CHICAGO (AP) — The Jane Addams-Hull House Museum in Chicago is expanding its urban farming initiatives with a public heirloom seed library.
The University of Illinois at Chicago's museum will
be relying on a $15,000 federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library
Services to open the library.
Urban farmers and gardeners will be able to get
free, regionally adapted sees if they agree to grow them and return some seeds
from the next generation of plants at the end of the season.
Museum director Lisa Lee says a seed library can
foster sustainable food systems throughout Chicago.
The museum is a memorial to social reformer Jane
Addams, the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. It's located
in two of the original settlement house buildings on Chicago's West Side.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
