I've got the chocolate eclair and a pineapple casserole. Shannon

We have the entire shelter which has like 4 or 5 large grills around it. And it does have electricity so we are set as far as cooking goes. The bathrooms are very close by with running water if the spigots at the shelter don't work.

I can bring anything. And I will eat everything (as usual)

burp

Thanks John, I wasn't sure about the set up at the big shelter. We've never quite made it there, lol.

Shannon, everyone always looks forward to your chocolate eclair and the pineapple casserole is a fav of my hubbys! Thank you!

Do we really need real food - or should we just focus on sweets???

I'm planning on making a run to either Sam's Club or Lowe's Food right before the swap. I'm thinking fried chicken.

I'll go with what ever every one else wants to do, but real food sounds good.

Chicken always works and I can put the bb's in a crock pot and plug them back in once I get there. Last time we used a cast iron pot on the grill. I'll try to remember to bring an extension cord too, just in case.

Three of us swappers live within walking distance of the park and three grocery stores are within 5 minutes so last minute purchasing should pose no problem.

Epiphyllum -thats the word I forgot in my last post. I am now addicted to Epiphyllum and none of them are even old enough to bloom. I need therapy.

OK, that'll work great for those last minute folks. Thanks.

Cool, a fellow Epi ADDICT! I have one that bloomed last year. Most of mine are still babies though. Do you have the rick rack? I think I can get ya a piece of that one.

Long ago I had the one similar to ric-rac but the leaves look more like fish tails and the whole branch of leaves was much wider.

I was once visiting Houston during the season that epi's bloom and there were places with huge baskets of them in full bloom (in the evening). They did not look real. Some of the color combos they have come up with...

This year I also bought an Easter cactus (similar to Christmas Cactus). Its flowers are also 'alien-life-form' pink, totally un natural. And it has bloomed and bloomed and bloomed. Gotta get some cuttings rooted of it and toss out a few of the X-mas duds.

I think the Kalanchoe will still have some fading flowers on it by swap time. They look like standard "mother of millions" kalanchoes, little star shapes in bright orange/pink. But the stem is long, the flowers make a nice umbrella shape, and each individual flower is a little larger. The plant itself has not grown much.

I don't think I would like to eat Kalanchoe so perhaps I'll bring some Mustard Potato Salad, unless you all are allergic to mustard, then I'll make Plain Ol' Potato Salad. What's the vote?

Have any of you grown mustard for the seed? I do a lot of pickling so a nice pile of organic mustard seed would be nice if it grows well here. I'm not into eating mustard "greens" since I've only been Southern for 11 years in NC and 2 in GA. Not enough time to aquire a taste for it I guess.

So should I bring the Dove's Nest Chili again? I keep seeing it mentioned, but not sure if its a good thing or not.

Tanya

Nancy - I thought the seed came from the same plant. You just wait til it makes little seed pods and harvest them. I don't think it would be hard or even space consuming to grow some. Mustard seeds are essential for good pickles (if my mama taught me anything....)

Yes to anything Chili!

tietie - Your Dove's Nest Chili is surely a good thing. Please bring some to the swap. We think it is wonderful and that is why it is mentioned in so many places on this forum!

I'm probably bringing gazpacho. It's easy to make ahead of time and that's good for me. Soo you there! -Ais.

i'll bring homemade guac & salsa to go with the chips & gazpacho. mmm. i'm getting hungry!

getting off the subject of food-
rootdigger, i have a night blooming cereus that has never bloomed & i've had it for many many many moons(@18 yrs). put it in the basement this yr hoping the cold/dry would stimulate it. nothing so far, but we'll see. could i beg, borrrow or steal some rick rack? pretty pretty please? i don't care if it never blooms- the foliage is way too cool!! you can have a piece of the cereus if you're interested. tammy

OK, here's the list of eats so far..........

John - chicken

Tam - salsa, guac and chips

AIS - gazpacho

Tanya - White Dove chili (lol, I did get that name right)

Shannon - chocolate eclair and pineapple casserole

Nance - mustard potato salad...either works for us. What's your pref?

Me - baked beans, bowls and ...........

Looks like we still need drinks, paper stuff-plates/napkins...plasticware-forks/spoons... and cups, a couple more chicken volunteers?

