A seedy Saturday afternoon in Brampton

BY SHAUNA-KAY CASSELL

On Saturday, March 9^th, 2019, the City of Brampton and the Brampton Horticultural Society held their annual, Seedy Saturday and Garden Show at the Century Gardens Recreation Centre Auditorium in Brampton, Ontario. Over the last seven years, this public event has been successful in bringing residents and visitors of the Brampton community together all in one auditorium to learn about gardening, to swap or buy seeds, and to build a gardening network. At the Garden show, five seminars were held throughout the day, including: Seed basics, Homesteading, not just for Hippies with cell phones, Vegetable gardening from the ground up, Gardening for birds, butterflies and beyond, and Coyotes and wildlife in Brampton.

“For us, we see it as a community outreach. People come back every year. There is also a KidsZone” says Carole Spraggett, President, Brampton Horticultural Society. “The diversity of the community blends very well. There are a lot of new immigrants who had gardens before and are able to share new seeds.”

Carole took me on a mini-tour passing all the various vendors and stopped at one of the seed swap booths, where I met Judy. “The most talked about seed this year is an Indian crop, called Fenugreek,” says Judy having explained how the seed swap worked. Without any cost, one individual can bring a packet of seeds to exchange it for another packet, which were all neatly on display at the table in front of her. “Individuals bring their seeds in medication bottles, and others bring them in envelopes,” she expressed lifting up an envelope so that I could see the seeds. Some individuals may not have seeds to exchange, so they may make a small donation instead.

Next, I met Jessica Skup, the Community Outreach Coordinator for the City of Brampton. “We started talking about the ideas of a Seedy Saturday in Brampton over eight years ago, when Carole approached me,” expressed Jessica. “Our ideas messed together, and within one year we started organizing the first Seedy Saturday in Brampton,” maintained the Community Outreach Coordinator. “We are promoting people enjoying the outdoors. And It’s for people who love gardening. This combines for a healthy community,” Jessica continued, “Brampton has some amazing green spaces, so we just want to get the word out.”  Last year the event brought in over a thousand individuals, and just as much were expected to attend this year.

Later, at 2 pm that afternoon, I met Amanda from Brampton Animal Services prior to her workshop on coyotes and wildlife in Brampton. She talked about the work that Brampton Animal Services does with pets that come into their care and that anyone from the public who are willing and able to adopt or foster pets should do so. “We are always looking for volunteers as well to take the animals for walks,” expressed Amanda.

The event hosted over 20 vendors which included: Seeds of Diversity, Garden books for sale, Royal Botanical Gardens, City of Brampton, Parks Operation, Cathy’s Sprouters, Backyard Groceries, The Bee Shop, The Urban Lumberjack, Plant Nutrients, Purple Heather, Brampton Animal Services, and so many more. Vendors such as Melissa at the Urban Lumberjack booth was happy about the turnout. It was her first time coming to showcase the amazing woodwork she designed. “I’ve been making artifacts with old pieces of wood for a long time, so much that my house can no longer store them.” That’s when Amanda decided to sell her creative handiwork to the public. More than one vendor expressed that they had sold large qualities of their products. For instance, Annelid Cycle was sold out on all her plant nutrient products.

This year’s Seedy Saturday had a little bit of everything for everyone. With expert vendors selling skin care products, and health food choices, to several seed swapping booths, as well as Brampton Animal Services, which offered a workshop on learning about Brampton’s wildlife, it was hard to get bored. Even the children were enjoying themselves, as they used pine cones and other knick-knacks to make crafts at the KidsZone. The Seedy Saturday certainly provided for an exciting Saturday afternoon in nature, even if it was indoors.