Gardeners -- Seed Swap at Brookside Gardens this weekend

This weekend Wheaton will have an annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchange, on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at Brookside Gardens.  It costs $15 per person, but that includes lots of free seeds (a wide variety in smaller quantities, which is what you need to plant a real garden), talks (one sounds really good on “Starting Vegetable and Flower Seeds Under Florescent Lights”), and networking time.  It is 12:30-4pm with registration starting at noon.  I hope to attend and meet other local vegetable gardeners.

As noted on the Wheaton Patch, "The seed swap is a fundamental part of human history. Seeds were one of the first commodities valued and traded. Today, modern gardeners collect and exchange seeds for many reasons ranging from cultivating rare, heirloom varieties to basic thrift."  It is certainly cheaper to get free seeds than to order them from a seed catalog!

More info is on the Washington Gardener's website (the organizing magazine).

We're supposed to get a snow storm this Friday, so if that happens there is a telephone number on this pdf to call to see if the swap is still happening.  If it does snow I plan to walk around the neighborhood and take photos!  It would be my first snow in Wheaton.

Another great gardening resource is Rooting DC, a free, all-day gardening forum taking place February 23, 2013, 9am - 4:30pm.  It is an annual gathering that I will certainly attend, for gardeners (mostly veggie) from DC and the larger local area.  I've been a few years in the past and it is always great.  It usually ends with a big giveaway of one-year expired seeds that are donated to the organizers.  Older seeds can no longer be sold but still grow when planted!  Just plant a little more than you otherwise would to account for them being older.