From Peas to Tomatoes, Nearly 700 Seed Packets Pass Through Canmore Library Exchange

Canmore Public Library’s Seed Exchange continued to grow this summer, with organizer Melissa Lambe reporting that more than 400 seed packets were dropped off and about 300 picked up as local gardeners showed particular interest in seeds they could turn into food.

The nearly 700-packet total was up from 668 in 2025. The program launched as a pilot in 2024, making this its third season.

“It grows every year, which is nice,” said Lambe, a library clerk at Canmore Public Library.

The free program allows anyone to take seeds from the library, with no limit on how many packets they can take and no requirement to donate in return. This year’s exchange ran from May 17 to July 31, with seeds donated by Bow Valley Garden Centre and West Coast Seeds.

Lambe said peas, beans and tomatoes were among the varieties people gravitated toward, with edible plants particularly popular.

That mirrors what Bow Valley Garden Centre has been seeing among its customers.

“We sell more veggie and herb seeds than we do flower seeds,” said Christine Belway, co-owner of Bow Valley Garden Centre.

Belway said people are interested in growing their own food despite the Bow Valley’s challenging growing conditions. Wildflower mixes, clover and other seeds that attract pollinators are also popular locally, she said.

The exchange was created with sustainability and food insecurity in mind, Lambe said. When the program launched in 2024, she told the Rocky Mountain Outlook that rising grocery costs and concerns about food security were among the reasons she believed Canmore could benefit from such a program.

The Bow Valley Food Alliance also helped during the first year, joining the Banff Greenhouse Gardening Society for a presentation on gardening, seed saving and food insecurity in the Bow Valley.

After a patron raised concerns last year about seeds that could potentially become invasive if allowed to spread, Lambe said the library began checking donations more carefully and added signage encouraging people to bring in varieties appropriate for the area. The concern centred on a packet of baby’s breath, which was immediately removed.

The library also asks patrons to avoid seeds treated with neonicotinoids, a type of insecticide that can harm pollinators such as bees.

West Coast Seeds, which has supported the exchange for the past two years, donated 50 commercial seed packages in 2026 that were divided into smaller packets for distribution.

Erika Simms, community roots program coordinator with West Coast Seeds, said the company supported more than 100 seed libraries and exchanges during its 2025-26 season.

Lambe would eventually like to turn Canmore’s exchange into a full seed library, where gardeners save seeds from what they grow and return them for future seasons. Cochrane Public Library already operates a seed lending library based on that model.

Storage, cataloguing and staff time remain barriers, however, and Lambe does not expect the exchange to become a full seed library next season. Simms said seed libraries can build a bank of seeds that are more resilient to local growing conditions while introducing greater diversity into gardens.

For Belway, part of the exchange’s value is simply getting people started.

“Once you plant something and see it grow, then you’re hooked,” she said.

Lambe sees newcomers stopping to ask about the exchange, as well as people returning weekly to see what new seeds have appeared. She recalled a girl, about four or five years old, becoming excited when she realized she could take tomato seeds home for free and grow them with her mother.

“It was so sweet,” Lambe said.

She summed up the exchange simply: “Take some seeds, leave some seeds.”