About the Seed Library

The Hamilton Seed Library is an initiative started by the Hamilton community and maintained by Green Venture that serves as a hub for sharing, borrowing, and donating seeds at no cost. We encourage those interested in gardening to visit a Hamilton Seed Library location to browse a free selection of seeds for planting!

How It Works

Locate a seed library near you
Select seeds you would like to grow
Save your seeds and share some back to the seed library at harvest time, so we can keep the cycle going next season

The Hamilton Seed Library depends on seed donations from you! Please drop your collected seeds (labeled with the name of the seed, variety and any other helpful information) to our seed donation box at EcoHouse or contact us at garden@greenventure.ca to schedule a pick up.

Hamilton Seed Library Locations

EcoHouse Seed Library

Location

Location: EcoHouse 22 Veevers Drive, Hamilton, ON L8K 5P7

About this seed library

The Little Seed Library at EcoHouse was created in the spring of 2020 by local carpenter and writer, John Terpstra, and painted by Mary Luciani, founder of the Pale Blue Dot. When the pandemic required that we close EcoHouse and access to the Hamilton Seed Library, normally housed indoors at EcoHouse, we wanted to find a way to support contact-free seed sharing outdoors. The Little Seed Library is accessible from the driveway off of Ambrose Drive and is located right in front of the Green Venture Community Garden gate. The library is stocked by volunteers in 3 seasons with seeds that are donated by the community to Green Venture. We welcome donations of seeds at this location as well

Jackson Playground Little Library

Location:

439 Jackson St W. Hamilton ON L8P 1N

About this little library:

We built the Mabel’s Labels Little Free Library when we adopted Jackson Playground – a park in our community and steps from our headquarters. While we have customers all over the world, our local community and Hamilton roots are very important to us. We love getting out of the office to clean up the park, stock the Little Library and encouraging literacy and play in our hometown.

Little Library

Location:

43 Kensington Ave. N. Hamilton ON L8L 7N1 Hamilton ON L8L 7N1

About this little library:

The little library was made about 5 years ago by my dad. My daughter was an infant at the time, but her grandfather said if she wanted a library she’d have a library.

Little Library on Wexford Ave

Location:

91 Wexford Ave South Hamilton ON L8K2N7

About this little library:

Our little free library has been in use for a least 5 years. I saw the idea on line many moons ago and thought it was a wonderful way to get involved in the community, encourage reading and support the idea of reduce/reuse/recycle. I contacted the Hamilton spectator and for a small donation they kindly delivered one of their newspaper boxes no longer in use…the perfect library receptacle! my mother and I cleaned, painted and prepped it for use. and the rest is history! It makes my heart smile every time I see someone come up to our little library to check out our book…and now our seed…collection!

Little Library on London Street

Location:

75 London St. N. Hamilton ON L8H4B4

About the little library

We set up our library in 2014 to give the kids in our neighborhood better access to books. We added a roof and some outdoor paint to a cabinet we found on the side of the road, filled it with books, and off it went. The community has been amazing at keeping the library stocked, and it’s always full of reading materials for all ages! We’ve turned our front garden into a pollinator paradise and have veggie beds in the back, and we’d love to help facilitate the more of the same in our neighbourhood.

Cannon Street Little Library

Location:

516 Cannon St E, Hamilton, ON L8L 2E7

About this little library:

The Cannon Street little free library was built by students of the Hamilton District Christian High School and has been in place since June 2018. The inclusion of seeds, seedlings, and full grown plants is a more recent addition to the usual selection of books and magazines, but fits perfectly with the library’s most treasured feature: the rooftop flowerbed, nicknamed ‘The Garden of Reading’.

Somerset Park

Location: 256 Lloyminn Ave, Ancaster On L9G 1J1

About the little Library:

The Net Youth Engagement program worked to create a Free Little Library Book Box in partnership with Ancaster Rotary Centre. The project took longer then expected due to the recent pandemic but was back underway in summer 2021. Youth and Rotary members built the box with donated supplies then spent time painting it. Thanks to the City of Hamilton the library was installed in October 2021 and now being enjoyed by the Ancaster community. Our Net members take turns checking up on the library and adding donated books to keep it filled. Its been a great way to keep youth engaged and offered many volunteer hours.

Barton Public Library

Location: 571 Barton St. E, Hamilton ON, L8L 2Z4

repurposed library cataloger on tip of book shelf

Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9-7

Friday 9-6

Saturday 9-5

About the little Library:

This little seed library was started in the Summer of 2022. You’ll find this little library inside the Barton Branch of the Hamilton Public Library, the seeds are housed in a vintage card catalogue rescued from the vaults of the Local History and Archives Department. The library includes seeds generously provided by Green Venture, donated by dedicated seed-savers in our community, and seeds collected from our own pollinator gardens located along Barton Street. In tandem with the seed library we have garden related programming, and a rotating display of garden related books that you can borrow with your HPL card!

Donating Seeds

What types of seed can be donated?

Most seeds are great! You can donate your own locally saved seed, or commercially grown seeds you are ready to part with. We ask that no invasive plant seeds or hybrid seeds are included. Please clean your seeds – remove any chaff, flower bits and stems.

How seed should be labelled and packaged

All seeds should be labelled clearly and with as much information as possible including: common name, variety, year the seeds were collected, where the seeds were collected and who grew them, and any extra information you wish to include about what makes the variety unique and tips for growing.

Don’t have seeds to share? No worries!

You can still participate. Donating seeds is not required. Consider donating to support Hamilton Seed Libraries.

Checking Out Seeds

Scan the QR code above or click the link HERE

Requesting Seeds

Available Seeds

Seeds are generally available seasonally in the spring and fall. Our selection will dwindle as the seeds are lent out. So get your requests in and start growing.

View the Hamilton Seed Library Catalog HERE.

Requesting Seeds

Select up to 10 seed varieties you would like to request. Some species go very quickly, and we have a limited amount collected. To make sure you get some of your preferred seeds, you may request up to 10 seed varieties but we can only fill the first 5 available.

Fill out the form HERE to get your seed request process started.

Questions or concerns contact garden@greenventure.ca

Volunteer

We are looking for volunteers to contribute to local biodiversity and food security by supporting the Hamilton Seed Library. The Hamilton Seed Library aims to empower our community to become more self-reliant, develop and cultivate sustainable gardening practices and increase accessibility to locally grown and nutritious produce.

Volunteers will be tasked with sorting and packing a variety of seeds and delivering them to various locations across Hamilton. Sorting and packing tasks can be done at home at any time you find convenient. If delivering seeds to seed libraries, volunteers will be required to follow COVID safety procedures, such as handling items with clean hands, wearing a mask, and keeping distance from others sharing the space.

What is in store for Hamilton Seedy Saturday 2022?
January 13, 2022

The Garden in Fall p3, Collecting and Growing Milkweed
November 3, 2021

Late Summer Gardening: What to Plant in July
July 18, 2020

Hamilton Seed Library: The How-To Guide
July 3, 2020