Saving and cleaning seeds in New West

Perhaps when you first see the term “seed cleaning,” you’re thinking about a microscopic vacuum that’s used to suck up the dirt around seeds. Or, as Siri Van Gruen of FarmFolk CityFolk tells New West Anchor, you’re wanting to give them a good wash with detergent—which you definitely shouldn’t do.

“Seed cleaning is a bit of an unfamiliar term for a lot of people, but it’s not using dish soap and cleaning your seeds. It’s actually just the process of removing chaff from the seeds,” said Van Gruen, who adds that once you’ve removed the chaff—the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds—inside is the protected seed, which can be replanted.

It’s a skill that the New West Public Library (NWPL) and FarmFolk CityFolk are working together to teach as NWPL prepares to launch a seed library. FarmFolk CityFolk is a not-for-profit that works to help people grow healthy food, with programs spanning from seed to plate.

“We are starting with a seed saving workshop, and then a couple of weeks later we’re having a seed cleaning workshop,” explains Caitlin MacRae, who is NWPL’s public services librarian. “We’re hoping people can harvest and keep their seeds, and donate them to our seed library for our community to share.”

By learning the proper techniques, Van Gruen says people won’t have to spend so much time slowly breaking the pod that encapsulates the seeds. Examples of some plants that can have their seeds saved include beans, tomatoes, and lettuce.

“Seed cleaning is really just breaking down, separating things by weight,” says Van Gruen, who adds this is commonly done using a colander. “If [the particles] are small enough, the seeds won’t fall through, but the smaller materials will.” Van Gruen says it’s possible to take the opposite approach, where the seeds can fall through, but the chaff or any other things stuck to the seed won’t.

MacRae says the idea for the seed bank came about after someone in the community reached out to the library. The person had some seeds left over from another local initiative and they asked the library if it had any interest—and that’s when the seed library really started to bloom.

“We don’t just want to start a seed library and not do any education event, because there’s lots to learn,” says MacRae. “People don’t necessarily have the knowledge from their own families or their own cultural traditions; they might have been lost somewhere along the way. Or maybe people haven’t had the opportunity to garden.”

Bringing a seed library to New West can give those who might not have enough green space an opportunity to have more choice. “A seed library is especially beneficial because people might not want to go out and buy a seed package with hundreds of seeds. A seed library could also give them smaller amounts of seeds they could donate back afterwards,” says Van Gruen.

MacRae says she’s excited to see the seed library grow with the help of the community. “What we’re hoping is that people take these events, then save some seeds from their garden this year, and they donate them to the library this fall.” MacRae says this should give the library enough time to have the seed library stocked for early next year.

As for those who might be afraid to take care of a plant because their thumb doesn’t seem green? Van Gruen says it happens, and that’s OK.

“There’s nothing wrong with failure, and the thing is that each time you do have a failed crop—I’ve been gardening for a long time and I’ve made a lot of mistakes—and as much as it is a cliche, you can learn more from your mistakes than you do your successes.”

“Remember, many of the plants die anyway, at the end of the season,” adds MacRae.

If you’re interested in learning more about seed saving, be sure to attend Tuesday's event at the main branch. It runs from 6 to 7pm. You can register for the course by emailing [email protected] or by calling 604-527-4666.