Scenic Regional Library in Owensville is taking applications for garden bed registration for cardholders, applications for garden beds stop when they are no longer available for checkout. A seed catalogue is also available for checkout.

One garden bed can be checked out per household, organization or classroom during the growing season. Large and small raised gardens are available.

Library cardholders must be in good standing to obtain a garden bed. If more garden beds become available, a cardholder may check out a second bed.

From March 1 through Nov. 30, the growing season will commence.

Jamie Brieg, the library’s adult programs director, talked about the garden’s progress last year.

“Last year people had really good work,” said Brieg about the 2025 gardens.

Garden beds, soil and supplies were purchased last year with a federal grant from the Department of Social Services through the University of Missouri Extension Family Nutrition Education Program; that grant no longer exists, so the library operates the garden independently.

“A patron came in with a big bundle of carrots,” said Brieg, when asked what she loved most about the program, which was the first year for the garden program.

Owensville is one of only two Scenic Regional locations with a community garden. The other one opened in 2020 and is located at the St. Clair branch.

There are 10 raised beds at the library, but just six are available for checkout.

“It’s a good family activity to do,” said Brieg.

The library encourages grandchildren and grandparents to get involved with the community garden as well as family units.

Gardeners are specifically responsible for the maintenance of their garden bed.

Garden beds that are not maintained, show signs of infestation, are overgrown with weeds or contain trash may result in the library contacting the gardener. The gardener will be given seven days to address the issue. The library will send out another notification if the issue has not been addressed. If the situation is not fixed, the bed will be reassigned, and the gardener will forfeit anything that remains in the bed.

The use of herbicides, insecticides or pesticides on anything in the garden bed is prohibited by the guidelines.

Children under the age of 11 are welcome in the garden but must be accompanied by an adult with the library’s Unattended Child Policy.

Having a garden bed assignment for a year does not mean the garden bed will be available for that gardener the next year.

At the end of the season, dead plants and non-plant materials must be disposed of, and the garden bed must be left neat and tidy. If a gardener does not follow those guidelines, they could lose their gardening privileges for the next growing season.

Garden beds are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Paperwork has to be completed and turned in before a gardener can be assigned to a bed. If more gardeners are concurrently requesting garden beds than beds available, a drawing of eligible gardeners will be conducted to select those interested for the growing season.

The seed catalogue has been available for about six years, according to Brieg.

February seeds of the month are Swiss chard, and in March will be Native Wildflower.

“We have a variety of different seeds and start looking for donations in October,” said Brieg about the seed library.

She said that she encourages gardeners to harvest their seeds at the end of the season and bring them back to the library.

The seed library includes okra, pea, corn, root vegetables, peppers, onions, cabbage, celery, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, beans, cucumbers, melons, tomato, eggplant, pumpkin, squash, gourd, herbs and flowers.

There are guidebooks on how to grow a garden in the same section as the seed catalogue.

The library does have seed borrowing procedures for people who wish to check them out.

If it is their first time borrowing seeds, they will need to fill out a Membership Record in the binder behind the checkout desk.

They put seeds in a yellow envelope and write the name of the recipient, the plant and growth information, all of which is recorded in the binder.

When sharing seeds, growers can consider the size of the seed and the type of plant when deciding how much to borrow. Seeds may be checked out in large, medium, medium-small, and small amounts.

Large seeds, such as peas and beans, are able to be checked out 10-15 seeds per packet; medium seeds are 25 seeds per packet; medium-small seeds are able to include 50 seeds per packet; and small seeds are able to include 100 seeds per packet.

Plants that produce multiple fruits or vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers or beans, include four seeds per packet. Those plants that produce a single fruit or vegetable include 12 seeds per packet.

From 3 to 5 p.m. at the library on March 19, there will be a seed and plant exchange for this year’s gardening. There is a limit of 50 people to attend the event. Interested individuals will have to RSVP by calling the branch at (573) 299-0006, stopping by the branch in-person or registering online.