Join our seed swap and share your extra seed, go home with something new to try, and get gardening information from Suffolk’s VCE Master Gardener volunteers.
About the Seed Swap:
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Noon – 2:00 pm
North Suffolk Library Lobby
2000 Bennetts Creek Park Rd
Suffolk, VA 23435
Save the date for next year’s
National Seed Swap Day
Saturday, January 30, 2027
Planned 15-minute talks include:
- 12:05: Beginner Seed Saving
- 12:35: Beginner Seed Starting
- 1:05: Amazing Life Cycles of Plants
- 1:35: Soil Health Basics
Planned Educational Booths include:
- Seed Saving
- Worm Composting PLUS you could win a prize if you guess how many worms are in the box!
- Small Space Gardening
- Rain Barrels in the Garden (and learn about spring workshops)
- Raised Bed Gardening
- Amazing Life Cycles of Plants
- Ask a Master Gardener Help Desk
What Seed You can Bring to Swap:
- Pre-packaged commercial seed up to three years old
- Re-packaged commercial seed up to three years old
- Seed you’ve harvested within the last three years and dried
How to Prepare your Seed for the Swap:
Make sure the seed is dry and packaged, ready to swap.
You can use envelopes, clean recycled jars or pill bottles, get creative – find templates online or fold origami envelopes.
Label container with the 1) common name, 2) scientific name if you know it, 3) when you harvested it, and ) your name. You can also add any growing information.
Add about 20 – 30 seeds to each container and close securely.
Watch our Facebook page for more information.
What seed you cannot bring to the swap:
- Any plants on Virginia’s Invasive Species List found at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/invsppdflist.
- Any seeds that are wet, moldy, have been stored in excessive heat, or are older than three years.
If you have any questions, email SuffolkMG@gmail.com, and a VCE Master Gardener volunteer will follow up with you.
Can’t make it to the swap? You can check out up to three packets of seed weekly FREE by visiting the Seed Library at North Suffolk Library.
You can also become a Master Gardener and volunteer for projects like this in the future. We get together every month to package seeds, lead community talks, and replenish the seed library.
Resources
If you can’t make one of our community talks, here are a few publications that can help you:
Virginia’s Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide: Recommended Planting Dates and Amounts to Plant.