Episode Details

A much-expanded edition of Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t is coming this summer. For sneak peeks and updates, and to be the first to know when it’s available, click here.
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Where have all the newspaper boxes gone?

If you’re in western Pennsylvania, don’t be surprised if you find a dark green newspaper box with a sign in the window that says “Doug’s Free Seed Shack.“

Pittsburgh garden expert Doug Oster, a newspaper industry veteran, is using old newspaper boxes to get seeds to as many people as possible. He wants more people to garden. And he wants vegetable seeds easily available in communities where access to fresh produce is limited.

Having seen pictures online of seed-library boxes, he thought about doing something similar in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

Oster, who jokes about not being handy, decided building boxes wasn’t his thing. Instead, he repurposed old newspaper boxes. All it took was spray paint and a trip to the print shop for signs.

After the first summer of the project, Oster says he’s pleased with the results. The seeds are getting into the community. He’s getting good feedback. And people are asking if they can share seeds in the boxes, which is exactly what he wants. He wants the seed shacks to be like a library, where people can take seeds—but can also return seeds if they wish.

 A much-expanded edition of Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t is coming this summer. For sneak peeks and updates, and to be the first to know when it’s available, click here.