Original article published in the Mower County Independent, Thursday, March 5, 2026. Reprinted with permission and gratitude.
By Gretchen Mensink Lovejoy
Magali Disdier Moulder’s mastering a library seeded with hope for great community. Oh, and squash, beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, basil and quite a few flowers to check out.
“I contacted maybe a dozen seed companies, and three donated leftover seeds from last year,” said the Fillmore County Master Gardener, elaborating, “Together with the Spring Val ley Garden Club and the Friends of the Spring Valley Public Library (SVPL), we are organizing for the first time a seed library. In brief, we obtain seed packets that were left un sold last year from the seed companies, and we redistribute them, free of charge, to people in the community.”
Disdier went on, “The Spring Valley library agreed for us to use their facility to house the display and the educational sessions we are organizing at the seed library’s launch on Saturday, March 14 at 10:00 a.m. – there are three sessions, with one on starting seeds ahead of time in the basement, so there will be an educational session on that day about starting seeds, and other educational sessions will be on Tuesday, March 17 about straw bale gardening, and on Wednesday, March 18 about companion plants, both at 5:30 p.m. The Spring Valley Garden Club and the Friends have been wonderful in helping me in put ting together this seed library. People do not need to have a library card to pick seeds out of the seed library. They just need to leave a first name…I am interested in knowing how they heard from us, what interested them in it, what they’re picking, and what they want to see.”
What led to this project is that she is indeed a Master Gardener, someone so curious about how to grow things that she took official courses in gardening through the University of Minnesota Extension Service. “I think I like to grow things. It’s my favorite time of year for me, right at the beginning of spring when the first new leaves are on the trees and you can see the first shoots in the garden…that it’s growing, that it’s there,” she shared, going on to state, “I’m a newbie, really. I became a Mas ter Gardener about five to six years ago…I wanted to do it, and eventually, I jumped in and joined the group.” Fillmore County Extension Officer Katie (Winslow) Drewitz advises the gathering of approximately ten to a dozen Master Gardeners as they strive to learn more about germination, propagating plants, what soils are best for specific plants and what insects are beneficial, among the tenets of gaining knowledge on hearty gardening practices that produce things that are beautiful or good to eat. Disdier continued, “We’re a small group with such nice people. We’re supposed to bring education to the communities, and we’re here if people have questions.”
She determined that her mission as a university-educated gardener is to help others access the seeds that they need to actually start a garden of their own to enjoy the fruits – and vegetables – of their labor, so she decided to establish a seed library in collaboration with SVPL, thankful to the seed companies that donated everything from squash to flowers. “There are a lot of vegetables – beets, radishes, some spinach, peas, beans, squash, tomatoes, pep pers, we have some herbs such as basil. We have quite a few flowers as well, so I think there’s quite a range of seeds. I tried to make what I got into an assortment. I think the flowers will be popular, but I work in the hospital, and when people there ask me (about gardening), I tell them how to grow their own tomato seeds in their kitchen or their basement and see how much better their food is.”
As an immigrant to the United States, Disdier has gained knowledge of plants that she may not have otherwise encountered, making her own experience as a gardener somewhat parallel to that of others who are first venturing into the excitement of opening a seed packet, pouring soil into a pot or digging a hole in the ground and pushing seeds into the earth to see what comes of the effort. She observed that she entirely enjoys vegetables but had to figure out exactly what some were once she relocated across the miles. “I love fruits and vegetables, but some fruits are very strange, and a thing I didn’t know before I came to the States is okra. Now, I’ve learned to grow it and prepare it. We as Master Gardeners are a resource to the people in the community. If people have any questions, they can ask us, and if we don’t know something, we can try to find out, or they can contact the Extension office in Preston. But the library is open, and our seed library and sessions are completely free – they don’t have to pay anything for the seeds or to come to the seed library launch.”
She encouraged anyone who would like to grow a garden, be it in their kitchen or their yard, to take a moment to stop at the library during the seed library’s initiation. “We will keep the sessions to under 30 minutes, and maybe there will be time for questions afterwards if people want to ask. But I hope people come and join us.”
The Spring Valley Public Library, just off Broadway behind First National Bank, is open Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 7:00 p.m., Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more information on the library and its services, stop in or call 507-346-2100.
Courtesy of the Mower County Independent, 135 E Main St. LeRoy, MN 55951, (507)-324-5325
