By Gloria Stravelli
MIDDLETOWN – Though the temperatures are still frightfully cold, late winter is the time when gardeners’ thoughts turn to the upcoming planting season. It’s a time for poring through seed catalogues and taking stock of seeds culled from previous growing seasons.
To engage and connect with the local community of gardeners, the Monmouth County Park System will hold its inaugural Seed Swap from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 26 at Tatum Park Activity Center on Red Hill Road, across from Deep Cut Gardens. The event will be held rain or shine and parking is available onsite.
“The swap is meant to be a casual, fun thing,” explained Jason Goldman, a park system naturalist who is organizing the event. “You can meet other growers and chat about plants.
“We’re expecting a good turnout; there is a lot of interest so far,” Goldman said.
The community swap was originally planned to take place in January on National Seed Swap Day, but a snowstorm forced its postponement.
“The seed swap is a national event that takes place every January,” explained Goldman. “This is the first one for the park system. I was looking for things to do in the wintertime and National Seed Swap Day, that’s a fun thing to do.”
Goldman said his interest in native wildflowers and the sometimes prohibitive cost of purchasing seeds led him to create the county’s first seed swap.
“Buying seeds every spring can add up, so you can do the swap and save some dollars,” he noted. The seed swap also “promotes a sense of community,” he added.
Those interested in participating in the swap can drop off seeds anytime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Huber Woods Environmental Center at 25 Brown’s Dock Road in Locust, up to and including the day of the swap. Those donating seeds will be given tickets to use at the event.
“Then you will be able to swap the tickets at the event for other seeds,” Goldman said.
He explained the types of seeds that are acceptable and those that are not.
“Vegetables, annual and perennial flowers” are welcome and encouraged, he said. “Acceptable seeds include any variety of vegetables, native wildflowers like milkweed, perennials, annual flowers, sunflowers, marigolds,” he said, “as long as they’re not invasive.”
“I’d say don’t bring anything that’s invasive, like butterfly bush – it’s a spreader and it’s not native. That’s why I try to educate people. It’s a beautiful plant but it’s not native and it’s not great for our local ecology.”
According to Goldman, seeds should be contained in an envelope, packet or baggie containing a minimum of five seeds.
“Seed submissions must have the plant name on each bag and whether the seed was purchased in a store or harvested in a field,” Goldman said.
Donors should also note what year the seeds were harvested. “What’s important for people to know is just how old the seeds are because on average seeds are good for about three years and then they start to lose their quality and the rate of success is going to decline,” he explained. “So knowing how old the seeds are that you’re going to bring in is important.”
Donations need not be organic but organic seeds are welcome. Cuttings will not be accepted.
Goldman stressed the importance of not donating seeds from plants that have been treated with pesticides.
“If it’s vegetables or fruit seeds, ideally when they were planted they weren’t sprayed with any insecticides,” he said. “It goes for wildflowers, things the pollinators will be around. It’s not as important for the seeds as much as for the plant to be pesticide free when they’re growing.”
At the swap visitors will be able to find what they’re looking for at tables where the seeds are sorted by category.
Goldman said he is pleased with the response to the park system’s first seed swap.
“I’m just happy to get seed submissions, I’m happy people are interested in this,” he said. “We’ve already had about half dozen people drop seeds off. They’re very engaged. Plant people are passionate people.”
Goldman said he is looking forward to the swap. “I’m excited to meet the people and see what they bring.”
He hopes the swap “encourages people connecting with nature and just getting outside.”
For more information visit monmouthcountyparks.com.
The article originally appeared in the February 17 – 23, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
