Hi Jeff. My name is Jim. Not really a newbie, mostly a lurker. I use to live out there close to you off Edmonson in Brandywine Apts. Moved to Pleasant View, Tn. 14 years ago. Me and my wife have been married for 17 years now and have 3 children. I have a vegetable garden thats 15'x 42' and 8 flower beds and one in progress. I like to hang out here and on the seed exchange, but don't post a lot. I really want to come to a plant swap but have not yet. Maybe in May.
Jim

Jeff,

I would love to see your yard sometime! I didn't realize you were so close, perhaps on the way to Cheekwood? I'm the garden geek that was at the swap with the wagon for portable trading.

I am looking forward to the swap but I could have to do some interesting juggling as I may be heading to the Arkansas Master Gardener Conference afterwards and haven't exactly figured out what to do with my swapees.

I've been gardening 30 or so miles south of Nashville for over 13 years now - where does the time go?

My gardening emphasis for the next year or two will be establishing perennial edibles so that I will eat healthier without bustin' the budget. Fresh raspberries can be so refreshing after a day of weeding!

That doesn't mean that I'm not open to any other plant of interest. I'm getting so excited here with new things coming up each day. Just today the ostrich fern joined the Japanese Painted Ferns and a few others I haven'd IDd yet. The clematis are greening up. A few hostas are poking up. One of my spring highlights - the adorable little bloodroot are blooming. So many plants - so little time and mulch.

I'm a member of Spring Hill Garden Club, Perennial Plant Society (Jeff, I hope you are in that since you are so close), and Williamson Co Master Gardeners.

I would be interested in carpooling with someone to one of the east swaps.

Evelyn

My name is Jan, and I live on the Buffalo River. This is where the middle TN plant swaps have been since they started 5 years ago...can you believe this is going to be our 9th swap? It all started right here on the TN forum in 2002...you guys made it what it is today. (Give yourself a pat on the back)

My husband Jim and I have lived in TN for about 31 years. We have been married for 42+ years. We have 3 grown children, and 2 grandsons. I am an artist and taught oil painting to adults and children for a number of years.

Every year we start a vegetable garden, but once we get busy with the canoe rental and campground we don't have much time to work in it. But we keep trying.

OK...who's next??? Where are all of you guys hiding?

I am Glenda, my hubby is John. I am new to all this, we have a pond and love to get out in the yard and garden!!
We have 3 children ages 3,5, and 7... I am new like I said, But if we are welcome,I would love to try to make it to the plant swap :)
I would love to find out if anyone near me has a pond, I would love to trade info and etc on ponds!!
If you guys dont hear from me e mail me... it just means I didn't find my way back to this part of the forums... being new and all .

Look foward to getting to know all of yall :)
Glenda

Glenda we would LOVE to have you come to the swap!Sometimes there are even water plants there...you might find something you can't live without. If you will go to www.midtnplantswap.com you can read all about it. Email Jeff at jtoothmanindadj@comcast.net if you need more info. If you will go to buffalocanoeing.com go to the directions page and you can find out how to get here.

Hope you can make it.

Jan

Thanks :) Hopefully we will get to come then!

Great idea Jeff! :))
My name is Sondra. I live in East Tennessee(Coker Creek) with my husband, Joe, and our two kids 4& 9 (almost 10) on 4.75 acres (mostly pasture). We moved up here in '93 from FL. Hubby is self employed and is hardly ever home. Matter of fact, he is on his way home from KS now. ( haven't seen him since the early Feb. )
I have always loved playing with flower's and having some kind of flower bed's. I am a novice as I don't know all the correct term's and names of plant's. I just just plant and learn. :))
I happened upon the GW sometime last year and love it. I find it "addicting"! LOL I have a first timer with winter sowing. I have a truck bed full of container's plus a non-heated greenhouse. Well, let's just say I have worked my way out of each (gh is 6x17) and still have seed's left and want's unmet. LOL (needing some shrub's) :))
I have never been to a swap meet and am hoping to make it to two of the East TN meets. Jeff can be very persuasive, but still not sure on taking two kids that far. Plus I have 5 horses with two fixing to foal in the next few month's. LOL I would love to meet the wonderful people I have met on here that share the same kind of sanity as I one day too!! :))
Sondra

This was timely - I've recently discovered GW and have been reading avidly - like Sondra above, I think I'm addicted. There are so many wonderful ideas and experiences shared here - I appreciate the posts of everyone else very much - and it's neat to have a chance to speak up.

