Seed Library

We provide seeds for vegetables, herbs, LA-county native plants, and flowers. All CSUDH Library users are welcome to freely take seeds from the collection. If you're successful in growing them and able to return some, please do, to help keep our seed library renewable. Our collection helps promote food and climate justice within our community. Adjacent to the seed cabinet you'll find a curated collection of seed and gardening related books.

The CSUDH Seed Library prioritizes heirloom or open-pollinated edible plants that are well-suited to growing conditions in the Los-Angeles Metro Area (USDA Hardiness Zones 9 & 10). We also strive to provide culturally relevant seed types, recognizing the diverse populations and gardening knowledge of our neighbors across the Southern California region and their plant traditions.

Why garden? Why seeds?

• Growing from seed is very cost effective. Imagine how many seeds are in one tomato. Each seed can become a whole plant with dozens more tomatoes, growing your food and seed exponentially.
• You can often grow unique heirloom vegetables and other plants from seeds that aren't readily available in stores.
• Plants naturally remove carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the air and ground
• Gardening has been shown to improve mental wellness
• Gardens support a whole yard ecosystem of beneficial pollinators like insects and birds
• Home gardens reduce food miles or the distance some of your food will travel
• Your garden provides fresh and healthy food for you. Gardeners tend to eat more fruits and veggies too!

The Seed Library guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License by Carolyn Caffrey.