This thread is to let folks start organizing theit thoughts and seeds for our mid-winter swap in Frederick, MD. As before, we plan to gather at Chef Lin Buffet.
I've confirmed the Feb. 3 date with Chef Lin Buffet.
noon - 4:30
$14 includes your choice of hot tea or soft drink, tax, and tip
NGA members, family, friends, new gardeners, old hands -- all are welcome!
This isn't a 1-for-1 kind of swap, more of a seed sharing party. You can offer & claim seeds ahead of time via the "seed swap tool" (see below), or you can just come for an afternoon of food and fun and seed swapping!
Please also bring an item for the "gift table." A potted plant or vase of cuttings, a handcrafted item, a useful widget, pretty much anything goes. Re-gifting is encouraged! a pair of garden gloves that don't fit you, a gardening book you're done with, a plant-themed decorative item that's not your style... one gardener's "um, thanks, that's just what I (didn't) need" is another gardener's treasure!
We'll gather in the party room at the back of the restaurant. There will be a table for name tags, a gift table, and a table with bags to sort out pre-traded seeds, as well as plenty of space to put down your "stuff."
Then we'll have lunch at the back of the restaurant. Around 2 we'll head back to the party room and do a game to determine who has first dibs at the gift table. Then we'll get serious about swapping seeds and sifting through the treasures at the "free to good home" table.
SEED SWAP TOOL
The swap has been put up on the Seed Swap Tool. Go to "Seed Swap" under "Tools & Apps" at the top of the page. Click on the swap name, then click "join this swap" and you're good to go!
I know a couple of folks have started entering items on their primary swap list for our winter swap, and that's a great idea! You can add to your "primary swap list" ANY time from the link at the bottom of the main page. You can also re-use item descriptions you've erntered previously, editing as needed for quantity and other pertinent info. Just click the checkbox under our swap to activate the item for our swap. As they say in the restaurant biz, "If it isn't green, it isn't seen!"
Once you've enrolled, you can add items to your list either via your primary list OR by going to the swap homepage and clicking "manage your own swap list" at the top of the page.
Using this tool is optional but helpful. I'll set up bags with names on a table, and we'll use them like elementary school Valentine "mailboxes" to distribute seeds requested ahead of time. The tool is the easiest way to keep track of requests made before the party date, and the "dibs" system helps give everybody a fair chance at limited items. If you're not familiar with it, please click on Dave's video tutorial.
A shorter trading window and higher "multiplier" than we've used in the past looks like it works really well for other seed swaps. I'd like to give that a try. That also gives plenty of time to prepare and list seeds. As items are added, you can look them up, ask questions about them, and then click on a star ranking if you want to put that item on your wish list.
Your wish list will be very helpful when it's time to start placing dibs! You need to list and activate at least one item before trading begins. The first day, you'll get 3 "tickets, " the second day you'll get 6 more, etc. You also get tickets as people put dibs on your seeds. I believe on the first day it's one additional ticket for every 2 items that get dibbed, and thereafter it takes 4 dibs to earn an extra ticket.
So it pays to have your entries in at the beginning, although some folks (like me) will continue adding seeds until the last day of bidding. Toward the end of the trading window I'll increase the multiplier to some ridiculously large number in case any latecomers need to catch up.
YOU DON'T NEED TO TRADE A SINGLE PACKET BEFORE THE PARTY DAY. This is a fun but optional activity. It does free up more time for visiting and looking through additional seeds at the swap. There will be a table of assorted "free to good home" seeds, many of which may be single packets, some pass-along "extras" from other trades. So it's good to have time for treasure hunting!
I'll post additional details about our venue, directions, etc., closer to the date. For now, I just wanted to get the seed chat started!
PARTY PEOPLE
Aspenhill
Critterologist & Joyanna
Donnervillle
ecnalg & Greenthumb99
Frenchy21
Gitagal?
HollyG & Eric4Home?
5601Lisa
MariposaMaid
NisiNJ, plus Kat
RobinBunch5
RickM & Larry
Tantefrancine
DIRECTIONS to Chef Lin
The restaurant is in Prospect Plaza, at 417 S. Jefferson St,near a nest of interchanges where 15, 340, 40, and 270 all come together. This makes it both easy to get to from different directions, and hard to describe, but these directions worked well last year, LOL. McDonalds is at the front of the Plaza, easy to spot. Chef Lin is toward the center of this strip mall.
Combine these directions with a look at the map! (I failed to get a link... type 417 S Jefferson Frederick, MD into google, but don't try to follow the really confusing step by step directions, just use it for a map)
From the north, coming down 15 South. Get off at the Jefferson Street exit, turning LEFT (going east). Cross over the highway, and Prospect Plaza will be immediately on your LEFT (turn LEFT at the light).
From the south, along 15-340 North (the two highways merge together just south of Frederick): Stay on 340. (Don't get off onto 15 North when it diverges.) 340 more or less becomes Jefferson Street. Keep left. You'll cross the bridge over the highway, and then turn LEFT at the light into Prospect Plaza.
From the south, along 270N (coming up from the DC beltway): Get off at the Jefferson Street exit and turn RIGHT at the end of the ramp (east onto Jefferson). Make an immediate LEFT at the next light to turn into Prospect Plaza.
From the east (Baltimore), you'll be on 70 West. Take exit 53b, 15 North. Take the first exit onto Jefferson Street. Turn RIGHT at the end of the ramp (east onto Jefferson). Make an immediate LEFT at the next light to turn into Prospect Plaza.
From the west: you'll be on 70 East. Take the exit for 15 North. You're now on 15-340. Stay on 340. (Don't get off onto 15 North when it diverges.) 340 more or less becomes Jefferson Street. Stay to the left. You'll cross the bridge over the highway, and then turn left at the light into Prospect Plaza.
From Dutch Plant Farm (151 Baughmans Lane) to Chef Lin: Turn LEFT onto 40 East. Take the first RIGHT onto 15 South. Take the first exit, Jefferson Street. Turn LEFT onto Jefferson Street, cross over the highway, and then turn LEFT at the light into Prospect Plaza.
Getting to DPF. Dutch Plant Farm is off "the Golden Mile," highway 40, W Patrick St. At the corner of 40 and Baughman's Lane, there's a shopping center with a JoAnn's. DPF is just behind the shopping center. Coming from 15 onto 40W, you'd turn RIGHT at the first light onto Baughmans Lane and then take the 2nd entrance on the LEFT into DPF. (The 1st left is the side entrance into the shopping plaza.)