I'm Stephanie and I live with my husband and two children in Brentwood just south of Nashville. We're transplants to TN (along with lots of others in Brentwood... I wonder how people feel about that?) and I'm still trying to figure out what and how to grow here (and how to get them, too - I put my first long distance order into a mail order company called Forest Farm this spring and hope that works out). We just built the house we'd like to stay in forever and, for the first time, I feel like we may be able to indulge in a big way (despite being slowed by pesky things like budget and time constraints) in our landscaping and in all the things that make being in touch with nature such a joy.

Our lot was basically bare about a year ago. We're at the point where we've gotten most of our structural evergreen shrubs in along with a few key focal points. I think I have some ideas about how the lay of the land should look generally - but I imagine the next few years will be full of a lot of time spent thinking hard and then some time actually getting into the dirt. (I have a friend who says that one of my favorite games is playing "this way or that way, which looks best?" in my head - she's much more of a get it done first and then change it person and likes to make fun of all my lists and drawings and garden picture books that have post-it notes all over them.) I've got a shady garden space (small), a sunny wall, and a sporadically muddy backyard to plant (for us, our neighbors, AND our dogs!), along with views of a couple of brand new houses next to me - these all pose some pretty fun design puzzles.

I've never been to a swap meet and don't have anything to bring. But it sounds like you have great fun so, after awhile, perhaps I"ll venture out to the real world. In the meantime, GW has been a real inspiration and a treasure trove of information for me.

Cheers, Stephanie

Hi I'm Joseph. I've been gardening for maybe 8 years since I was a caretaker for a large estate in college (Knoxville). After that I worked at Cheekwood for a short time as the gardener for the Japanese garden and some areas around the mansion. I'm a librarian by trade and am currently at an international school in Korea. I mainly garden in a woodland/border environment and like to use local plants along with plants from across the world that are close relatives. I have an interest in phytogeography and exploration. Just to give one example, our wonderful woodland ephemeral twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphyllum) has one close relative in the world, and it grows in East Asia. I have always been fascinated by nature and natural history.

I use more far more seedlings than cultivars in the garden and like to keep things as diverse as possible having become more and more interested in provenance. I believe that cultivation of plants is a very important aspect of conservation. Also just love growing from seed and experimenting and hybridizing. Can't wait to get back to Tennessee. I'll be back around July and hope to become more active in the gardening community there. My garden is located in western Davidson county. My passion is the genus Helleborus and for anyone interested, you can view my site below. I would like to perhaps start a local Hellebore society where others interested in the plants can discuss, learn and share with one another in the same way there are local hosta, daylily, and rose societies etc. Anyone interested let me know and maybe we can work something out with local or regional botanical gardens etc. I'll be going to the Balkans (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia) to study and photograph plants next month and will certainly share my experience with others. Won't be able to make the mid-TN plant swap this time around, but next year you can be sure I can make it with tons of hellebore seedlings in tow (and maybe some other stuff). :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: hellebores.org

Hi,

My name is Betty and I relocated to Cookeville TN from Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. We love it here. People from TN are the nicest people we have ever met. I am starting over with gardening. What Katrina did not kill I had to leave behind. My yard is bare and I am looking forward to gardening in a new zone. I have alot to learn. I read every post here. I am hoping to make it to the swap. I won't have anything to trade but it will be great to meet all of you.

Stephanie you don't need to bring anything except a vehicle, yourselves and some tasty grub! A lot of folks that are just starting out or starting over don't have much or anything. All are WELCOME!!! You canÂt get a much more laid-back atmosphere than we have at the MTPS.

Here's the routine at the Swap:
Get there early so you can sign in and set up your spot.
We'll trade for a while then break for Lunch.
After Lunch Marty will lecture.
After Marty is done we'll have more or less a free-for-all where everyone is trying to unload everything they brought so they don't have to carry it back home with them.
There will be TONS of stuff for you and people happy to help load it in your truck or car.
If you bring nothing then you will leave loaded to the gills with plants. TRUST ME!