I guess we need some bowls too for the gazpacho and chili? I'll add that to my list.

We can bring broccoli salad.

well, i actually wasn't going to bring the chips- i figured someone who didn't wanna cook could bring those. but if noone else does, we can bring those, too. tam

Ohhh, forgot to put ice on the list! I'll bring a cooler full.

Tam, thank you and that's fine we'll see who else pops up. I know we have a few that would much rather grab stuff like chips.

Thanks Jimmy! That sounds good!

Rootdigger, you can put me down for more chicken. Let me know if there's anything else I can do.

I'll bring some fried chicken, a gallon of tea and some cups.

oooh- that reminds me, i should be able to bring a gallon of homemade limeade(maybe strawberry limeade). that should make up for the chips. :)

yeah, i thought there were a couple folks who said they wanted to do the easy stuff, like chips. i'll probably be cursing myself fri eve as i'm chop chop chopping.....

With the weather and gas prices it is next to impossible to nail down just how many people will show up at these swaps. Something always seems to come up at the last minute (or is that just me?). Don't worry about how much to bring, just bring what you can. We'll make it work no matter what happens.

I just found out that I will be able to come to the swap. I am a bit of a newbie, but very excited to be able to come. I will bring some plates and bowls, napkins. I think I will also make some lavender lemonade. I will not have a lot of plants to swap as I am on the needy side just having moved last July. I will have a few swaps though!

Welcome Jivyjoys- you'll have a great time! As long as you are bringing something to help the food consumption you'll be welcome.

I am really looking forward to all the lemon (mentioned on other board, and here) and lime-ades folks are talking about bringing. I love lemon/lime anything. I missed the ones at the last swap we did. Need to get in line faster or something, lol...

Between here and an email from Eliz I recvd' we have 4 folks volunteering to bring chicken, so I believe we're set to go on that. Thanks everyone!

Tam, I was just thinking I may be able to convince my son to come along for the homemade salsa. I'm slowly but surely bringing him along into the addictive world of plants. Food bribes help, lol.

John, you're right we always have plenty of plants and food. Everyone come regardless of how much or how little you can contribute. We have so much fun and everyone is very welcoming. We were all newbies at some point. I think I have links to various peoples pics of former swaps..........
I thought I had 3 but only found 2.....

http://photobucket.com/albums/0603/dtpforu/Garner%20Plant%20Swap%202004/?

http://jimmythrasher.com/gallery/album32

Looks like we could use some more tea. I have a great big tea-bucket. We need sweet and unsweet, and I don't want to bring but one kind. I'll fill my cooler with sweet tea if someone else will take care of the unsweetened tea.

Can't wait!

oh, do convince him to come! there'll be lots of folks to visit with. my kids like the food & friends best. there's some nice walking paths if he gets bored. my kids are bringing/riding their bikes. not sure how old yours is.

the salsa is fresh, small chunks, not pureed & not cooked(i hate the cooked stuff). it's not real hot, but has a little burn. we've gotten lots of compliments before, and i'll be making a huge batch. ditto on the guac.

Another newbie here. I posted on the "10 days till the swap" thread, but if this is more appropriate.....Hmmmm, what to bring....my husband loves to cook, maybe i can convince him to cook and/or come with me. If not, everyone still likes hotdogs, right. I can bring chips (non-cooker). What do you think? Let me know. I'm starving!!!

I will absolutely be there, so I can bring non-cook items we need - cups, plates, forks, ships, sodas? - just give me a list please.

Woods, sweet tea sounds great I'll add a gallon of unsweet tea (just in case) and a gallon of water to my list.

Brock, if hubby likes to cook, he'll feel at home with this gang because they like to eat. So he needs to come along. A lot of us bring other halves. He can surprise us! If you decide on hotdogs, the park does have grills. Anything is really fine with our gang.

Brenda, I haven't had anyone mention plasticware- forks/spoons, or cups. We also still need chips for the salsa and other dips and it never hurts to have some extra plates and napkins.

If anyone has a specific soda they'd like instead of tea or one of the yummy lemon/limeades folks have mentioned above, bring it along.

