Rooted in Alameda: Free Seed Libraries Celebrate a Record 2025 and Look Toward Spring
by Kristen Smeal and Birgitt Evans
What a truly remarkable year it has been for the Alameda Backyard Growers’ Free Seed Libraries. Thanks to the unwavering support of the ABG Board, our dedicated donors, and our tireless community volunteers, we have just concluded our fifth, and most impactful, season to date.
In 2025, we reached an incredible milestone. Over 17,000 seed packets were packed and distributed across our five library locations. Since our inception at the start of the pandemic, we have watched interest in home gardening transform from a lockdown hobby into a vital community staple. Today, the appetite for local food sovereignty is stronger than ever. From seasonal vegetables to California natives, seeds continue to “fly off the shelves,” keeping our volunteer librarians busy ensuring every box remains stocked.
As the days begin to stretch longer, our focus shifts to the future. With recent challenges to food assistance programs like SNAP, we believe 2026 will be a year of significant need. We are committed to meeting that demand, using the 17,000-packet mark as our baseline for the year ahead.
Libraries are designed to help Alameda gardeners produce significant amounts of food in large or small garden spaces. They are stocked with a full range of vegetable seeds in the season when it is best to plant the seeds. So in February, we will begin with tomatoes, peppers and basil seeds to start indoors in a sunny location or under lights for transplant in March and April. In addition, we will have cool season crops like lettuce, kale, pak choi and peas to start outdoors, either in containers or directly in the ground. And in April, we will stock the libraries with summer crops like cucumbers, beans, zucchini and winter squash. Many of the crops can be grown in containers and trained up poles or allowed to trail over a deck, so everyone should be able to eat from the garden.
Look for all the seed libraries to be open the second week of February and check back monthly to find a curated seasonal selection of vegetables and flowers through the whole year. Each seed packet contains detailed growing instructions for the crop. See our website at ABG Free Seed Libraries – Alameda Backyard Growers for more information, including our Seed Starting 101 video with detailed information on what you need to start your seeds and a planting demonstration and for ways you can contribute to this important community project.
You can find out seed libraries at the following locations:
- 305 Santa Clara Ave. (West End)
- 1125 Morton St. (Central Alameda)
- 1827 St. Charles St. (Central Alameda)
- 2829 San Jose Ave. (East End)
- 16 Cove Rd. (Bay Farm)
Happy seed starting!
