Southern Oaks Library, 6900 South Walker Avenue

The programs listed above are for either experienced gardeners or those just getting started.

Metro Grows got started with this initiative in the spring, working with a “health literacy grant from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Institute of Museum and Library Studies.”

According to the Metro Library website, the funding brings “the first collection to the ‘Library of Things’ with various tools available” for check out.

Give them a call at 405-231-8650 for more information.

Seed Saving & Sovereignty programs (reverse chronological order)

Tuesday, August 29, 6 p.m. at Ralph Ellison Library, 2000 N.E. 23 Street

Friday, August 25, 10 a.m. at Southern Oaks Library, 6900 South Walker Avenue

Thursday, August 24 - 6:30 p.m. at Belle Isle Library, 5501 North Villa Avenue

Sunday, August 20 at Warr Acres Library, 5901 N.W. 63 Street

Seed saving is a as simple as its name. It means “saving seeds from one harvest for the subsequent harvest.” As with all things human, it has a complex and diverse history. It is an ancient practice presently surging in Great Britain, Ireland and here in America – and across the world.

For Indigenous communities it has always been a priority for “certain crops for both consumption and cultural and social purposes. Indigenous communities are looking to reclaim these practices that have been with us for thousands of years.”

Seed Sovereignty is a term that honors “the right of a farmer to save, use, exchange, and sell his or her own seeds. The primary issue that seed sovereignty seeks to address is the ownership of seeds. Seed Saving is an ancient practice common to many farming traditions. This particular program is developed as part of the Indigenous Food Sovereignty movement. Seed saving avoids entanglement in controversies over corporate “ownership” of some seed stocks.

For information giving the perspective of organizers, visit:

https://www.metrolibrary.org/event/seed-saving-sovereignty-6

Supporters of these programs include the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.

Note: Pat McGuigan adapted this report from Metro Library postings and his own research.

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