Little Seed Libraries


Take a Seed Pack
Leave a Seed Pack
[For planting, pest & other food gardening resources, click here.]
[To donate or order a Little Seed Library, click here.]

Starting in Jacksonville, FL, we’re working to spread Little Seed Libraries across the South. Our first step is to install 14 little seed libraries here in Jacksonville, one in every city council district. (If you'd like to host a Little Seed Library in your front yard or community garden or contribute to the effort in other ways, sign up here.) From there, we'll work on making sure there's one in every county in Florida, and then, we'll partner-up to spread the idea across the entire South.

In January 2021, we were inspired  by a teenage girl scout, Alicia Serrato’s effort to make and send 100 little seed libraries, at least 1 to every state in the nation to spread her love of gardening, and we thought, “That’s about the best idea we’ve come across in years!” Besides aligning perfectly with the essence of our Overalls to grow, savor, & share, we just love how these little seed libraries can...

  1. Provide free seeds to anyone aiming to grow their groceries
  2. Foster community through exchange of seeds and food-growing know-how
  3. Save time and effort by making seed-sourcing that much faster/easier/more-local

Not to mention, it’s just such a brilliant, simple idea!  There’s a little (book) library down the street from our Overalls Farm, and people just get it - without explanation. Some days you take a book. Some days you leave a book. It evens out, and everyone benefits. Back in the world of seeds, how many times have you gotten ready to plant only to realize that you needed to order seeds? Then again, we are regularly awash in too many seeds because we over-ordered and don’t have a way to effectively share them with our community.  But what if we did?

Those "What ifs?" started getting us excited. What if we had these little seed libraries all over Jacksonville? What if we could help encourage the concept throughout Florida? What if we could spread the model across the South? Lord knows our people could use some more homegrown goodness in their diets, and, in order for us to grow more food, folks need access to seeds. What if seeds were no longer a limiting factor in growing your groceries in the South? What if little seed libraries were as common as corner stores and fast food across the region?

We knew growing in that direction would help us sleep well at night, so we got started.

If you'd like to help spread the concept, please take a picture of our little seed library, tag our founder @maninoveralls on social media, volunteer to host a Little Seed Library, or ask us how you can help.

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If you'd like to see behind the curtain on our effort, take a look at our working Google Doc we're using to design, build, and spread Little Libraries across the South. It's rough, a work in progress, but it's helping guide us. We'd love your help to grow & improve the effort.