Seed Library
Welcome Back Spring by Checking Out the Eight Seed Varieties at the 2023 Seed Library!
The T.B. Scott Free Library will once again be checking out heirloom seeds for FREE to library card holders. Seed varieties for this year include:
- Genovese Basil
- Bouquet Dill
- Tiger’s Eye Bean
- King of the North Pepper
- A & C Pickling Cucumber
- Sunflower Mix
- Outhouse Hollyhock
- Empress of India Nasturtium
The principle behind the seed library is simple: library patrons check out their choice of seeds, enjoy the growing season all summer long, then “return” a portion of the seeds that they collect from their fall harvest so that those seeds can be used for next year’s crop of seed borrowers. Borrowers are free – and encouraged – to keep the bulk of the seeds they collect so as to have them for the next year’s planting. All of the seeds chosen come from the Seed Saver’s Exchange, an Iowa-based non-profit whose goal is to preserve and promote plant diversity in home gardens.
If you prefer curbside pickup, request your seeds by calling 715-536-7191.
Explore the six different varieties of seeds available this year
Empress Bean
A great snap bean for fresh eating, freezing, or processing, the Empress bean offers incredible flavor. The vigorous plants produce heavy yields of large, straight, green, 5-6” stringless pods. Plant in succession for fresh beans throughout the season. Bush habit, snap, 55 days.
Detroit Dark Red Beet
Great for canning and fresh eating, this variety produces round, blood-red, 3″-diameter roots. 60-65 days.
Tom Thumb Pea
At 8″ tall, this aptly named dwarf pea is ideal for container gardening and is very frost-tolerant. Shell, 50-55 days. Peas thrive in cool weather.
Silvery Fir Tree Tomato
Traditional Russian variety with distinctive carrot-like silvery-gray foliage on compact 24″ plants. Heavy crops of round, slightly flattened 3-3½” red fruits. Does well in hanging baskets or on patios. Determinate, 60 days from transplant.
Black Beauty Zucchini Squash
Compact everbearing bush plants are loaded with glossy green-black fruits with firm white flesh. Best eaten when under 8″ long. Excellent variety for freezing. 45-65 days.
Sunflower Mix
A mixture of species and forms!
Produce photos and seed information courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange
Explore the six different varieties of seeds available this year. (Hover over each image for details)
Empress Bean
A great snap bean for fresh eating, freezing, or processing, the Empress bean offers incredible flavor. The vigorous plants produce heavy yields of large, straight, green, 5-6” stringless pods. Plant in succession for fresh beans throughout the season. Bush habit, snap, 55 days.
Detroit Dark Red Beet
Great for canning and fresh eating, this variety produces round, blood-red, 3″-diameter roots. 60-65 days.
Tom Thumb Pea
At 8″ tall, this aptly named dwarf pea is ideal for container gardening and is very frost-tolerant. Shell, 50-55 days. Peas thrive in cool weather.
Silvery Fir Tree Tomato
Traditional Russian variety with distinctive carrot-like silvery-gray foliage on compact 24″ plants. Heavy crops of round, slightly flattened 3-3½” red fruits. Does well in hanging baskets or on patios. Determinate, 60 days from transplant.
Black Beauty Zucchini Squash
Compact everbearing bush plants are loaded with glossy green-black fruits with firm white flesh. Best eaten when under 8″ long. Excellent variety for freezing. 45-65 days.
Sunflower Mix
A mixture of species and forms!
Produce photos and seed information courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange
Recommended Resources Available at Your Library
Container Gardening for the Midwest
by William Aldrich and Don Williamson with Alison Beck and Laura Peters
Instant Container Gardens
by Pamela Crawford
Gardening with Heirloom Seeds
by Lynn Coulter
Vertical Gardening
by Derek Fell
Starting from Seed
by Jack Kramer
T.B. Scott Free Library
106 West First Street
Merrill, WI 54452
Telephone (715) 536 - 7191
Monday: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Tuesday: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Wednesday: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursday: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Friday: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sunday: Closed