I think we're pretty set. If anyone else wants to bring something, just grab what you'd like and come on.

ok plasticware, cups, chips, husband. Got it!

I may not have told you in the past but even though all the photos of past swaps show me with food in one hand and a plant in the other (ok, maybe they both had food), I actually have health problems that make me extra careful around certain foods. My hiatal hernia acts up around super sweet things and sour food and anything acid can be a no-no (at last years Tomatopalooza I didn't taste a single t'mater for fear of the consequences) and it can be bad to completely fill my tummy...... BUT NOT ANYMORE!!! the new fancy schmansy pills the belly doctor gave me have solved all these problems!! so if you people think you are gonna get a chance at any of the lemonade or chocolate ecclair cake you got another thing comin'! The pills may cost over $5 per pill but come Saturday morning I'll be primed for a picnic feeding frenzy! watch out.

Jivyjoys, the fall swap was my first one since I too moved here last August. Let me just say, this is a very generous group. Everyone made me feel very welcome and the food was good too. But I did miss out on the chocolate eclair cake :(

Hello all! I am going to try to attend this year. Last year, I got lost. This year, I will be Better prepared! LOL!----Donna

Hi Donna and welcome. Always glad to see new folks joining us.

Is everybody ready!!

Hi,
It's almost time ... looking forward to seeing all of you, and learning some the great plant info.

I'll bring a few bottles of coke, a citrus pudding cake and my toboggans.

If you think we have enough desserts just let me know. We all be eating the chocolate elcair cake anyway!!! Shannon maybe we'll need 2 lol.
John do we needs signs, name tags, garden pictures etc?

C ya soon,
Jeanne

I'm gonna run out an get some name tags, tape, markers, sticky labels/popsicle sticks. I have some cardboard sheets to stick garden photos on and hopefully won't run out of tape.

I have some cheap push-in-the-ground type signs but I don't really know if I want everyone driving by to see signs for a plant swap (we have sooo many people already coming). What do ya'll think? I can scratch out easy signs no problemo but not sure I wanna use these sign posts that way. I was thinking about using them to designate the different types of plants in the swap instead.

humn... John, if you wanted to use them for directions you wouldn't have to put plant swap on them. We could have a code word, like tj's shindig or something.

I think it would be a good idea for all the GW's to put a tag on the plants they bring with their screen name. I did that last year and got five emails from people who chose my stuff and had some questions about site, moisture, and die-back in winter. Yes, we can look it up in Horti-plex but the one who grew it really knows the local environment and how it performs here.

Nancy

it's so very easy to get to the park i wouldn't worry with it, john. or you could use tyndall's idea. "tj's shindig" may get a few lookers wantin' some pig, though! :)
glad you'll be able to truely enjoy the food this go round. course there may not be much left for anyone else....

nan, i think it's an awesome idea to put our 'handles' on the back. i'm doing it with my stuff. i know i asked trina some ?'s about plants of hers i got last fall.

just got the avocadoes today for the guac. they are really, really hard. cross your collective fingers they ripen to the point i can use them sat. i may have to do a chunky kind if they aren't soft enough.

nancedar - I second that idea. I emailed a few questions out last time. It was really handy knowing who the plant came from. BTW, I still have a few popsickle sticks sprouting in my garden with nancedar on the back!

I have not so great news :(

We have to go out of town tomorrow unexpectedly and it is questionable whether I'll be back in time for the swap. Definitely not enough time to make the Dove's Nest White Chicken Chili and get all my plants together. Sorry to dissappoint those that were looking forward to the chili but I hope you can understand. I just hope I can make it at all.

Tanya

Jeanne that sounds good! Thanks for your help.

John, Maybe put just one at the park entrance or something. Just do what ever you think best on the signs. We have a resourceful bunch. Remember the traffic jam we created the year of the body?... and then someone had to taxi folks to the new location! LOL...

Tanya, I already posted on the other thread, but just in case you haven't had the time to check over there. Don't worry abt the chili, just come if you can!

I'm bringing a gallon and a half of sweet tea and two quarts of unsweet tea (with Splenda packets). Sorry I'm late responding. If there's an overload of people bringing tea, write me with suggestions, as I haven't made it yet.

Thanks -- Carla