Berkeley Crop Swap by Dana

After our crop swap on 7/28/14 Darnell and I went to the Berkeley Crop Swap.  It was awesome, there was so many people there that we had to draw cards. We brought peaches. Once our number was called we were able to choose what crops we wanted.

My First Crop Swap by Dana

Yesterday I attended my first Crop Swap with Darnell.  It was a success.  A few people came up and took some fruit.  One lady mentioned she didn't know about the swap, so that's another project for us advertising the swaps a little better,  but anyway we addressed questions some had and just really enjoyed the conversations.  We were located on the corner of Carlson and Huntington Ave near the park.

Iko Iko Peppers by Dana

Our Iko Iko Peppers are growing.  They are purple.  When I researched about these particular peppers I learned that they are sweet and they will eventually turn red.  They're good for salads, making salsa, frying or just eating fresh.

Iko Iko Peppers

Richmond Crop Swap by Dana

On Wednesday July 9th Darnell and I went to the Richmond Crop Swap that the City of Richmond holds every Wednesday.  We traded some Lemon Cucumber seeds for a verity of  plums, grapes, peaches, pluots and a pepper. We've used some of the plums to make smoothies.  They're so good.

Playndirt's first crop swap

Local visitors visiting Playndirt's garden by Dana

Yesterday Darnell and I had visitors from Bay Area Community Resources.  A local company.  We were interviewed by Jack A (DROC Assistant Program Coordinator) and Tamara (Urban Nutrition Initiative).  The company Jack works for helps get children involved in learning about community efforts via community gardens.  Tamara is just one of the students they work with. Tamara wants to be a chef and interviewing us about our garden encourages her to cook more using a variety of produce.  They asked us questions about our garden and if we share our produce with our neighbors, which we do.  Also I made mint tea out of mint leaves we had.  Our guest really enjoyed the tea.

Dana, Tamara and Jack

Mint tea and Tangerines

June 28th by Dana

As the day of our crop swap approaches closer and closer, there's the hope, goal and a little anxiety that the day would be a success.  We have many things we are going to swap out,

from pots to plants

from wood stumps to a magnolia tree

our goal and hope is that people within the community see this as an opportunity to plant, grow and share