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Like all good ideas, the "home-grown produce
swap" is one which has occurred to numerous people and
is increasingly being put into action, mainly by organisations,
across Australia (see Links). This is the story of
OUR local swap.
The first Community Fruit & Vege Swap within
the Charles Sturt Council area was started at West Croydon
in January 2008 by local resident Julietta, who couldn't stand
the sight of another fig - but didn't want to see the bucketloads
of fruit falling from a backyard tree go to waste. "My husband
said, 'What are we going to do with all these figs?' Walking
around the local streets with my baby son, I noticed so many
fruit trees and vege gardens in my neigbourhood, and I thought,
surely other people have the same problem - too much of one
thing and not much variety!", says Julietta.
Julietta decided to create an opportunity to
get together with other residents to swap home-grown produce.
"I had very little time, a one-year-old child, and a swag
of other paid and unpaid commitments. I knew that in order
for this to work, it had to take minimum time and effort -
it practically had to run itself. And it does!"
The West Croydon swap is now in its third Summer
(2009-10). The Swap, which meets weekly from just after New
Year to the end of Summer each year, has proved extremely
successful, with a consistently high attendance throughout
the summer.
"The abundance of produce has been amazing, and
the variety even more so," Julietta enthuses.
In summer 2009, fresh produce swapped included
peaches, plums, grapes, figs, lemons, apples, pears, oranges,
watermelon, nectarines, pomegranates, lilly pillies, almonds,
sugar cane, goji berries, strawberry guavas, zucchini, eggplants,
tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, chillies, capsicums, bell peppers,
carrots, cucumbers, apple cucumbers, beetroots, horseradish,
spinach, silverbeet, rhubarb, and a variety of herbs. Plants,
seeds, seedlings and cuttings included jerusalem artichokes,
tomato seedlings, bluebell bulbs, calendula seeds, lettuce
seeds, celery seeds, marigolds, goji berry plants, cactuses
and flowering succulents, while other produce included apricot
and plum jam, plum brandy sauce, ginger syrup, anzac biscuits,
chocolate zucchini cake and eggs from chickens who are "more
family than pets" and were kept cool in a wading pool during
February's scorching weather! (Please note: eggs are a high
risk for food poisoning and are swapped at residents' own
risk. 'Backyard' eggs should be checked carefully before use
and discarded if cracked.)
In 2009, regular attendees at the Swap were so
keen to keep in contact that they met monthly during the remainder
of the year as a "Winter Open Garden Circle", sharing
home baking, recipes, seeds, seedlings, a small amount of
produce, and "getting to see the gardens where all that fabulous
Summer produce is grown!"
(summer 2010)
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