A Gathering of Gardeners
~ The following was published in the Floyd Press news insert "Know Your County" on March 26, 2009.
The Seed Swap held at the Floyd Country Store on a recent Saturday was an encouraging start to making the event a yearly tradition. At the height of the two hour swap as many as thirty gardening enthusiasts mulled around several long tables where bowls filled with loose saved seeds had been placed.
Gardening magazines and other resources were available. Long time gardeners shared tips about planting, soil preparation, and dealing with garden pests with those who were new to gardening. Some attendees took notes.
The gathering was informal. At one point Ed Cohn, who organized the event, addressed the crowd, encouraging those who were interested to stay in touch by signing an email list. Cohn is co-director of Miracle Farm Bed & Breakfast Spa and Resort, which is also a sustainable living center and animal sanctuary
Collecting seeds in a small brown paper packet, Miriam Brancato said, "I can't wait to get in the garden." Others talked of being in the first stages of planning their gardens for spring.
On one table there was a written list of how long seeds can be saved for propagation, anywhere from two to ten years, depending on the type. 
Seeds can continuously be collected directly from non-hybrid plants that have gone to seed and be used for planting, bio dynamic gardener Florence Rewinski said.
Gloria Gerritz brought her vast flower seed collection to share. Set up at the corner of one table, hers was a popular gathering spot for gardeners attending the swap.
"I'm very pleased with how this has all gone," Cohn said. "There was a good variety of seeds and a diverse segment of the community came out."
Comments
fun....sharing plants and seeds is one of the great joys of gardening.
Posted by: sky | March 27, 2009 10:06 AM
Netchick sent me your way, Colleen.
I've been very lazy since moving into my current house. This is the first place I've owned that I've only had ornamental plants with nothing planted for eating. The Seed Swap sounds like it'd have been fun to attend.
Posted by: utenzi | March 27, 2009 10:17 AM
Great idea. I must look into seeing if we have something like that here!
Posted by: Tabor | March 27, 2009 1:25 PM
That's a great idea.
Posted by: kenju | March 27, 2009 3:12 PM
I saved the pumpkin seeds from our fairy tale pumpkin and they grew well the first year.
The next year nothing... perhaps my fault.. as we were moving. Now I have new fresh seeds.... but this year I would like to do some raised beds at one corner of the yard... the soil here is close to the Great Dismal Swamp and there is much black clay which is hard to dig and hard to mix with good soil. A seed swap... what a lovely idea.
Posted by: srp | March 27, 2009 3:26 PM
Yet another cool thing happening in Floyd. I love your town.
Posted by: SandyCarlson | March 27, 2009 4:40 PM
Hello, Michele NetChick sent me.
Never played this before... good to *meet* you!
Posted by: Morgan Ballantyne | March 27, 2009 8:03 PM
Your town always sounds so cool! What a neat community!
Thanks for playing over at the MEET n' GREET -- always awesome to see you there!
Posted by: Tanya (aka NetChick) | March 27, 2009 8:05 PM
Seed swamping is a thing I've been doing since I was little. I use to go with my Nana every year and now a friend and I go to see whats out there.
Posted by: Kimm | March 27, 2009 8:08 PM
In another life I did lots of gardening. I loved the way some aspect of the garden was part of every month of the year. We never did seed swapping... and it is such a good idea.
Hello, NetChick sent me.
Best wishes... Robert
Posted by: Robert Ballantyne | March 27, 2009 8:56 PM
terrific idea. I just put some store bought wild flowers mix in the ground and am waiting to see how many of the 'borrowed' Holly hock seeds I scattered will germinate
here from the sleepy meet n greet at Tanya's
Posted by: david - living in the tree house | March 28, 2009 9:07 PM