Hi all,

For anyone who hasn't been to a past swap, or anyone who has been to one but still has questions about who, what, when, where, and how we do it, here are the "Basic Swap FAQs" for you. Pretty much any questions you may have should be answered here, but if you think of something that isn't included here, this is the place to ask about it!

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~~~~~ THE BASIC SWAP FAQ'S! ~~~~~

WHAT TO BRING!

Anything that has anything to do with gardening is welcome at the swap!

Plants, of course, are our primary "commodity," but people also sometimes bring fresh produce, like cut herbs, rhubarb, or other fresh spring veggies to include in the trading. The Spring Swap plants are usually mostly starts and seedlings of annual bedding plants and veggies, with some perennial divisions and seedlings. The Fall Swap is usually mostly
perennial divisions!

In addition to garden plants, we also welcome house plants, seeds, pots, books/magazines, tools, rocks, garden art.......... Anything garden related that you don't want or need anymore!

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WHAT HAPPENS AT THE SWAP!

The Arriving Part!

When you arrive, there will be a table with a sign in sheet and name badges. Everybody needs to sign in and make a name badge for themselves and any significant others or guests.

The Eating Part!

We start out with the pot luck! Your dish can be absolutely anything! Hot dishes, cold dishes, appetizers/finger foods, salads, sweets--anything you think others would enjoy! Homemade dishes, if you have time, are always good and very much appreciated! Please plan to bring a serving spoon if it will be needed for your dish, and also please make some provision for it to be covered--a lid if it's that type of dish, or plastic wrap, or whatever. And a request I've made at the swaps for the last several years that seems to work out pretty well! I love sweets, so I definitely don't want to put too much of a damper on the dessert type things, but at a couple of the early swaps we seemed to wind up with mostly sweets, so if you're trying to decide between that or something else, lean toward the something else!

The Swapping Part!

During the arriving/eating parts you will have had time to check out the plants people have brought, and now it's time for the swapping! First we make sure anybody who has plants earmarked for others, gets or has already gotten them to the right people. Then we draw numbers for the first TWO rounds of picking what we want. With number in hand, we go around and have everyone briefly describe what they brought so people know for sure what's there and so everyone can decide what they want the most! Then we go around twice in "number order" and each person picks the one thing they want the most in each round. This gives everyone a pretty good chance of getting the two things they really want! After the two "civilized" rounds of picking we open it up to a free-for-all! Everyone just goes around and grabs whatever they want of what's left! (Bring your Body Armor!) NOTE: At the last several swaps, after the first two rounds of picking we’ve been deciding as a group if we want to do more “rounds” of picking before we go to the free-for-all! Most people seem to prefer doing that, so odds are that’s what we’ll do again this time!

About the Earmarking!

On the day of the swap we don't allow any "early picking," meaning, while you can look and touch all you want, nobody can take any of the plants till we start our first two rounds of picking! BUT we do allow earmarking of plants BEFORE the swap when people post what they plan to bring. When people start posting what they plan to bring they'll say whether or not they'll be willing to earmark plants for people, and if they are, you can ask for dibs on them at that point! In the last few years I and a couple other people have decided it's more fun to not do dibs—and less complicated—at one swap I had almost 150 plants earmarked for people and I almost needed to hire an accountant to keep track of it all! So when the "What are you bringing" thread is started, if somebody doesn't make it clear about whether or not they're going to Do Dibs, go ahead and ask and they can let you know then if they'll be doing it or not!

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OUR PRIMARY SWAP RULE!

And then there's that one Swap Law that everybody needs to know about! Nobody needs to have any plants to be welcome at the swap! If you're new to gardening and don't have anything yet, if you just moved to a new house and don't have anything to give away yet, or if you just don't have anything for any reason at all, that's ok! There are always way, way plenty plants to go around, and we get together as much to swap gardening talk and friendship as to swap plants--so come regardless of how much you do or don't have to bring! (And, yes, you do get to pick plants in the swap part even if you weren't able to bring any!)

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HERE'S SOME BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLANTS YOU BRING!

PLANT THEM – Whether it's divisions or seedlings or whole plants you'll be bringing, please try to get them into their pots AT LEAST a couple weeks before the swap so they have time to "settle in" and start to root out some. If plants are dug up and put into pots, and then taken back out of the pots to be planted in the ground just a couple days later, it's "double trauma" for them! Also, most plants don't do at all well in pots in "garden soil," so if at all possible, use some sort of a store bought potting mix. It doesn't need to be expensive! (But Hyponex brand would probably be worse than garden soil, so if that's the option, stick with the garden soil!)

LABEL THEM – Please be sure the plants you bring are labeled one way or another! Here are some of the ways people have labeled their plants in the past: a regular plant tag in the pot – plastic beverage cups cut up into narrow strips – popsicle sticks – old blinds cut up into label size strips – staple or tape a piece of paper with the name onto the pot – write the name of the plant on the pot with a marker or crayon – make up adhesive labels with the plant name and basic information and stick them on the pots. I make up little strips of paper on the computer with the name and other info and include one with each plant. Be creative, but find some way to label them! Anything to ensure the person getting the plant will know what they have when they get home. When we're at the swap, we all think we'll be able to remember the things we're getting to take home, and then we wind up grabbing all kinds of things in the free-for-all, and........... Oops! What is this!

WATER THEM – Please plan to thoroughly water the plants you're bringing the DAY BEFORE the swap so they'll have time to drain well enough to be easy to transport, yet be wet enough to not be wilting at the swap or while people are taking them home!

TAKE THEM HOME! – It's a really good idea to bring a box/tray or two to carry your booty back home in! If the plants you're bringing are in something, don't let anybody else snag it, and you can use that to refill with the new goodies! We do ask that you please don't use someone else's boxes or trays without asking first if it's ok!

MARK YOUR EARMARKED PLANTS -- If you're earmarking something for someone who's requested it, please be sure to clearly mark on the pot somehow who it's for, to be sure it gets to the right person. I use small "pots" (styrofoam cups!) for my plants, and when I’ve earmarked plants in the past I found it worked well to write the screen name of the person on a paper bag and put the plants in the bag. If there was more than one bag for someone I just wrote "1 of 2" on it to be sure nothing got missed! That made it easy for everyone to find the ones that were for them, and it's easier to carry the bags than to carry a bunch of separate pots. Small boxes work well too! There will be an area away from the general swap plants to put things that are earmarked for specific people.

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COMMUNICATION ABOUT THE SWAP!

ALL swap information is posted here on the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum! The ONLY email that will be sent directly to the people that are planning to attend the swap, will be one with the address and directions, approximately a week before the swap. Be sure to Private Message the host with your email address so you can get on the mailing list! Also, as far as I know, since houzz took over, when you PM somebody the person who receives the message will NOT get your personal email address unless you put it in the BODY OF THE MESSAGE, so when you send the PM be sure you include your actual address!

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Come post here if you're planning to/hoping to come, and, as it says above, BE SURE to include your email address IN THE BODY of your private message when you send it to Greg!

Looking forward to the swap--and to seeing you all again!

Skybird