A newly launched, volunteer-led, mutual aid group in Central MA dedicated to connecting community members, organizations, local gardeners, and businesses to promote food & native plant seed sharing, gardening education, and resources, and establishing a network of free seed libraries.

Mission

Central MA Seed Hub is a volunteer-led, mutual aid group committed to fostering sustainability, inclusivity, and community resilience through seed sharing and gardening. By providing open access seed libraries, gardening knowledge, and resources, we hope to encourage individuals and families to grow their own food, nurture biodiversity, and reconnect with nature and their neighbors. Our aim is to collectively help reduce food insecurity, support local growers, and create a mutual aid network.

*please note that the hub is managed by a very small team (one main person) and lovely dedicated community members that volunteer their time to helping make the seed hub a reality. We run off of seed donations and word of mouth. Our responses may be delayed at times and we do not always have seeds on hand but we try our best to be as responsive as possible and help where we can :)

Seed Donations, Sorting & Distribution

We partner with local businesses and community centers to host seed sorting drop-in hours, where volunteers help package and label a variety of donated seeds into envelopes. These packaged seeds are then distributed to local free seed libraries and families.

Education & Outreach

Through collaborations with businesses, non-profits, libraries and community members, we offer and promote educational resources and classes on sustainable gardening, seed saving, native plants & more...

Create a Free Seed Library Network

Create a network of free seed libraries that will serve as a place to exchange native and food seeds, gardening resources & educational materials. Additionally, we help supply established local seed libraries.

Get in Touch

Contact Shannon at: centralmaseedhub@gmail.com

How to Get Involved:

Currently, we are collecting donations for fall/winter planting (native plant seeds). We are also collecting seeds for spring planting.

If you are interested in participating in events to share seeds, resources and info about the seed hub, please email us! That is always a huge need.

Additionally, if you are a local business or organization and you are interested in establishing a seed library or hosting meetups, please send us an email. We are looking to collaborate with community partners!

Below are some ways you can help as an individual, neighborhood, local business / center, etc.…

I have some extra seeds I would like to donate!

Nice! You can donate seeds by emailing centralmaseedhub@gmail.com. In your email you please list the types of seeds, quantity and your contact information. You can also donate your seeds directly to one of our existing libraries as well: BCAW - 78 Burncoat St. Worcester, Massachusetts or Auburn Public Library: 369 Southbridge St, Auburn, MA

Please review seed donation guidelines/considerations here.

I am interested in establishing a free seed library in my neighborhood!

Heck yeah! That is great news. Please review the considerations about establishing and maintaining a free seed library in your neighborhood here.

If you have already established or create a seed library in your neighborhood, please email us (centralmaseedhub@gmail.com) and let us know and we can drop off some seeds to get you started and add you to the list of local seed libraries!

I am interested in establishing a free seed library at my business / school / community center!

Amazing! We would love to hear from you and see how we can collaborate to distribute seeds and share education/resources. We are looking for outdoor seed libraries, smaller indoor pick-up locations/libraries, and temporary pick-up locations during peak distribution times. Please review considerations here & fill out this form if you are interested.

Classes / Resources:

Do you offer affordable classes or workshops about gardening, native plants, growing from seed, seed saving, etc.…? Do you know about great gardening resources / educational materials? We would love to hear from you! We want to create a supportive network where we can share gardening knowledge and resources.

Please email (centralmaseedhub@gmail.com) with any upcoming classes or events you would like us to share or with any proposals / ideas for collaboration.

Upcoming Events:

We would like to offer a special thank you to the Cooperative Gardens Commission (CGC) (https://www.coopgardens.org).

The CGC was founded in March 2020 and is a grassroots collective working towards food sovereignty in response to the pandemic and persistent injustice. The CGC is composed of hundreds of volunteers from across the United States and Canada working as a collective to facilitate sharing of resources — including seeds, soil, equipment, labor, land, and knowledge — and build solidarity across traditional divides.

One of their major initiatives is providing free bulk food seeds to Seed Distribution Hubs. We were lucky enough to be accepted as a seed hub for 2025 & 2026. This generous donation of seeds will serve as a great launching point to create the Central MA Seed Hub.

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