By Alex Singer
Northside Resident
As I wrote last year, in order to continue spreading the good word (and seeds) of native plants, I transformed an old medicine cabinet into what may be the only “little free native seed library” on the Northside, and the number of seed species now available has almost doubled. This is the time to either sow them on the ground or start them in pots outdoors.
As public interest has grown in replacing introduced plants with native ones, I continue to think up ways to share not only my passion and acquired knowledge but the literal fruits of my labor. Besides offering free plants/seeds online and at various workshops/tours, using my own seeds I helped start the Native Seeds giveaway that all Madison libraries (except Central) provide every fall. (They now use seeds collected by volunteers with Dane County Parks.)
Many of the plants provide not only wildlife food but shelter, and many of my practices minimize negative impact on not only the wildlife but my human neighbors: minimal/no mechanical noise or outdoor lighting, retention of carbon via compost/brush piles and water via rain barrels and raingardens, no outdoor chemical use.
Collecting and processing even a moderate amount of seed is very time consuming, so those in the Free Native Seeds cabinet in front of 410 Luster Avenue will be loose in labeled containers that visitors will choose out of and put in scrap paper envelopes to label themselves.
A QR code — inside the cabinet and shown here — links to additional information and resources. Check it out!
