Rhonda lives on a 5 acre property, happy to have the space to grow lots of  peppers, melons, tomatoes, corn, learned to garden as a kid in Texas and has adjusted to the climate here, helps Leonie with the seed library in Gibsons

Leonie lives in Langdale on a 1/3 acre. She has taught seed saving workshops for many years and runs the Gibsons Seed Sharing Library with Rhonda. Recently, she has been sharing seed saving knowledge with students, parents and teachers in the Langdale Elementary School food gardens.

I live and garden on a 3 acre piece of land in Roberts Creek and have been gardening here for 35 years. I see seed saving as a gentle and pro active form of activism. I feel we need to regain control of our food and teach our children and grandchildren how to grow, harvest, save seeds, and cook.

Grace lives in ts’ukw’um (Davis Bay) on a 1/4 acre hillside that is facing southwest. - a seed collector and saver for many years and only recently joined this group. I’m interested in sustainable food gardens and am part of a Growing Green movement in the Davis Bay Elementary School. Fond of many aspects of growing, preparing, saving and sharing food.

Growing up with an Italian nanny, caregiver I smelled and ate Italian cooking and played in a wonderful garden that was full of all kinds of fresh produce and the cultivation of seeds! Long live dandelions!

My passion for gardening really took hold of me when I was living in Cardiff, Wales. I acquired an allotment and I loved it. Saving seeds happened many years later, first starting with letting plants go to seed and having volunteers. I always remember my first Seedy Saturday probably in the late 2000s at Roberts Creek Elementary getting volunteer Red Russian starts from Robin Wheeler. A few years later I got purple podded peas from Seedy Saturday and I saved them every few years ever since. I joined the collective in 2019. I restarted the Sechelt Seed Library in Spring of 2020.

experienced a steep learning curve in gardening since moving to a 5 acre property in Roberts Creek. With a supportive and resourceful husband who reused building materials, I am able to grow specialty vegetables year round. Along with raising chickens, pigs and now steers, we are using the readily available resource for more productive soil. There is great pleasure in sharing vegetables and seeds, especially those that are not easily available.

Laura was inspired to change her life path to study & save seeds when Vandana Shiva gave a lecture at the University of Mount Allison in 2012. It was helpful to have a way to direct her activism into practical action. She studied permaculture and got hands on experiencing wwoofing at many farms around the Salish Sea. She learned with Maria Hunter of Dragonfly Farm and Denise Legasse through the Street Side Garden in Sechelt. She got involved in the Transition Town movement with Leonie and became a member of the Sunshine Coast Seed Saving Collective. Laura works with Gaia's Guild as a Permaculture designer and sound ceremonialist. She has worked for the local non-profit for food sovereignty and community resilience, One Straw Society, as community garden coordinator and event organizer. She supports the SCSSC with their website as well as the Seed Exchange. 

Moved to Sechelt in 2013 and love the climate here.  Started volunteering at the Veggie garden in the Botanic Garden in 2014 and learned all about vegetable garden there; this year, I will be the coordinator for the Veggie Garden.  Half of the backyard in our West Sechelt home is allocated to vegetable gardening and we are looking to increase that.  I have a keen interest in seed saving and other sustainable gardening practices.

Maria Hunter has been operating Wilson Creek Blackberry Farm fo over 30 years. She has been seed saving for over 2 decades. 

One of Maria’s best memories of gardening goes back to childhood. She was in the garden with her dad and he handed her a pickling cuke. The fresh taste was so divine!

Watching seeds and their cycles is of particular interest to Maria.

Her advice to beginner gardeners is that seed saving is not that daunting. “It’s easy and fun!”

Maria sells seeds under the label “Dragonfly Seeds”. You can find her seed stand on Saturdays in Davis Bay at the farmer’s market and at annual Seedy Saturdays in Roberts Creek.

An inspiring member who is not presently actively involved, though she is still in spirit and we want to acknowledge her major contributions to the collective

I live in Roberts creek on a couple of acres. I've been a florist for many years and a hobby gardener. I love learning new ways to live with mother nature and how to preserve our future.