How to Organize a Community Seed Swap

(Page 2 of 2)

Jan. 13, 2009
By Tabitha Alterman 
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  * Grow Your Own Seeds
  * Savvy Seed Care 
  * Seed-starting Basics 
  * Best Seeds for a Bigger, Better Garden

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6. Label everything clearly. Bring plenty of little dishes, or baggies and markers, to help gardeners divvy up and identify everything. Ask seed and plant donors to write down everything they know about their seed that might be helpful to donees. For example: “Green Zebra Tomato: open-pollinated, heirloom, saved from last season, has grown well in my garden for years, heavy producer, medium-size fruit, indeterminate growth habit, about 70 to 80 days to maturity, good slicer, amazing tart flavor, attractive green and yellow stripes.” It may help to give your donors notecards that they can fill out, with all these variables. They may not know all the answers, but any information could be helpful. A seed swap is all about learning from each other, after all.

7. Host a contest to make the event more fun! Prizes could go to the gardener with the widest variety of seeds, the attendee who traveled the farthest, the youngest or oldest gardener, etc. And we’ll help you with a little contest: The gardener who brings the widest variety of heirloom tomato seeds will win one of our NRG ergonomic garden trowels! (E-mail OrganicGardening@MotherEarthNews.com with the subject line “Seed Swap Contest,” and we’ll help you set this up.)

8. When it’s all over, let us know how it went. So you organized a smashing success of a seed swap, right? Please post your story in the comments section below so that others may learn from your experiences.

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  • Cynthia 2/1/2009 8:07:02 PM

    I'm not sure if it counts, however, a few friends and I got together a year ago to peruse seed catalogs. We made a wish list and ordered. When the order came to my house, I called up the garden gang and we got together to divvy up the seeds. Remember to bring along envelopes or ziploc baggies, or you will have to use the restaurant's single sized sugar packets. (oops)

    We got together again last week and our group has grown by two! and we shared our experiences with growing the seeds. I brought along my fave Mother mags to share tips with too!

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