For all the newbies and lurkers:
We've all been there before, nothing to bring to a Swap and nothing intelligent to say. (ThatÂs my story every Swap) Guess what, if you come you'll have tons of stuff to bring either for the Fall Swap or next Spring!!! Don't fret about it just load up some grub and make the trek. Dang, I gave a 50 gal trash bag full of daylilies to some campers before we left one year. IÂve never met anyone that regretted coming to the MTPS. Duh! We have a blast. YouÂll find every age group and demographic represented so you wonÂt feel lonesome. We're all just a bunch of goofy gardeners from young whippersnappers to old geezers (sorry Norm) having fun, chewing the fat exchanging stories and plants, chowing down on some killer food, listening to great speakers and hating to leave in the afternoon because we know some of these friends we won't see for another five or six months. JUST GET THE LEAD OUT, QUIT MAKING EXCUSES AND COME!!!

There are no legit excuses for not making it. Well, ok if you have kids activities that you canÂt miss, a death in the family, if you're really, really, really sick or if you've got mares about to foal then that's a different story but you get the idea. The only Swap that I've missed since my first one was because I was on a roof in Virginia Beach wishing I were at the Swap. If Lavonne is sick then I just leave her and let her fend for herself that day. ;-)
If you make it to your first one, it won't be your last. Actually it's pretty dang addicting! But what wouldn't be addictive about 100 fun and generous people wanting to give you free stuff that you actually want; awesome food; knowledgeable speakers disseminating wonderful lessons and information; Q & A periods that have no limit and beautiful peaceful scenery on the Buffalo River hosted by a fantastic couple that you'll fall in love with. The only negatives about the whole thing are that you really do have to leave at some point, then you have to go back home and plant all this free stuff, oh and you do have to put up with an obnoxious Swap Secretary a little bit (not too much though).

I live on the outskirts of Chattanooga. I mostly lurk on this forum unless I have a question. I vegetable garden in the summer, but I do have a few flower beds. I think my favorite perennial plants right now are hellebores, spirea, and daylilies. They grow really well for me and I don't have to meddle with them - ever. I have found two annuals that I also really like just because they are easy and no-fuss plants here. One is a penta and the other is Mona Lavendar Plectranthus. I really like the plectranthus. I just plant them, water some, and leave them alone. I'd like to plant some roses, but we just don't seem to get along.

Between my job and other responsibilities, I just don't have as much time to fiddle with plants as I would like so I like plants that can fed for themselves - nothing fussy.

Hi all. My name is Becky. I'm 51 yrs old, married to Mike, 53. We have 2 daughters, 18 and 12. We also share our home with two parrots - an African grey and a sun conure. During the week during the school year we live at our house in Huntsville, AL. It's on the side of a mountain and all woods. Holidays, weekends, and the summer we live at our farm in Lincoln County, TN. It's the home place of a land grant dated 1789. The house, corn crib and smokehouse are all 200+ yr. old log buildings. Of course, the house has been modernized - kichen, plumbing, ac, etc. LOL.

Since we bought our farm (1996) we have planted many fruits (trees, vines & berries), vegetable garden, herb garden, moon garden and perennial flowers. We transplanted numerous plants from our parents', grandparents' and great-grandparents' homes in Louisiana. I'm very interested in heirloom and pass-along plants. Herbs, tomatoes and wild foods are also fascinating to me. I've managed to get a ramp bed and a fiddlehead bed going this last year. Every summer I enjoy canning, freezing and drying food from the garden. In the last few years I've gotten some citrus trees to grow in pots. I've been a member of Garden Web for several years, but don't post nearly as much as I ought to. And I should mention that I'm the gardener in the family. Mike is willing to build garden structures (like the kiwi/grape arbour), but doesn't understand the joy of digging in the dirt.

This year we are building four 4'x8' raised beds for most of the veggies. Since this is spring break week, we hope to get a lot done!

I sincerely hope I get to come to the SWAP and meet many of you.

Ladybug and Decolady...we would love to have you come to the swap. I promise that if you come it wom't be your last swap...you won't want to miss any of them.

Hope to see you both here on May 20th.

