Seedy Sunday was, once again, a resounding success! Organizer Jill Bishop does such a wonderful job, planning, promoting and holding the event. She sets up a palette of offerings which reflects the diversity, interests and passions of the many gardeners of our region.
Naturally, the majority of vendors present at the event are there to sell seeds, and most of them offer heirloom seeds which nuture the biodiversity of our planet. Seedy Sunday also brings together seeds exchange enthusiasts, farmers as well as food program organizers. This year, this colourful assortment of passionate garden devotees brought close to 1,200 visitors to George St United Church.
I was there for the whole afternoon, talking about both Community Gardening and Nourish. By the end of the day, my throat was feeling rather raw. I don't usually speak that much! All through the afternoon, however, I had to respond to a stream of questions from garden and outdoor aficionados. They wanted to learn how they could be involved in the community - through gardening or other activity. Their excitement was palatable.
I saw that people were leaving the church with beaming smiles on. I sensed that they were already imagining what they were going to do with their newly acquired seeds. I fully related to their experience!
Finally, as the stream of visitors started to slow down towards the end of the afternoon, I made my rounds to the various booths. I was looking for some new variety of kale, salsify and artichoke. By then, however, the selection was significantly reduced! Vendors were telling me that that most of their kale selection was sold out! Wow, amazing! You know there's a food revolution in the making when heirloom seeds companies are running out of kale! I've been thinking lately that our region is well positioned to become the kale capital of Canada... it's already happening!
