KALISPELL — It’s the unofficial kickoff for spring in the Flathead Valley as a family-friendly event celebrates gardening, seed saving and sustainable living.
“We just know what grows well in our garden at our house and we just go for our favorites,” said Bigfork resident Jenna Neilson.
Neilson, her son Carter and nephew Bourne had a blast picking out seeds for their garden during the 10th annual Free the Seeds event.
“Yeah, he loves coming usually he doesn’t like to go into town on the weekends, but he was very excited to come, we love planting our garden every year,” said Neilson.
Free the Seeds is put on annually by Flathead non-profit Land to Hand Montana.
Executive Director Gretchen Boyer said 70 volunteers help put on the event giving away more than 16,000 packets of seeds.
“Folks were here at 7:30 a.m. this morning helping us set up, they were here last night, it’s really an event that can’t be put on without a lot of help."
Along with the seed exchange Free the Seeds featured 23 workshops focusing on a diverse range of topics.
Raven Ridge Farm Owner Cassady Daley gave a workshop on setting goals for your garden and knowing the right time to plant.
“I get a lot of questions at farmers markets about gardening tips, so it seemed like the right topic to go into,” said Daley.
Boyer said the sunny spring-like weather was a perfect addition to this year’s Free the Seeds.
“You know we’ve had Free the Seeds where it’s been negative 20, last year it was a snowstorm, today it’s in the 50’s and gorgeous so it’s really feeling like we should be planting seeds in the ground, but we know it’s only our first spring.”
