For the past few months we have been running a crop swap activity as part of our permaculture meetings, it was introduced by one of the ladies (Ellen) who was new on the committee this year. It gives backyard food growers an opportunity to swap their excess once a month for something they want, but which is excess to another backyard growers needs.
As with many group activities, Ellen has developed some rules to make sure the crop swap is equitable and the process runs smoothly -
The Rules
1. Each PSW member (or family) is invited to bring up to three items to swap.
2. No money is to change hands.
3. Members may browse the produce available for swap during the formal meeting.
4. Members are encouraged to use environmentally conscious packaging.
Items accepted for swapping include fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, eggs, flowers, preserved or prepared foods, kombucha/jun, scobies or other cultures.
A singular “ITEM” consists of: one head of cabbage, lettuce or similar, a bunch of greens, one small or half a large pumpkin/melon, four – five pieces of fruit, a punnet of green beans, one jar of honey, 6 eggs etc.
If they are unsure, the swapper is directed to check with the PSW member running the crop swap table.
The process
Members are to bring items to the crop swap table prior to the official opening of the meeting. Items should be clearly labelled. Participants will receive one ticket per item they have to swap, up to three items in total. In order to reduce waste, rather than the throw-away tickets from a ticket book, Ellen uses good quality playing cards, which are then returned to her at the end of the night for re-use at the next meeting.
After the formalities of the meeting, participants’ card will be called at random to ensure fair access to the goods on offer. Participants can exchange one card per item. Any perishable items left at the end of the night can be reclaimed by the original owner, or gifted, without exchange to any participant. Preserved and other non-perishables may be kept until the next swap.
Participants should aim to use packaging thoughtfully and to bring their own containers, cardboard boxes or reusable/paper bags to transport their produce.
While the idea is a simple one it has proved to be very popular with quite a number of members (including myself) bringing their excess produce along for swapping and most of the produce disappears from the swap table during the night.
