NATIVE SEED LIBRARIES
Made possible thanks to the support of
San Dieguito County Park, County of San Diego - sdparks.org
Solana Beach Eco Rotary Club - sbeco.org
San Diego Bird Alliance - sandiegobirdalliance.org
The Little Buzzing Seed Library
Address: San Dieguito County Park, 1628 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Del Mar, CA, underneath the Ficus tree near the Ranger station.
GPS coordinates:
The Reader Seed Library
Address: 15936 El Camino Real, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 (Butterfly Garden area)
GPS coordinates:
Map
Both libraries are within the limits of San Dieguito County Park and are open during park hours.
Welcome to the Seed Libraries!
The Seed Libraries are a community-powered resource dedicated to sharing California native seeds freely with our neighbors. Located in San Dieguito County Park, these seed libraries exist to help restore local biodiversity, support pollinators, and connect people with the native plants that have thrived in our region for thousands of years.
Whether you're an experienced native plant gardener or just beginning your journey, we invite you to take seeds, grow them, and—when your plants mature—return seeds to share with others. Every packet you take home represents a small act of environmental stewardship and community connection.
This libraries thrive thanks to our dedicated volunteers who collect, clean, package, and maintain our collection. Together, we're creating pollinator habitat, conserving native plant genetics, and building a more resilient local ecosystem—one seed at a time.
How the seed libraries work
The Seed Libraries operate on a simple cycle of sharing and reciprocity. Browse our collection and take a few seed packets that interest you. For guidance on growing your selected seeds, visit www.calscape.org to find detailed care instructions, water needs, and planting tips specific to each native species. Once your plants mature and produce seeds, we invite you to harvest some and return them to the library. Simply place the collected seeds in an envelope labeled with the common name, Latin name (if known), the date of collection, and the approximate area where they were harvested. By returning seeds, you help replenish our collection and enable others to grow these important native plants, creating a sustainable community resource that grows stronger with each season.
For more information on how you can contribute, please visit the San Diego Bird Alliance Native Seed Libraries webpage.
Seed Library Stock
The seed libraries are restocked regularly. However, due to their popularity, we have more demand than supply. Please visit again and remember to bring your seeds back to share with the community. See the section above to read about how the seed library works.
Seasonal highlights and planting reminders
Winter and Spring (December to May depending on your location) are the seasons to start seedlings or sowing directly in the ground. Most likely, the rain has come in winter and flowers are starting to sprout. Many native plants will come to life at the first rain.
In Summer, most native plants go dormant. The temperature is too hot and the soil is too dry to plant anything. It's a good time to observe your plants and when they go to seeds. You can then plan on harvesting seeds to prepare packets and share.
Fall is the perfect time to prepare the soil and plan for the Spring season. Some plants like to be planted in Fall, before the first rain to get established. Some seeds may require time to germinate or to cool down before they sprout.
Check Calscape.org for plant details, soil information and ideal planting conditions and season.
Get Involved
If you would like to volunteer and help maintain the Little Buzzing Seed Library and/or the Mailbox Seed Library, please contact our Community Service Chair.
Volunteer events may be organized in the near future to help sort out seeds and package them. Check out this page or contact us to be notified.
The Solana Beach Eco Rotary Club participate in monthly service projects at San Dieguito County Park. The range of action goes from park beautification (weeding and tending for existing plants) to creating or enhancing new landscape areas such as a SMRT Garden and anything in between with tree planting, plant trimming, etc. Visit our calendar for dates, times, location and to RSVP.