Produce Exchanges: Sharing the Love…

Produce exchanges are a great way to share the surplus from your own garden in exchange for the surplus from someone elses, to swap gardening tips and pick up a few yummy treasures along the way. The good news is they’re starting to pop up all over the place.

There is a monthly produce exchange held at my local farmers market which is growing in popularity each month, particularly as the spring rains and sunshine urge our gardens into a state of edible overlfow! Last Sunday I loaded up a box of scrummy harvest from my garden, strapped it to my bike trailor and headed on down to the exchange to see what tender delights I could swap it for.

The way it works is that Bree and Graham from The Food Garden (www.foodgarden.com.au one of our local freindly organic produce suppliers) set up a tent where we all bring our bundles of goodies to swap. We arrange the bounty in baskets on benches and at 11am we take from other peoples bundles what we think our bundles is worth. Honesty is the best policy and everyone always goes away ladden with much more than they bargained for.

This week I swapped my harvest for some parsley, mizuna and waragul greens seedlings, shallots, ruby red chard and local olives. Yuuuumeeey!

Its a great way to meet fellow gardeners and swap tips and ideas. Its also a great way to ensure that you are eating fresh local produce and reducing the ‘food miles’ and carbon footprint of the food we eat. And the best part? Its totally free!

To find a Produce Exchange near you, contact your local farmers market or permaculture group and they will be able to point you in the right direction. If there isn’t one in your local area, produce exchanges are very easy to start. All you need is a table and some enthusiastic gardeners to bring their surplus along on a particular day.
Go forth and share the love…