A cabinet of labelled seed envelopes on a roof above E. Lopez Street. Anyone can borrow. Grow what you take, let a few plants go to seed, and bring some back so the next person has something to plant.
Current catalogue
No. 014
Okra, Smooth Green
Abelmoschus esculentus
Sow
Any month, full sun
Days
About fifty to first pods
Source
Returned by a grower in Mandurriao
Available
No. 022
Sitaw, Long Pod
Vigna unguiculata
Sow
Start of rains, trellis
Days
Sixty to harvest
Source
Original stock, kept since the library opened
Available
No. 031
Ampalaya, Native Small
Momordica charantia
Sow
Sun, climbing
Days
Seventy
Source
Returned from La Paz
All borrowed
No. 040
Kangkong, Upland
Ipomoea aquatica
Sow
Moist bed, part shade fine
Days
Cut at four weeks
Source
Original stock
Available
No. 047
Upo, Long Gourd
Lagenaria siceraria
Sow
Needs space and a strong trellis
Days
Eighty
Source
Returned by a school garden in Jaro
Available
No. 053
Marigold, Tall Orange
Tagetes erecta
Sow
Sun, any soil
Days
Flowers by week eight
Source
Returned, grown beside tomatoes
Available
No. 058
Sunflower, Dwarf
Helianthus annuus
Sow
Full sun, pots are fine
Days
Sixty to bloom
Source
Donated envelope, unknown grower
All borrowed
No. 061
Basil, Thai
Ocimum basilicum
Sow
Sun, pinch the tips
Days
Leaves from week five
Source
Saved on the roof
Available
How to borrow
Two envelopes per person per visit. Write your barangay in the ledger, no other details needed.
Grow them. Let two or three plants flower and dry on the stem.
Bring seed back in any paper envelope with the catalogue number and the month you harvested.
No hybrids, please. They do not come back true and the next grower gets a surprise.
If it failed, come back anyway and tell us what happened. That goes in the ledger too.
Return ledger
Month
Catalogue
From
Note
September
No. 014 Okra
Mandurriao
Heavy pods, saved from the tallest plant
September
No. 053 Marigold
Jaro
Grown in a tyre planter, flowered well
August
No. 031 Ampalaya
La Paz
Bitter as it should be
August
No. 047 Upo
Jaro
School garden, trellis on the fence
July
No. 022 Sitaw
Molo
Half the envelope came back, rest eaten
Visiting
The cabinet is on the roof above the hardware shop on E. Lopez Street, two doors from the plaza side of the church. Saturdays, eight to half past eleven in the morning. The stairway beside the shop is painted green; ring the bell at the gate.