If there is anything better than a seed swap, it's a seed swap with beer. On February 15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., as part of its Pints 'n' Plants series at the Schlafly Tap Room, Gateway Greening is throwing "a full-on seed swap." Pints 'n' Plants is primarily a lecture series, but they'll dispense with the academics this time and just bring in boxes of seeds to trade. You don't need to pre-register; GG invites anyone with extra seeds, from newbie gardeners who've mayb bought too many seeds and now find themselves with a surplus, to master gardeners who are old hands at saving seeds from their favorite plants, to just show up, grab a beer and then mingle, share ideas with other gardeners, and of course, trade seeds. The Schlafly Tap Room is located at 2100 Locust. If you have any questions, contact GG's Community Development VISTA, Matt Even, at matt@gatewaygreening.org, or call 314-588-9600x29.
Speaking of saving seeds, Gateway Greening's sponsoring a booksigning at Left Bank Books with Diane Ott Whealy, the co-founder of Seed Savers Exchange, on March 2. Whealy's one of the vanguards of the modern heirloom seed movement, and has just published Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver. For more info on that, go here. And if you miss Wednesday's event, take a look at Beth Gellman's post from last winter about how to organize your own seed swap with your friends.