STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

A new vault is being prepared to house valuables at the Big Wood River Grange Hall.

But these valuables are not greenbacks but, rather locally grown and harvested seeds.

Members of the Wood River Seed Library will get together from 6 to 7:30 p.m. tonight—Friday, Feb. 2—to prepare a safety backup for local seed varieties just in case something should happen to the seeds already being stored at Ketchum’s Community Library.

Anyone is welcome to help sort through the current seed supply, which includes vegetable, herb and flower seeds. Volunteers are needed to fill seed envelopes and jars and record the inventory that will be stored.

Those with surplus seeds to share are invited to bring them.

The Wood River Seed library is a group of local gardeners and seeds saver who grow and save seeds. The locally produced seeds are adapted to the local environment and climate.

They provide diversity for the future

The 2017 seed harvest was plentiful, with local gardeners sharing seeds in addition to contributing them to the seed bank, said Manon Gaudreau, who co-manages the seed library with John Caccia and Pam Parker.

Sharing seeds saves money on having to buy seeds at market. It provides growers with tasty varieties they cannot find in a commercial seed catalog. And it protects heirlooms from extinction, preserving varieties that are better suited to the area should climate change make other varieties difficult to raise.

For more information, join WRSL Manager John Caccia at jc@seedsong.net, or Pam Parker at pparker@comlib.org or Manon Gaudreau at upperbigwoodriverid192@grange.org.