Say the word “library,” and your word association is likely “books.” But across the country, including in San Diego, many libraries also lend other important items, including seeds for home gardens.

Many of these “seed libraries“ aren’t actually conventional libraries: They may be a service organized by neighborhoods, schools or other kinds of organizations. The common factor is that they are all a free community resource that offers locals the opportunity to grow everything from fruits and vegetables to flowers and native plants. All they ask is that patrons return the “borrowed” seeds by way of harvesting new seeds from the grown plants.

In my latest story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home & Garden section, I explore the variety of seed libraries popping up across San Diego County—in public libraries, water districts, and Indian reservations. Kids and adults alike are learning how to grow plants and save seeds. It’s a community mission anyone can participate in.