While a local organization helps plant thousands of seeds through its annual swap, it hopes the event helps attendees grow their love of gardening — and plants, of course.
Toledo GROWs held its 21st annual seed swap Saturday at Scott High School, with more than a thousand attendees distributing and trading seeds. The event allows gardeners to bring their own seeds from previous harvests and swap them for new varieties, while new gardeners can get head starts on future crops with free seed packets.
The organization maintains 105 community gardens in Toledo and also provides education to youths and adults. About 1,100 people attend the seed swap each year, and executive director Yvonne Dubielak said it’s an important part of outreach.
“We focus on community gardens especially because it’s about building community, and we also work with a lot of low and moderate-income folks,” she said. “We’re helping people to get back in touch with the source of their food and be able to grow their own food, even if it’s just a little bit to start with.”
Attendees receive five free seed packets but can bring up to 50 packets of their own to swap during the event. Additional seeds were available for 50 cents a packet. During the three-hour event, Mrs. Dubielak said Toledo GROWs will move more than 20,000 seeds.
Melanie McMillan attended the swap and picked out seeds for tomatoes, pumpkins, lettuce, and cabbage, among others.
“We come every year — it’s absolutely fabulous,” she said. “Mostly we grow our own food, like vegetables and things. We divide and conquer: I like tomatoes so I focus on them and she loves pumpkin.”
Other community organizations centered around gardening and agriculture set up tables to exhibit. One of the organizations, Urban Wholistics, gave out seeds by the handful and shared about their organization, which advocates for urban gardens and livestock through education.
Sonia Flunder-McNair, Urban Wholistics’ president and executive director, said teaching people to garden can help smooth food prices’ fluctuations, which can be drastic in response to events. She said the wildfires in California could make fruit more expensive, while bird flu outbreaks already have sent egg prices skyward.
“It’s important because we have to sustain ourselves now more than ever. We are uncertain with how the prices of food will be within the next few years ... so we’re encouraging not only growing your own food — but also maybe get a couple of chickens,” she said with a laugh.
Lines for each seed category snaked around the Scott High School field house, while attendees waited to pick their packets. Mrs. Dubielak says it may look disorderly, but gardeners are “cordial” by nature.
“The staff loves this day because it brings all these people together. I mean, when you get 1,100 people in this field house, it seems like it should be chaos,” she said. “But it’s just fun to be together with people who are excited about getting out and gardening. It’s a good group.”
First Published February 22, 2025, 9:22 p.m.
