Gwinn Seed Library
The Gwinn Seed Library is housed in the Forsyth Township Public Library and is a free service to all in our community. We feature as many UP Smart™ seeds along with others that are non-gmo, organic and some hybrid that meet our standards.
What is a seed library?
It is a diverse offering of food crop seeds, some you may find locally, others are more unique to rare, but all are great for growing in this region referred to as ‘short season ready’. A seed library is a ‘seed bank’ that provides quality seeds donated by active growers in the area and from notable seed companies in the U.S.
The idea of a seed library in Gwinn came from volunteering with the Queen City Seed Library in Marquette. They have over 200 people using the seed library. QCSL and Transition Marquette Country have hosted a number of events for participants. The seed library in Marquette is becoming self-sustaining as more people learn how to save seeds and give back to the seed library.
One of our goals for the Gwinn Seed Library is to teach participants (and any other person wanting to attend) how to harvest and store seeds from the food you grow. Ultimately, to be able to ‘check back in’ seeds to sustain the Gwinn Seed Library! Seed saving is an amazing way to learn more about growing.
Forsyth Township Public Library is an excellent location, a hub to a greater community that will benefit from daily access to seed types that are focused on short season growth in the U.P.
Questions? Information desired? gwinnseedlibrary@gmail.com
How do I participate?
Anyone can come into the Forsyth Township Public Library and search through the seed offerings. However, the seeds are in hibernation until the start of the 2025 growing season. Watch for more information.
2024 Wrap
Gwinn Seed Library and Gwinn Seed bank are now wrapped under the umbrella of Gwinn Food System - a 501c3 company.
Our lastgarden project, supported by Gwinn Lions and community members was to rebuild the land behind the Upper Great Lakes Clinic at KI. And install 14 raised garden boxes. Each box measures 12 feet long by 3 wide. We also amended a walk-through space for creating a sensory garden.
In total, community, Gwinn Lions, school staff and students have opened 127 garden beds in Forsyth township, in and around Gwinn. We gave 680 pounds of fresh produce to St. Vincent DePaul food pantry in Gwinn, the large food production garden at Grace Lutheran fed 44 families in October and, the Forsyth garden provided several hundred tomatoes to the Senior Center.
We also received 3 grants in 2024 which are being used to expand seed choices for UP Smart(tm) growing, to harvest 500,000 seeds and, successfully store them for years! We will be building out an education building, adding an extensive irrigation system to the largest garden - Rooted in Faith and add a point well for the irrigation system. The garden is expanding to a few acres!
Our plan for 2025 is to create a Food System that will make even more fresh produce available to the community. This is where you come in.
Would you be willing to increase your garden by 5%? Would you then be willing to share that 5% with us - Gwinn Food System to help feed kids through the summer food program at Gwinn Schools or to the food pantry or to a low /no-cost farmers market for a select audience? If you can, please response ASAP!
Email gwinnseedlibrary@gmail.com to let us know. Email is checked every day so expect a response within 2 days.
GROW WELL!
From the folks at Gwinn Seed Library in the
Forsyth Township Public Library