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Please join us in making Grey Bruce Native Seed Bank a leading supplier of ethical native seed.
A Grey Bruce Native Seed Bank Update!
This group has been humming along. Over this year, the Grey Highlands Community Fund gave GBNSB some much needed funds for 2025! A larger grant from Carolinian Canada Coalition is coming down the pipes (for 2026), and finally Bass Pro Shop gave us a nice grant as well (for 2026). Wow a great year for much needed funds for this not-for-profit.
The Community Fund grant (Grey Highlands municipality) was especially important, as they paid for weed suppression for the 1/4 acre of rows... this was the majority of the grant. This next year's funds will also help with marketing, and inviting more like-minded groups to get involved, as part of multi-group style engagement, mostly at the GBNSB Duncan Seed Orchard. Stay tuned for more info on that team style engagement plan.
Although separate from Ontario Flora (OF does not profit from this), OF is supporting the ventures of GBNSB seed packs and bags of seed for sale on its Not-for-Profit Page, here https://www.ontarioflora.ca/non-profit-projects/
Seed available:
- Wild Calamint
- Gray Goldenrod
- Upland White Goldenrod
- New England Aster
- Large-leaved Aster
- Heath Aster
- Grass-leaved Goldenrod
GBNSB's new website is coming soon, where you will also see all the seed for sale! For the latest news, check our FB page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091497189713
If you're out and about and interested in buying GBNSB seed packs in person, they are being sold at Kimberley General Store, Kimberley; Top O' The Rock, Eugenia; Sideroad Farm, Walter's Falls; The Keep Refillery, Meaford, and at the Owen Sound Artist's Coop...Thanks to these businesses for their support!
What a great feeling to get this group's seed out for sale, in small steps, in 2025! Looking forward to bigger steps in 2026!
About Grey Bruce Native Seed Bank:
- A community-led nonprofit group passionate about restoring local landscapes with native seeds.
- We provide source-identified, genetically diverse seeds for ecosystem restoration, rewilding, and native gardens for a more climate resilient future.
- Our mission is to sustainably collect, grow, and process native seeds for local restoration projects. This ensures a reliable supply of high-quality seeds for restoration initiatives throughout Grey and Bruce counties
To achieve this mission, we seek your support in acquiring essential equipment and supplies. These resources will be crucial for various stages of our seed production process:
- Seed collection and management: Collection bags, totes, seed trays, perlite, soil mix, and other materials will support effective seed collection, management, and nurturing.
- Field preparation and planting: Tools such as hoes, rakes, tractor implements (plough and seed drill or broadcaster) will facilitate land preparation for seed planting and cultivation.
- Cultivation and processing: We require specialized equipment like irrigation systems (water tanks, hoses, pumps, sprinkler heads) and harvesting machinery (tractor, minicombine) to efficiently gather and process the seeds.
Donations will directly contribute to the acquisition of these essential resources, enabling us to fulfill our mission of promoting native species restoration for ecodistricts in our area. We encourage you to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for further updates and engagement.
GBNSB Directors:
Claire Ellenwood
Charly Baxter
Rob Spackman
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March 2024
We have been busy with volunteers 'frost seeding' the Duncan seed orchard location, under the expert guidance and watchful eye of native landscape planner, Claire Ellenwood of Ontario Flora. Thank you to the Bruce Trail Conservancy for granting us the use of 10 acres for our seed bank. This year we plan to grow seed on 4 acres to get us started and iron out any wrinkles along the way.
Our biggest need right now is setting up an irrigation system, for which we need up to 10 x 1000 litre totes at $75 - 100 each, plus plumbing hardware (hoses, spigots, etc.).
