hard to believe, what with temps still on "bake", but it's time to think about the Ft Worth Autumn Swap!

I picked October 17 because the FW Botanic Gardens Fall Sale is the previous Thursday/Friday/Saturday, which means traffic & parking will be insane.

If someone knows about an event that would conflict with this plan (I try to check the dates pretty thoroughly, but sometimes I miss something, & sometimes something gets scheduled after I've posted), please speak up so we can change the date as soon as possible!

We meet at or about 10 AM at Trinity Park, just across University from the Rose Garden entrance to the Ft Worth Botanic Garden.

Just north of I-30, from University you turn east onto the winding lane & follow it waay back very nearly to the end; you'll see the pavilion, & we'll be *in front of* the pavilion, just in case some other group has paid to reserve it.

Bring your:

extra or left-over or culled-but-healthy garden plants, seeds, tubers, & rhizomes,

helpful garden items such as buckets, planters & pots, tools, bags of Starbucks coffee grounds, mulch, & plant labels,

craft items such as corn husks, specialty paints, plates/candle holders/vases for garden totems, other things that I can't think of because I'm the least crafty person in the universe,

"garden junk" that some of our creative friends can turn into something cool,

garden books or magazines, etc.

If, after this hot summer, you don't have extra plants, or maybe you don't have the strength left to dig 'em up, or maybe you're new to gardening, gardeners always need things from...Dollar Tree!

Gloves, pails & buckets, sun block, vinegar (for sunburn & insect stings), baking soda (sunburn & black spot-your sunburn, roses' blackspot), epsom salts (for roses), etc.

Alternatively, baked goods, either homemade or deli, are always welcome, & I for one will give you anything from my garden for Folger's Black Silk coffee or good dark chocolate brownies!

There's no charge for participating, & the trades don't have to be "even-steven"; many of us have been doing this for a long time & we have plenty & can share generously.

Having said that, please remember to show respect & appreciation.

Don't take anything until the person who brought it says you can;

don't bring sticks stuck in dirt & tell people they're plants (this will get a person banned for life);

if a trader doesn't want to trade for what you have to offer, that's it, that's all, no more discussion is called for. Smile, say you're sorry, you sure wish it had worked out, etc & don't take it personally. Sometimes people think they have one thing & it's really something else, & the person who wanted the one thing doesn't want the something else, which may be a weed.

This spring a young woman told me she'd bring me cuttings from her crabapple tree...which turned out to be a hackberry!

Things like this do happen.

Many times people will do pre-trades on this forum.

You post a list of what you have & a list of what you want, & people post responses listing what they have/want, etc.

It's a good idea to put your pre-trades in boxes with the trading partner's name & what is in the box & what the partner is to bring you.

If we can snag a picnic table, we put the pre-trades & the plants we receive under the table, & put the available-for-trade ones on the bench or the tabletop.

It's a good idea to label each plant so that the person taking it home won't forget what it is, very important when you get home & you're standing there with a potted plant in your hand asking yourself "sun? shade? what?"

odds & ends tips:
Wear comfortable clothes & shoes, & bring/wear sunblock, a hat, sunglasses, etc.

Bring a sweater or long-sleeved shirt because October is unpredictable.

Bring a notebook & pen to make notes on plants & to write down people's information in case you want to meet up with someone later to swap something that you didn't bring to the swap.

Remember your camera, & keep a pleasant smile on your face, because other people will take photos & post them on the forum!

In the past, we've had wonderful potluck lunches, but I'm thinking maybe this time we can try sharing "easy" food: yogurt & fruit, cookies, finger foods, etc.

Let me know what you all want to do.

Also, in the past, we've had a drawing for prizes.

It seemed to work best when we put a $5 value on the "new" prizes, or when we agreed to bring prizes from our accumulation of "stuff" rather than buy things from a store.

When we brought things from home, we had vases, planters, tools, decorative pictures & doo-dads, gardening books, can't think what else.

Again, let me know if you all want to do this, & if so, what guidelines.

One thing I'd like to do this time is to use this thread for conversation about the actual get-together, & a different thread for haves/wants.

I started this thinking hard about what I needed to include, but now I'm thinking about fall weather & digging in the garden & seeing old friends & meeting new ones!