Seed Library & Green Thumb Exchange
Grow with us! Let the Fond du Lac Public Library add a little greenery into your life.
Learn more about each option below.
What is the Fond du Lac Public Library Seed Library?
The Seed Library is a resource for the Fond du Lac community to connect library users with seeds that can provide free, fresh produce, herbs, and flowers. It is supported by local donations and a small seed budget. Please take what you are planning to plant and be sure to check out with your selections at our check out desk. We look forward to hearing how it grows!
- Choose up to 7 FREE seed packets according to the container or space & sunlight you have to grow them
- Take your selection to the Checkout Desk. Use your FDLPL card to “check out” your seeds
- Take them home and enjoy! Read the seed label for growing instructions
- Start your seeds indoors or plant directly in soil according to your packet instructions.
- When they grow, share photos with us on our social media channels: Facebook @FDLPL and Instagram @fondylibrary
The library believes in connecting the community with resources that can enrich their lives, including books and equipment that are educational, entertaining, or vital to an improved quality of life. The new Seed Library will enable Fond du Lac residents to gain the joy and healthy produce a garden provides with fewer barriers to starting it.
The Fond du Lac Public Library is not yet accepting donated seeds for the seed library. If you wish to support the concept monitarily, the library accepts credit cards and PayPal online. We greatly appreciate any monetary gifts you may consider!
What is the Fond du Lac Public Library Green Thumb Exchange?
Do you have a “Green Thumb” or want to develop one? Then you are ready to participate in The Green Thumb Exchange! The Fond du Lac Public Library is excited to offer a household plant swap and propagation station. Donate, swap, and adopt rooted household plants.
- Bring a (preferably) rooted houseplant cutting from home in water only; no soil or potted plants.
- Place it in one of our jars at the station that is filled with water. Please use the available notecards to indicate the plant name and brief care instructions. Use a magnet to place the notecard in front of the jar.
- Enter the date and plant type into the Inventory Sheet. If you bring in multiple clippings of the same plant, please indicate the number.
- Select a new cutting from the station, leaving the jar here for future cuttings. Wet a paper towel using the spray bottle and wrap your clipping with it. Then place it in a plastic bag for taking home.
- We have a limit of 1 per family per visit while we build our inventory. Please take your new clippings to the Check Out Desk as your final step!
- A plant cutting is a section of a plant, either snipped from the root, stem, or leaf, that is capable of growing into a new plant. If you’re not sure the best way to take a cutting from a plant, Google “how to propagate [insert type of plant] from cuttings.”
- Some plants can grow roots directly from leaves, or sprout “babies” that can be easily separated (like a spider plant); for others, you may need to cut below a “node,” which is a small growth area, usually below where a leaf meets the stem. Some easy plants to propagate include pothos, hoyas, philodendrons, string of pearls, and snake plants.
- When making a cutting, use clean scissors or a knife to prevent giving your plant any diseases.
- Wrap your cutting in a wet paper towel and gently place it in a plastic bag or container so it doesn’t dry out during transport.