PLEASE NOTE - THIS WORKSHOP HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FROM 2/10 TO 2/28. 

Amirah Mitchell, a horticulturalist who recently crowdfunded + $27,000 in donations to start Sistah Seeds, a black heirloom seed farm, joins us to talk about the importance of seed keeping. This virtual event is free, registration required. 

About this series:
The Providence Seed Library, Providence Community Library, URI Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener Program & Brown University Superfund Research Center have teamed up to bring you a six-part virtual series of workshops about food sovereignty and gardening presented throughout the winter.  These workshops offer the opportunity to gain practical skills for new and experienced gardeners, and will also highlight the leadership of BIPOC farmers and educators in creating a just food system. Workshops will feature topics including urban gardening, seed saving, soil remediation, and food justice. Learn more by clicking here. 

About the partners:
Providence Community Library is composed of nine neighborhood libraries: Rochambeau, Mt. Pleasant, Knigh Memoiral, Fox Point, Smith Hill, Washington Park, South Providence, Olneyville and Wanskuck. It was founded in 2009 by a group of community members dedicated to assuring the continued operation of all nine of our community libraries.  PCL immediately became the largest library system in the state and, in effect, the city's second largest free educational institution after the Providence Public School Department. These essential community hubs provide free and relevant educational and cultural resources and programming for individuals and groups that meet their needs for reading, literacy, lifelong learning, exploration, discovery, and enjoyment. 

The Providence Seed Library is a living collection of open-pollinated, heirloom and culturally resonant seeds sustained by new and experienced gardeners, and housed at participating Providence Community Library locations (Knight Memorial, Mount Pleasant, Rochambeau and Washington Park). 

The Brown University Superfund Research Program is focused on complex environmental contaminant issues in Rhode Island. An academic-government-community partnership model is a key feature of our overall SRP research strategy. Together with our partners we work to expand the understanding of the human health consequences and management of contaminated sites in Rhode Island and other post-industrial states. Our research embraces the complexity of mixed contaminants and their inevitable proximity to dense population centers, and is responsive to the needs of our government and community partners in managing the problems that this causes.

The mission of the URI Master Gardener Program is to educate residents in environmentally-sound gardening practices through the dissemination of factual, research-based information while honoring ancestral practices.  Through the train-the-trainer approach, over 700 volunteers serve as URI Extension Master Gardener educators, amplifying the impact of Cooperative Extension to improve environmental quality and build healthy communities.