Cristina Gomez, 6, gazed up at a jar of hundreds of seeds Saturday and guessed how many the jar contained.
“Five,” Cristina said.
About 40 people, most of whom were children, attended the fourth biannual Old Florida Seed and Story Swap at Morningside Nature Center, located at 3540 E. University Ave., at 10 a.m. Working Foods, also known as Forage Farm, identified and provided information about the seeds participants brought to the exchange, said Bricky Way, the Living History Farm manager.
Way said the event hosted by the City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs department was meant to educate attendees about conservation and home gardening as well as protect and encourage the dispersion of heritage seeds, which are at least five years old and non-invasive.
Six microscopes displayed seeds including lily, rose and sunflower seeds. Experts explained what to look for when examining a seed and how to identify seeds.
The exchange coincided with the weekly Living History Farm. Volunteers at the farm told stories about agricultural life in the 1870s.
The farm has cows, goats, sheep, hogs and roosters. Eva Baley, 8, said she and her 3-year-old brother, Chris, have visited the center 17 times. She said she liked the cow and ram. This was the first time Eva attended the seed exchange.
“I want to get a ton of sunflower seeds and eat half of them,” she said.
