ABOUT US

What is the All Pueblo Grows seed lending library?

The mission and purpose of All Pueblo Grows is to grow a community of seed savers and successful food gardeners through education and free seed libraries.

The project is a partnership of the Colorado Master Gardeners of Pueblo County, CSU-Extension — Pueblo County, and Pueblo City-County Library District.

Our Story:

2023 was the ten-year anniversary of the All Pueblo Grows Seed Lending Library. In 2013, Jared Miera, a Colorado Master Gardener (CMG), was inspired to gather a small group of CMGs to establish a locally grown seed bank that could be tapped into in the event of a wildfire like the Waldo Canyon Fire, which had occurred the previous year. The idea quickly morphed into allowing anyone with a library card to borrow, from the Rawlings Library, a variety of seeds to grow, eat, seed-save from, and donate back to the library. From there, the seed lending library was born. It has continued to grow with the help of many dedicated volunteers from All Pueblo Grows (allpueblogrows.org), CMGs, and the community. The program operates in partnership with the Colorado State University (CSU)-Pueblo County Extension, the Colorado Master Gardeners, and the Pueblo City-County Library District.

The seed stock offered has grown over the years to include not only vegetable seeds, but also a variety of herb, flower, and native seeds. The seed lending library is supplemented with a variety of season-specific classes that are taught by CMG’s, e.g., seed starting, pests and diseases, harvesting, seed saving, etc. Classes are open to the community and take place on the last Thursday of every month between January and October.

The most recent expansion occurred in early 2023 when the program expanded from being offered only at the Rawlings Library Main Branch to include the Giodone, Pueblo West, Lucero, Lamb, and Greenhorn Valley Library Branches. As a result, approximately 2,000 seed packets were checked out in 2023. Find out how to use the seed lending library to check-out, donate or return unused seeds at https://www.allpueblogrows.org/aboutus.

All Pueblo Grows Seed Lending Library would love everyone who borrows seeds from the program to become a seed saver and donate some back so the library can continue to exist and grow. Seed saving is easy, it provides free seeds forever, preserves biodiversity of plants, creates a local supply chain, and ensures that plants will thrive in Pueblo’s local conditions because they are grown from locally grown seeds. In addition, volunteers are always needed for various activities, including but not limited to repackaging bulk seed into individual seed packets, cleaning seeds, creating or filming demonstration videos, presenting classes, staffing booths etc. For more information, call the CSU Extension Office at 719-583-6566.

--Alyson Buchanan, Colorado Master Gardener