Jan

I'm known to many of you as JudithW, but GW has decided that I can no longer log in under that name, so now I'm using my alter-ego to log in. (*grin*) I live in Florence, AL, just a few miles from both the MS and TN state lines, but the MTPS is the only one I usually make. Tngreenthumb is my brother, and we usually come to the swap together since HE has a truck!

I've been gardening off and on most of my life (our grandmothers would both rather be pulling weeds than cleaning house, so I come by it honestly!), and on my own 4.5 acres for the past 11 years. This spring, I'm starting to landscape my BF's place. He's got 14 acres, so---I'm lokking for EVERYTHING, and two of the good stuff, LOL!

I have two children---Sydney, 14, and Sadie, 12 weeks. Both are beautiful Aussie/Border Collie crosses whose main interest in gardening is finding which plants are the best to lie on, and which flowerbeds have the loosest, softest soil in them.

My main garden passion is tropicals, and last fall I glassed in my front porch to make them a nice winter home. This summer, I'll be expanding that...WAAAY too crowded in there already! My main interests are brugmansias, passifloras, and vining plants. Not sure what I'll be bringing to the swap, other than my usual bucket of brugs.

Judith you should have seen my eyes when I read that you had a 12 week old child. :-)
I was thinking, dang we didn't even know she was pregnant! (Ok, it's no secret, everyone knows I'm a moron.)
Joe, I'm sure that you're getting a good chuckle out of this too.

I also didn't know that you were in Florence.
Now I know who to call when I need something picked up at our Aunt & Uncle's in Greenhill. :-)
Can't wait to see ya gal!!!

Hi--I'm Marianne and I'm a plantaholic----.
I came to the second swap that was up on the bath house porch. I had missed the very first one in the spring, but Lord willing I'll make all the rest!
On my first swap,it was a cool,fall morning with a steady drizzling rain.I drove down to Jan's from up near the Ky. line off I-65. I was set up next to Virginia aka wild rose on the far end of the porch. We became fast friends and have been ever since. I have made some of the best friends I ever have. I look forward to each swap as much to talk with my friends and catch up on their lives as to trade plants. I have made friends from Mississippi,Alabama and all parts of Tennessee. I've met people from even further away who were gracious enough to come and speak for our gatherings.
I felt welcomed as family from the get go. Now, I camp out and am part of the ya-ya sisterhood y'all may hear mentioned.I treasure my time down on the river----it is soooo much more than a plant swap------you guys will have to come and experience it for yourselves to find out!!
My garden has grown hugely and I have plants that I would never find in the big box stores. Each one reminds me of the person who gifted it to me.I think of my new friends when I see their plants growing in my garden.
WE always have a big pot luck and we have some of the best food ever!! We are blessed to have some wonderful cooks in our garden group.
We have wonderfully talented and generous speakers who give some of the best talks and demos that I have seen anywhere. I learn so much each time !!!!
Our group has so many people who contribute to making our group what it is--- Joe by taking pictures for us and posting them, Rebecca by creating our website and hosting it, Jan and Jim who let us celebrate down on the river at their campgrounds, Mona who was our first secretary and now Jeff who is our current Swap Nazi and keeps us straight-sorta. I hope I didn't forget anyone--there are so many who help to make our swap the day that it always is.
Be sure to come out to the spring swap if you haven't and also be sure to mind the speed limit going thru Howenwald-----Trust me - I know!!!!

Marianne

Haha...Marianne...everyone listen to her when you come through Hohenwald. >grin

Hello. I live in northeast Tennessee in the Tri-Cities metro area (zoned 6B eastern metro to zone 7A in the western metro). I am really interested in trees that grow in the southeast. Also, I browse these forums to relay info to my mother when she needs info concerning her gardens.

As you can tell my my user name, I am also a weather fanatic and someday hope to be an official meteorologist (Again - I hope). :D

Hi everyone! I haven't posted in a while, but I have been going through what they call 'life changes' since the Fall plant swap. :-) I quit my IT job in December and have been working part-time at Nashville Natives for the past month or so. I have been interviewing in my career field, of course, but my hubby would really like me to make the leap into a gardening-related career permanently (even though we'll be scraping by), so we shall see.

