Any Other Plant Swaps? Start One?

For anyone in the Portland, Oregon who loves plants and likes to trade or get freebies their is a plant exchange coming your way. Bare-root plants
!st Annual 'Shovel Prune' Plant and Seed Swap
Pleasant Valley Grade School
17625 SE Foster Road
Gresham, OR 97080
date/time----April 19 from 10:00 am to noon

Here is another
Green Elephant Plant Swap 11th year (held 4 times a year)
Victory Garden Vegi-Swap
Saturday June 7, 2013, 10 AM to Noon
Church of the Holy Cross, 11526 162nd Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052-2645
Whether you feel the budget crunch or just want to grow your own delicious healthy food, the vegi-swap is offered so we can exchange and share vegetable seeds and plant starts for our own Beat-the-Economy Victory Gardens. It’s too late for bare root plants but potted trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and tropicals are most welcome. If you are interested in growing your own food, you are not alone.

Don't have a plant exchange in your area? Organize one. . Be care these meetings can be habit forming.

Here are some of the basic steps I have seen, but you can check with other organizers to see what they have done.

Find a location- park or parking lot? Field or pasture? You need to find a park or other area large enough for people to meet and set out their plants.

Set a date and time - most seem to be on Saturdays and from 10-noon

Let interested parties know about the event - Make sure you get at least 10 people to show up.

Advertise with gardening organizations, internet, local paper, churches

Set guide lines. Trade plant for plant? Trade plant for cookies? Freebies?
Know that any remaining plants will have to be removed from the site so you may want to consider this in your guidelines.

 

What a great idea Jewell!

 

Sounds great! I haven't heard of any in my area, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention! I usually have a plant sale after dividing my perennials. I meet some nice people and proceeds go towards new plants.

 

Have not gone to swap in many years. Met some very nice people. Some have been friends for years

 

I have attended a few. I still have a few plants from the last swap that are waiting in their pots. Think I will probably pass them along to coworkers asking for deer proof plants. I really enjoyed the fall plant swap. You definitely meet some plant addicts at plant swaps...myself included