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Kaleigh Koss, 12, of Sweet Valley, reads to her grandfather Jim Faye of Nanticoke the planting instructions for cucumber seeds.

Master Gardener Bill Height stands behind his table ready to answer questions about different spring planting techniques.

Linda Faye and Christina Novak of Nanticoke pick up literature on gardening after the seed swap. A

Ian Cote of Nanticoke listens to Master Gardener Bill Height speak about spring plants.

NANTICOKE —About a dozen people showed up armed with plastic baggies, jars, pill containers and packets filled with seeds for flowers, vegetables and herbs.

They left the seed swap and gardening event, held at the Mill Memorial Library in Nanticoke, with even more seeds and a shared knowledge of gardening ready for another season of planting.

The event was the brainchild of Rebecca Seman, who has wonderful memories of gardening with her mother as a child. That’s why the Nanticoke woman wanted to share her love of gardening with other people. Last year, Seman organized the Greater Nanticoke Area Community Garden to help encourage would-be gardeners to either plant for themselves or the community.

The seed swap was born from her research, finding that other communities across the country brought planters together in a similar fashion.

“I just want people to know the fun aspect of this as well,” she said. “I just want to get people planting.”

Erik Thiel of Nanticoke, said he began gardening at the age of 30 after he made a conscious decision to become more aware of the type of food he eats.

“You know, when you’re in your 20s, the kind of junk you put into your body and don’t care,” he said with a laugh.

Now a vegetarian, he eats only organic foods and decided five years ago to plant vegetables as way to feed his family. “Somehow when you grow them yourself, vegetables taste so much better,” Thiel said, admitting that in the beginning a lot of his work was trial and error. “It’s cheaper than buying them in the store and you know what is in them.”

Now that Thiel has gained more expertise in the backyard, he is planning to expand his garden by growing some herbs in addition to potatoes, carrots, onions and beans.

A love of Native American history prompted him to share seeds for anasazi beans that came from New Mexico in 2013.

“It’s cool that there is something like this going on in the community,” Thiel said. “I hope that we can all swap produce later on in the season.”

Linda Faye of Nanticoke called herself a “beginning gardener” and said the best part of her new hobby was that her whole family, including grandchildren, could get involved. That’s why her husband gave her a larger sized garden in the yard for Christmas this year, she said.

Granddaughter Kaleigh Koss, 12, of Sweet Valley, loves watching the tiny seedlings grow into larger plants when she visits her grandparents. Gesturing with her fingers barely apart, she said she enjoys seeing “something this big” grow into “something this big” as she widened her fingers farther away.

Kaleigh said she enjoys gardening so much that she received a root viewer for Christmas and can’t wait to see the plants as they grow underground.

“It’s fun to garden and I can eat what I grow,” she said. “And you don’t have to go to the store to get it.”

Faye’s family enjoys planting carrots and cucumbers and she uses what she grows throughout the season by making pickles and relish.

She, too, is hoping to become more adventurous in the yard by trying her hand at planting onions and garlic this season.

Master Gardener Bill Height from the Luzerne County Extension provided gardening tips standing alongside a table set up with planters, pots of soil, water. There was also an array of gardening books along with tons of seeds, ranging from watermelons and heirloom tomato packets to a mason pitcher filled with sunflower seeds.

Many of the gardening concerns were regarding chemical free alternatives and how to keep insects and other pests out of their gardens. Height advised gardeners to switch spots in their yard if they always plant the same types of vegetables in the same location.

“Certain plants attract good bugs and bad bugs,” he said. “You want to develop a good habitat for bugs so it’s best to switch it up.”

Greater Nanticoke Area Community Garden has planted flowers in the city’s Patriot’s Square and organized small plots of vegetables and herbs off Market Street near the railroad tracks.

Last year, the group, just four or five members strong, held a Farmers’ Market in July. It proved to be such a success that four days have been added this summer.

Seman was encouraged by the turnout of interested gardeners. “The fact that everyone brought seeds to give out was great,” she said.