I found garden web last year, although I have been an avid gardener most of my life. I started out gardening with my mom on the shores of Dale Hollow Lake when I was six years old, then I gardened in Cookeville for 15 years during college and grad school, and then, in 2000, I moved to Madison TN with my new (at that time) hubby. I went through Master Gardener training last year and I really love that. We have a small .33 acre lot here in Metro, but it is quickly filling up with plants. I look forward to coming to the next swap to continue the filling process. :-)

I can tell you that the plant swaps are wonderful and Chip and I really enjoyed our first one last fall. We plan to be back in May; I may bring some friends with me also.

Also, to the several folks who have emailed me about going to see the yellow ladyslippers in Scott's Gulf or the Flame Azaleas, I have not forgotten you. :-) It will require two separate trips to catch both and it will be a long drive for some of you, but I am still game. The ladyslippers will be blooming the second to last week or the last week of April, more than likely, and I plan to try to go up there in advance to see if they are ready. The flamers will be blooming in May sometime, but I can check their progress when we go up for the other. For those of you truly interested in going, we can meet at the Hermitage exit off of I-40 on the East side of Nashville; there is a McDonalds there and it is a convenient meeting spot. But we will flesh out the details later.....it will be about 2 hours to get up there and of course 2 hours to get back, but in between you'll see an extraordinary wilderness. :-)

Anyway, that is enough of my rambling. I hope to see y'all soon.

--April

I actually live in Indiana but am trying to find Smokymist. I am traveling to Pigeon Forge for my daughters wedding on May 13th. I am looking for suggestions of good places to buy plants, seeds and the like at good prices. I am looking for something I don't have at home, not walmart or lowes. Others on the ws board suggested finding Smokymist as she was in the area. Sorry if I should have posted somewhere else. Everyone have fun at your swap. Vicci

Hi Vicci,

I havn't been on the board in a while, Catie's dance and competing has kept me busy . I just got your email and later this evening I'll be talking with you I promise. This weekend was a big competition and still have a bit more today.

Hi I'm Mona and live in Guntown, MS, just north of Tupelo.

Judith W, you caused me to think. You have a teenager and a new baby and I never knew??!Wow my heart sang out and then wonder, has it been that long since I talked to anyone who should have told me, but atlast, just another spoiled rotten 4 legged child! Oh how we love our animal friends!! They love me even when I'm bad.

I have a hubby of 35 years, a 25 year old daughter, a 22 year old son, his wife(who I love dearly) is 22 and I'm fixing to be a grandmother in August!!!

I have over 600 baby daylilies grown from seed in my unheated greenhouse. Some might bloom this year, most will not. I have about 120 varities in the garden and 18 new ones on the way.

I guess my favorite flower is TB Iris, they are so very beautiful. I have maybe 40 varities of them, some heirloom, some pretty new. I love them all.

Now with that said, I love most any plant, green,blue,yellow,orange,red,pink,tall,short,fat,slim, you name it and I'll probably love it! I've really learned about shrubs, they make a big statement with very little care. I can not grow but one pretty rose and it's a Joesph Coat, all other sucumb to black spot,no matter how much I try.

I love all of Gods creatures, unless they go buzz, those I can do without. We feed more black oil sunflower seed every year than we do dog,cat or people food.

I hate housework, thus I live in a pigsty. I don't care and my DH must not, cause he makes no effort to clean either. The only thing I clean is the stove and try to keep the dishes clean and wash the clothes. I don't cook much maybe soup, sandwiches and maybe 2 hot meals aweek. I keep hoping DH will fire me as the cook and hire a maid and chief. How we would pay??? I can dream!

If I feel good, I'm outside, when my fibromyalgia is bad, I love dreaming while crusing the web for more plants. It's a good thing I don't have money, the mailwoman would go on strike for having to deliver so many packages!

If at all possible, go to the Spring swap on the Buffalo River. You will love it. It's a very beautiful location, great people, good food, many fantastic plants, and you will learn so much from all the talented gardeners that will be there.

Love to you all and may God bless you each and everyone with his loving Grace, Mona

I'll say it one more time, the folks at this swap will become your new friends, they are the best folks that I know.

Guess I should chime in here....

