Gratitude and reciprocity are the currency of a gift economy, and they have the remarkable property of multiplying with every exchange, their energy concentrating as they pass from hand to hand, a truly renewable resource … The good that is served is community.
–Robin Wall Kimmerer

Support our local seed exchanges for 2025

Seeds, gratitude, and reciprocity are the renewable resources —the currencies— at the heart of our mission. When you share your seeds, cash, and time, you serve a growing community of local seed keepers, and make room for others to learn and grow.

Help us achieve our mission to grow, save, and share locally adapted, organic seeds to benefit the people of Napa County. Donate to this important community project so it can thrive!

The Napa County Seed Library is a 501(c)(3) private foundation. FEIN 85-0755714. Your contributions are tax deductible. 

Anne brings homegrown showy milkweed pods to Lavender at the St. Helena Farmers Market.

The Napa County Seed Library is led by a mother and daughter of African-American, Indigenous, and Russian-Jewish heritage, powered by a group of enthusiastic and dedicated seed keepers and volunteers.

Your saved seeds, extra dollars, and abundant energy support our seed exchanges, increase plant and habitat biodiversity, and strengthens our community.

Our vision is to practice and teach ethical seed saving skills to new and experienced gardeners. Our efforts will increase the diversity of adapted seeds that celebrates our cultural heritage and resiliency. Through seedkeeping, we invigorate well-being, local food, and regenerative habitat into our community.

Seed is the foundation of food.

A healthy, local food system begins with a resilient, regenerative, locally adapted seed system. Through our mission we aim to do just that—create a collection of locally adapted organic seed through a local seed saving effort—to benefit the people of Napa County. Seed saving is not new, it is a time-honored tradition that farmers practiced to be frugal and to pair with nature’s biological intelligence to ensure nutrient-dense food supplies for the long term. The key to strengthening our food security is through local seed saving. Join our mission to generate food, beauty, medicine, and locally derived plant biodiversity for all. Diversity is the engine of evolvement and adapted seeds help to ensure resiliency even as a changing climate threatens our natural resources and well-being. Jon Jandai describes our current food crisis, threatened by the effects of climate change, simply and profoundly in this video. Please take a few moments to listen.

Give to sustain a truly renewable resource.

Lauren helps young gardeners to choose from a selection of locally grown dye plants to grow in their own garden at Earth Day Napa 2023.

Give cash. Your contribution helps to purchase envelopes, labels, containers, storage cabinets and chest freezers, lumber, and hardware. All are needed to keep our seed inventories secure and viable, and contribute to building more seed libraries in our needed areas in our community.

Volunteer. Table with us at our events to bring exchanges of seeds, garden knowledge, and lots of smiles. When you give from the heart, everything you do creates an amazing, inspiring experience for others – you won’t regret it!

Donate organic seeds. We ask for donations of organically grown and untreated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds to increase the number of healthy varieties in our annexes. We prioritize for locally adapted seeds saved by skilled gardeners and farmers. We also appreciate seeds from ethical seed companies.