The last time I tried to grow a plant, I failed. I thought I had everything I needed — soil, water, sunlight, but the few sprouts I managed withered pretty quickly. I found out later that I had essentially drowned the little things. Whoops.

But you can start things off right by attending A Celebration of Seeds: 5th Annual Seed and Plant Swap, this Saturday at the Carnegie Library in Oakland. If you’re a newcomer to gardening, start with the Seed Starting Workshop, at 11:30 a.m. This is where you’ll learn not to drown your plants. You’ll also get to talk to gardening experts who can help you fine-tune your ideas about an indoor or backyard garden.

At 12:30 p.m., learn how and why to save your own seeds for your next crop at the Seed Saving Workshop. At 1:30 p.m., they’ll have Seed Stories, where you can swap garden tales and best practices with other green-thumbed types. Bringing extra commercial or saved seeds (open-pollinated, non-GMO, non-hybrid seed) for swapping is encouraged.

All day long there’ll be plenty of hands-on activities for the kids to get in the gardening spirit, too. And the library will have a collection of free and fresh seeds to start you off with. In a couple of months you’ll be growing your own veggies or herbs and shaving money off your trips to Giant Eagle.

Held in collaboration with Grow Pittsburgh and Phipps Conservatory, the free event takes place Sat., Feb. 25, from 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. at CLP-Main, 4400 Forbes Ave., in Oakland.