My name is Joe. I'm the brother MsBatt mentioned with the truck. (Ok. Our other brother has a truck too, but he's not so much into gardening, per se.)

I think I have missed one or two of the swaps due to scheduling conflicts. Every other one we have made. It's a great way to spend a Saturday. Even some of the spouses that aren't into plants ejnoy the day. Hard not to enjoy yourself when under the shade of huge trees with river burbling nearby.

My kids are all grown (notice I didn't say grown up) and out of the house. My wife and I just moved into a new house last Fall, so I will be on the lookout for anything and everything to suppliment our landscaping.

Unfortunately I will have very little to trade. So if you see a table with a sign that reads "Give me your tired, your poor, your downtrodden" it's mine. The last three swaps or so I've been giving away stuff in preparation for this day.

Also, I'll be the guy hiding behind a camera. Photography is my other hobby. Just ask Jeff about that... *grin*

For more pictures from last Spring's swap, click here.
(Sorry if the images are loading slow. Network traffic seems slow everywhere this morning. Could be our firewall, could be sunspots.)

Hi! I'm Dennis, AKA Green1. I've been extremely busy due to winter storms (I'm an insurance adjuster) and haven't had time to be here the last few months. I have been to the last 2 Fall Swaps, and enjoyed myself thoroughly. I plan on coming to the Spring swap this year, but don't know what I'll bring. Probably some canna's, daylilies and ornamental pepper plants. We are going to sell our house and build a new one this year so I won't be aquiring too many new plants. I live in West TN, (Jackson) am married to Robbin (27yrs) and have 23 and 19 year old daughters. the older one lives in Mt Airy, NC. the youngest is still at home. I like most plants, but really have gotten hooked on daylilies. I enjoy photography, especially closeups of flowers. you can view some of them at the following albums: http://community.webshots.com/user/djm1

Here is a link that might be useful: webshots albums

I've been reading posts in here for a few months and have learned so much. I moved to Tn from Vt in 1996, starting in Nashville, then Ripley and now Big Sandy.
Each move we have left behind most of what we planted and started over.
It has been a learning experience for me since my favorites I grew up with don't tolerate the heat here well.
The house we have now has a huge tree in the front yard with roots all over which limits my space for gardening.
I have vine type plants, Clematis, Mandevilla, and Cardinal Climbers, along with Hostas and Brugs. I had banana trees when I lived in Ripley and would love to find some more. Each year we try something new, hoping to find the right plants for our space. I like neater looking beds, without a lot of height, except for my Brugs. I have been married for 20 years, have a daughter, 18 and a son, 16 both still at home. My husband has started taking an interest in the plants we have so I am hoping to get him to come to the plant swap this spring. I won't have a lot to bring but will have some. It sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday! I would appreciate any information on how it works. Hope to see you then........Linda

Hi, I am VERY new...just registered an hour ago and have already found this wonderful group of Tenneseeans. As I was reading through,I was afraid I was the only one from West Tennessee. and then found some not far from my area. I am trying to start my gardening over. I moved from my grandmother's home to a temporary place, and we are now getting another home and will have to move plants again!!

A little bio...I am Lori, age36. My hubby of three and a half years is Rick, age 43. We both LOVE working in the yard. I am a school teacher and own a photography studio...so I am excited to see other photographers, as well. My paternal grandmother instilled a love of plants/flowers from a very early age. She and I would walk in her gardens and she would tell me all about the plants.

I had no idea that plant swaps existed in TN. Nashville is about 3 1/2 hours from where I live, and would love to attend in the future. What are the dates?? I love indoor and outdoor plants, especially old southern plants. One that my hubby's aunt has introduced me to is Angel Wing begonia. I have shared with all of my friends. These things grow like crazy. I have some beautiful flowering ground cover that I have also been sharing, but not sure the name. It had "blue lagoon" on it when I bought it, however, I am not sure it is verbana because it grows flat to the ground. I also love iris, gladiolas, and cannas. Hosta is also one of my passions, but don't have as much shade and lost many of them that I was given over 9 years ago from my g-mother. I also love roses. Heck, I can't name everything I love, I would be here all night!!!
I am beginning to get into pond plants, but not having as much luck.

