Local Fruit and Veg Swap jump start event

We’re really excited that this Sunday 17 Feb from 9am – 12 noon the ‘Waste Not Fruit and Veg’ swap is on again at the North Wollongong community garden.

We always loved popping along to the monthly fruit and veg swaps. There’s such a surprising variety of garden produce and garden goodies to share and swap –fruit, veg, eggs, seeds, seedlings, cuttings and even gardening magazines and books. It’s great to chat with other gardening enthusiasts about what’s been growing in their gardens too. Plus at this swap there will be yummy coffee and nibbles available and entertainment too!

This swap is a ‘jump start’ event after some ever-so-generous volunteers stepped back from years of volunteering to organise the monthly swap.

It’s such a credit to the people who volunteer their time to make these swaps happen, and to the community garden for hosting the event. At this jump start event there’ll be a discussion about volunteering for the ongoing functioning of the swap – a brilliant volunteering activity to be involved in! For more details check out http://thegardennorthgong.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/waste-not-swap-jump-start-17th-feb-2013.html

Comments

[Kali]

Hi, I am really interested in organising a fruit and veg swap at our local community hall after I read about it on this site earlier. But I have no idea how it works! How do you get people to swap? And how do you work out how much each item is worth? Is there a token system?
If people are standing behind their fruit and veg at the trestle, how can they mill about looking at everyone else's wares?
Sorry if these questions seem inane, but I am very keen to give this a go.
Thanks.
Kali

[Kaz]

Hi Kali, we go to one in Faulconbridge (Blue Mountains) and it is awesome! It's the first one we've ever been involved in, so not sure how others work but can tell you how we do ours.
Everyone gets a hessian bag on which to set up their stuff (which must be either homegrown or homemade) and we aim to have everyone set up by 10am. Then there's 30 minutes for everyone to wander around and see what else people have, and make a bit of a short list of what you want! Then at 10.30 the bells rings and the swap is on!
It's a bit nerve wracking at first, but you basically walk up to someone and say "hey, I'd love some of your eggs. I've got sprouts, cucumbers and tomatoes- would you like any of those?". If they do, we swap. It's up to us to decide how many eggs is fair for, say, 2 tomatoes and a cucumber. I have found that most people will err on the side of generosity ( I once swapped some cookies that someone wanted for a bunch of oregano, even though I didn't really need it, but I could see the person really wanted some of my cookies).

We also have a share wheelbarrow in the middle, where people can just put things they are happy to give away and others can take for free. So often people bring their empty egg cartons and put them in ere, and those who have chickens will take them to put their eggs in, or sometimes people will put gardening magazines in there that they want to pass on to others. Great way to recycle.

Hope that's helpful! You get the hang of it after a few goes. We love food swapping and look forward to it each month! Good luck with organising yours!

[Cath]

There is a guide put out by Friends of the Earth Adelaide about how to http://www.adelaide.foe.org.au/about/the-urban-orchard/ "Communities around Australia are adapting the Urban Orchard concept to meet this unique local needs. Click there to download a do-it-yourself guide based on our own experiences starting a produce exchange, and some things you might like to consider".

They also have a great film of the Adelaide Fruit & Veg Swaps that show them in a variety of settings, like at a community centre and in a park called the "Urban Orchard".

[Cath]

At the North Gong Garden swap all the stuff just goes on the trellis table and people take what they like, so it's a changing sea of stuff as people come and go - generally gardeners are very generous folks and the honour system works well.

[Gavin]

This swap also has the added bonus of beautiful music.
The sweet sounding Ecopella and the gifted Paul Spencer will be performing from 10.30am.
We are hoping that music, as well as advocacy, will become an integrated aspect of this wonderful community gathering.

[Kali]

Thanks everyone, I will take both those ideas to our AGM next week.