Mid-Atlantic Gardeners Swap
Calling all local and nearly-local gardeners (some travel nearly 2 hrs), Veteran and Newbies alike!
(Burtonsville, MD - swap location)

Saturday, May 11th, 2013...10am-1pm

What this is ~~
Anyone and everyone is invited - you don't have to be a gardenwebber. Newcomers, bring good politeness and share well with the other Newbies (i.e. in your excitement, do not take everythingâ¦especially anything labeled as a pre-arranged trade).

MAG swaps tend to be very informal. People bring anywhere from no plants to dozens and anything from new seedlings to major divisions, Many of the plants will be bare root and wrapped in newspaper or tucked into plastic bags rather than potted-up. People also bring garden magazines, plastic pots, garden equipment, almost anything garden related they want to swap or give away. My historic favorite was composted bunny poop.

At our swaps, we pretty much do three primary things; 1) Offer our plants to new homes, and when you reach the point of having plants to divide and pass on, you do the same for the next group of newbie gardeners, 2) trade special things in-person instead of shipping them through the mail, and 3) eat-n-socialize.

Process ~~
There are List Threads for posting your Haves, Wants and What-I'm-bringing-for-the-potluck on the exchange page. Basic instructions for each of these are located on each thread - keep each thread specific to its role so things are easier and clearer for everyone.

Have Lists

Want Lists

What-I'm-bringing-for-the-potluck List

If you see something on the "haves" thread that you want, email the person directly and ask for it. If you have stuff to swap, offer it. (If not, just say I don't really have anything to swap so I'm bringing chocolate...I mean something to eat.)

Make sure your GW member pages / profile settings are set to show your email to members. Otherwise no one can email you.

The Big Day ~~
On the day of the swap, you set out your:
Prearranged trades (labeled well with the person's name and what the plant is; I put a big sign with that group âÂÂSpoken forâÂÂ, âÂÂPre-arrangedâ or similar)

Give away (labeled with what the plant is, as generally or specifically as you understand that plant; Another big sign âÂÂTakeâ or âÂÂFreeâÂÂ, etc).

And put all plants that are coming home with you back into your car, to avoid any confusion. IâÂÂve seen folks with little red wagons as their stash-keeper-n-hauler. Whatever works for you. People...