Oh well, that is an introduction and look forward to gardening this spring with all of my new acquaintances.
Lori

For the new folks.....if you have any questions at all about the Middle Tennessee Plant Swap please email me at jtoothmanindadj@comcast.net and visit our webpage at midtnplantswap.com.
I'll be more than happy to give you all the answers that I possibly can.

Jeff

Dear Jeff (big orange vol),

You make this swap sound as friendly and non-intimidating as can be. Thanks for the warm, warm, electronic welcome!

The setting looks beautiful, Jan. My husband (nickname: I just dig the ditches) is even getting interested in going! And I might have a few homeless plants to bring after all, as well as my growing collection of empty nursery pots, if they would be of any use to anyone...

Warmest greetings,
Stephanie (who had to go cold turkey on GW awhile back, but couldn't resist looking in again)

Well Steph it sounds that way because it is! Just bring whatever you have that's garden related and something to eat. You guys come on down and we'll make sure that you get some extra good stuff.

Highdy Ho good neighbors! My name is Erin, and I am an avid poster on the winter sowing forum. Just found you fellow Tennessee Residents. I live on my own 4 acres of plant heaven in Harrison, Tn (just north of Chattanooga)
I plant everything, but my favorites are ornamental edibles, with marigolds and Amaranth (Love lies bleeding),being my favorite. I share my life with my husband, our 5 adopted kids, our 3 dogs, one cat, 8 rabbits, 13 chickens, 5 guinea pigs and more "plant babies" than I can shake a stick at! Thanks to winter sowing I can afford 100 times as many plants, and have unusual varieties that you never see at the nurseries. I look forward to becoming a part of your "clique"! Everyone OK after the storm?
Erin

Hey Erin bring some of that WS stuff to the Swap!

Hi, my name is Jana and I live in Nashville. My mother, Becky, who passed away last year, was an avid gardener---native Tennessee wildflowers, formal herb garden, loads of shade-loving plants such as hellebores, hostas, ferns etc. I did condo gardening for years but now have my own little .25 acre (with a house taking up quite a bit of it) that I'm working to give my own style. The previous owners here spent a lot on commercial landscaping, but I like a more natural look, so I've been digging out nasty junipers and such, replacing some with gumpo azaleas, others with lime mound spirea. Have also been digging things from Mother's garden such as hellebores, hostas, trout lilies, ginger, bloodroot, working to create my own little woodland garden.

I love crepe myrtles, annabelle hydrangeas, exbury azaleas, ferns, masses of wave petunias, lantanas (the drought gardener's friend!)

Jeff--I hope to come to the plant swap, can certainly measure up in the grub department, but the only plant I can offer is limelight artemesia, which can be a bit of a thug---should I bring some anyway?

Thanks for all the good info and help available here--I was always able to go to my mom for any questions I had about gardening, and I miss her terribly, so this forum is really helpful.

Jana

Jana we certinly can't fill your Mom's shoes but we'll sure try to help in any way we can with the plant info.

As far as the Artemesia is concerned....My understanding is that the only safe way to grow it is in a pot! From what I've heard it is extreamly invasive but a real pretty plant. Bring some but make sure that everyone is aware that one plant may spread into twenty in rapid fashion. :-)

At the MTPS we swap anything that is plant related too. Magazines, books, cataloges, bird houses, yard art, pots.....you name it.

Hi everyone! I am new to GW and love it already. My name is Martha and I am a single mom, with a almost 3 year old son. I live on a 63 acre farm and am trying to rebuild grandmothers gardens. I live in Brighton TN North of Memphis almost an hour. Glad to see some members close to me. As my screen name suggest I also have 4 legged children...3 kats and 1 yellow lab. Am looking forward to the swap and am going to do my best to make it.......As for what I like?.......If it grows and lives in the dirt....what can I say. I am also starting from nothing again so nice to know I'm still welcome. Look forward to good advice and new friends. Thanks :)
Martha

Greetings everyone. How nice to find a couple of my winter sowing buddies, Erin and Sondra posting here.

My name is Morene (nickname Raney) and I've been a GW member for a couple of years and check into this forum from time to time. My hubby Chuck and I moved here to Cagle Mountain in 2003 from Florida. We have 7 acres and are gradually getting the weed trees cleared out and filling the yard with flowers. Don't have enough sunshine to have many veggies but do have a few tomato plants.

