It’s that time of year again! The Cleveland Seed Bank is teaming up with Tomato Monster Heirlooms for our annual spring plant sale in Old Brooklyn.

Tomato Monster Heirlooms will provide over 50 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes and peppers, all available for pre-order online. The unique part of this collaborative plant sale is that a portion of the proceeds from each plant sold is then donated back to the Cleveland Seed Bank, which makes this plant sale a small fundraiser for our organization.

Starting in February, we will be taking pre-orders for a variety of native plants for sale on our website. We will be growing Swamp Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, Common Milkweed, Anise Hyssop, Purple Coneflower, Wild Bergamot & more!

You might recall that we typically have the plant sale at Coffee Coffee Coffee but due to COVID, we moved the plant sale across the street last year. With both groups growing double the amount of plants compared to last year, it just makes sense to keep the sale outdoors (and still close to the delicious coffee that we love).

Pre-orders for tomatoes and peppers grown by Tomato Monster Heirlooms will open on on their website on February 1st. The Tomato Monster’s are hosting a few plant sales this year so be sure to select the sale on May 15th to benefit the Cleveland Seed Bank. Pre-orders for native plants grown by the Cleveland Seed Bank will also open up online on February 1st. Both groups are bringing extra plants for those that wish to purchase in-person instead of online.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the folks at Tomato Monster Heirlooms or us at the Cleveland Seed Bank! We look forward to seeing all of you in mid-May when spring is in full bloom!

The Green Palette is a seasonal public art project and community engagement program organized by Waterloo Arts with a mission to revitalize the planter beds along Waterloo Road in Collinwood. They are hosting The Green Palette Webinar Series to engage community members on all aspects of gardening.

Participants of the program will acquire skills in horticulture and urban farming, contribute to dialogue around community-informed design of green public space, and transform 20+ planter beds along Waterloo Road into personalized growing plots. The objective of the project is to re-envision the planter beds as sites for community-led creativity to blossom and serve as a model for how we can collectively take action to make positive change in our neighborhoods. The program comprises a monthly webinar series (January to August) and a growing season (roughly May to September) wherein teams of community members led by team leads tend to planter beds with infrastructure support from Waterloo Arts and dedicated consultation from trained community garden mentors. The program is free of cost.

The Cleveland Seed Bank is excited to partner with The Green Palette to offer an Introduction to Seed Saving workshop on Thursday, April 29th from 6:00 to 7:30 pm.

Seed saving is a growing movement which encourages the growing of heirloom and open-pollinated plant varieties in order to save seeds and protect our planet's biodiversity. Join the Cleveland Seed Bank and learn the basic information and techniques you need to start saving your own seeds in this virtual class. No background knowledge is required!

REGISTER HERE: https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/O200afiLsAv5am6JfD8FgA?t=1618936192