Here's the link to the spring plant swap page... the "details" box describes how we adapted the seed swap fields for the plant swap.
http://garden.org/apps/swap/vi... We used the quantity per packet field a bit differently than you described above...
We're adapting this tool for use at our in-person plant swap party. Number of Packets = Number of plants available. Use the "quantity per packet" field to indicate whether your plant is bare root, rooted cutting, seedling, division, etc. Ignore fields like "deadline to send seeds" and "cost to participate."
Here's how the multiplier (if set to 2) works to spread out requests: on the first day of trading, everybody will get 2 "dibs" to use to make requests from another participant. On the second day, everybody gets 4 more dibs, on the third day, 6 more, and so on. If you don't use your dibs every day, they roll over. By the day before the swap, you'll have more dibs than you can use. :-)
The "Seed Swaps" tool automatically keeps track of what you have promised to whom. It also keeps track of plants you've requested. Plus, as you look through other people's lists, you can put items in a "wish list" while you wait to get "dibs" or while you figure out whether or not you have a spot in your garden for a peanut butter shrub or whatnot.
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I would like to suggest that
everybody enroll in the swap and use the swap tool to REQUEST plants, even if you're keeping track of your "haves" elsewhere. That makes record keeping much easier for those using the tool and lessens the chance that the same plant could be promised to different people via different request methods. It also might be a way for people to dip a toe in the water in terms of giving the tool a try.
And yes, unlisted plants are welcome... as always, you don't have to arrange a single plant trade in advance... you can just come to the swap, put plants on the "looking for a good home" table, and take plants from the table for yourself.