We love the friendly tennessee people and I'm hoping to get to attend the plant swap. I should have many extra plants out of the 480 containers I've winter sown this year. Will need to know more about how it works though.

Fortunately we came through yesterday's storms safe and sound. Chuck helped me to carry all my containers into the garage and shed so they wouldn't blow away or get destroyed by hail.

Hope everyone else is ok. My prayers are with all of you as we go through this stormy season.

Raney

For all the newbies that are coming to the swap, WELCOME! And if you will go to www.midtnplantswap.com you can learn more about it. There is a link there for directions, too. Or you can email Jeff our Swap Nazi at jtoothmanindadj@comcast.net and he will answer any questions you could think up.

You are all in for a treat when you attend one of the swaps... they are very addictive.

SEE YOU AT THE RIVER

Jan

Hi everyone. My name is Katie and I live just south of Germantown near Memphis. We just got our place here in August of 2004 and its my first real house with a yard. We have a yard of about 1/2 acre. We are having the greatest time getting things like we want them.

We learned from experience that nothing grows where we are unless we do raised beds because of the heavy clay that was brought in to fill in our lot. We learned how to do them at the spring plant swap last year (2005). We came home and started building raised beds around the house.

This year my DH built us 6 raised beds for our vegetable garden. We built them out of 1x8 untreated pine boards -- the cheapest way to go that we could find. We used the wall street journals that I brought home from work to line them with and have begun filling them with bagged leaves we picked up in the neighborhood, last year's grass clippings and some bags of topsoil bought at the store mixed in.

We have also lined the spaces between and around the beds with newspapers and covered it with pine straw and it looks quite nice. We still have quite a bit of work to go before we can get anything to grow in the beds, but I have hope that it will be better than our attempts last year.

Right now my DH is putting lattice up on some 4x4s we put up last year. We tried chicken wire, but it didn't work very well. We have two muscadines that have come back to grown up on the lattice we hope, as well as a wisteria on the front. We will have to build another one in the far back as we also have two white grape plants that came back.

I will share some photos from this year later on for anyone who wants to see our raised beds.

Katie & Rich (formerly DirtDiggingLady)

Hello Gardners,
My Name is Meredith, most friends just call me Mer. I am a 33yr old mom of three.My husband Eric and I have been married 12 yrs.We live in Cleveland, near Chattanooga. We are relatively new to TN. We moved here from Texas a year and a half ago.
I am new to gardening but have always had a love for flowers and vegetables. I spent many summers working next to my blessed Granny on her farm in East Texas. She went to Glory this past October, but when I work with the garden she is with me. I plan to try many veggies this year.
I have enjoyed reading your posts. I look forward to meeting ya'll. I cant wait to attend a plant swap.
Blessings to all,
Mer

I'm in northeast TN, about halfway between Knoxville and Johnson City.

This is just my second year gardening in any kind of serious way. I've made raised beds that are a modified lasagna/sq ft garden. I'm very motivated to recycle/reuse everything that I can, so lasagna gardening spoke to my frugal soul. My garden became modified when I lucked into approx 15 bins of used potting mix. I added most of it to the two beds I'd built, and I'm working on a third.

I have some physical issues, so I'm at home most of the time. I've found that if I can block out the stares of my neighbors, I can do just about anything garden-wise by sitting on the ground and using my legs/feet instead of my hips and back. I was a pretty funny sight scooting around on the ground (on my butt) while building my beds and planting two trees on my property last year :-) Don't misunderstand, I can walk, I just have a lot of pain/weakness in my back and hips (degenerative disk disease and an inherited weakness in my hips).

I'm also seriously 'into' worms. I became interested in composting worms while doing research on gardening, but since I'm such a cheapskate (I mean frugal person), I had a hard time letting go of $30 for a pound of worms.

I figure I have worms in the ground, so why pay for them! After further research on common, native worms, as well as some experimentation, I've found that the worms on my property will compost for me just fine. I now have 3 outside worm bins filled with my native worms.

So now, my outside worm bins are in close competition with my lasagna beds, as far as which I actually enjoy most, and which gets the OM that I gather and save.