The Santa Maria Public Library is giving out free Spring Gardening Kits from April 12 - 17.
This is the fourth time the library’s Adult Services Department is offering the kits, an initiative started in 2020 during the pandemic.
Each one comes with six small pots, soil, plant markers, and seed packets. The kit also includes a live succulent cutting and a bookmark.
Gillian Speicher is a librarian at the Santa Maria Public Library. She says offering this service is one of the library's many efforts to bring locals together during the pandemic.
“We were closed for such a long time but we still wanted to connect with our patrons and still keep them involved in the library,” Speicher said. “So we started to come up with craft kits, the gardening kits, just to engage our community.”
Speicher is an avid gardener and said the succulents in the kits are cut straight from her garden, to add a personal touch.
She said the kits are great for residents on the Central Coast.
“Santa Maria is a large agricultural area, and people just love gardening,” Speicher said. “They love their plants! So I really like to be able to share that with people.”
Speicher said the seed packets have seasonal flowers, vegetables and herbs, so people can grow a variety of different plants.
She said you don’t have to have any gardening experience to get started with the kits, and anyone with questions can call the library for help.
People can pick up a kit at Santa Maria's Main Library and Orcutt Branch from April 12 - 17. The Los Alamos Branch Library is also distributing kits from April 12 - 16.
Anyone 18 and older can sign up to grab a kit from the Main Library through the library’s website or by calling (805) 925-0994. Pickup at the other branches is first come, first served.
