Yes, my husband grows Sicilian Artichok, Red Rezon, Lorz Italian Artichok. Do you have any interest in those.

I'm new to the forum so I don't know how these swaps work. Can you tell me please.

Generally, the way swaps work is you sign up on a thread and indicate you are wanting in. The host, or the person collecting and re-directing the product, give dates when sign-ups end, when items must be recieved and when items will go out.

So, let's say you sign up. You then mail out 4 types of garlic, 3 heads of each for a total of 12 heads. You include a postage paid return envelope in your package (I usually put the same amount of postage on the return pack as it takes to send the entire submission pack).

The host gets your stuff, and everyone else on the swap and takes garlic a, b, c and d from you and puts other people's garlic in yours.

So, if you submitted 12 heads, you get 12 back. If you submit 2, you get 2 back. The total number in is the same number that goes out.

What you get out of it is some new types of garlic that your friends on the Allium forum grew.

If we get enough people interested (5-6 min), then I'd be glad to host it and do the shuffle. If no one is interested, then nothing lost. It just seems like a good way to take some of your extra and get something different. I know that I had a bumper crop of Metechi, Bogatyr, Red Toch and German Hardneck and I'd be happy to trade some of that bounty for a new variety. If others are in the same place - well, we all win.

Novelist,

"You include a postage paid return envelope in your package"

I don't feel it would be my resposibilty to pay postage both ways if I did a trade with you.

I have a lot of bulbs curing right now and would be willing to trade some of what I have a lot of for say some of your Red Toch and bogatyr. If I sent you grade A bulbs I want the same quality and weight in return. I have many Georgian Ctystal, Rosewood, Slovenian, Estonian Red...too many to list. check out bloosqualls garlic farm if you're interested.

Travis

I'm not talking about a one on one trade, that's a different thing. If two parties are doing a private trade, then of course they each pay for their own shipping.

I'm talking about a group of people sending something to a central location and someone acts as a collector and distributor. What I described was how swaps work; it's the definition, not something I made up.

I would love to participate. I have 23 varieties and would be willing to trade 3 or 4 of most varieties also. I would send my best quality, which is really good if I do say so myself! Thanks for organizing.

I would definatly be interested also

I could also participate, I live in Z9 so I have mostly warm-weather types.

Could we include shallots, potato onions and top-setting onions too?

Well, it sounds like we have the makings for a swap.

I hesitate to expand it to shallots and other onions, only because the logistics get really hard. People who send garlic probably want garlic, but maybe not everyone. I don't want to disappoint anyone by misrepresenting things. I'd suggest a second swap for shallots, top set and potato onions.

Here's what I'm thinking. We need at least 6 people. I'd like to do things by the quarter pound, not variety. So, for instance, if you send two pounds of one large garlic, you'd get two pounds back, but it might be three smaller ones. So, you'd get more "head count", but smaller size.

Each type you send in must be at least 1/4 pound. you could send 1/2 pound and get 1/4 of two types or 1/2 of one in return.

You could also give me preferences for return (i.e. if you send 2 lbs, would you prefer to get only a few types back with higher weight, or a bunch of small varieties?)

So far these are the interested parties:

1) Novelist
2) Promethean spark
3) Jonas302
4) Mbstone
5) Lakemayor

So, if these people can confirm and perhaps one more, then we have a start. Also, it's not limited to one more. We can take as many people who are interested in signing up.

I'll give it one more week, then post some dates.

Hi Novelist,

The seed swap things sounds good for the home gardener, or amateur, however, there's no good way to insure quality control for those who demand quality and consistency. For example, I have some monster size Lorz without blemish, and perfectly cured for longevity of storage. Why on Gods green earth would I want to swap those out in hopes alone, of someone providing the same quality bulb? If anything, I'd swap junk to try and upgrade - lol.

I have a concern I have to tell you guys about. Please don't send you garlic in a bubble mailer ok, that's just not even safe. The only way to send a pound or even 3-4 bulbs is in a well padded box and priority mail is really fast so that's what I use when I start shipping mine out.

-bloo

Go swap your junk elsewhere. Real garlic growers are proud of what they grow and would want others to share the best of what they have to offer.

Novelist, I do have a question about the swap. How do we set it up so that we don't get something back that we are already growing?

Well, I certainly believe that everyone will be sending their best; we all share the same passion and I chose to believe it will show. If one does not have the personal pride and integrity to participate, then this is not for them. I expect just the opposite, in fact, as we all love to show our best. When I give some of my garlic away, I donÂt give my friends the little runts, I give them big, beautiful heads because IÂm proud of it and want to share that; if we didnÂt have the desire to grow the best, we would not come here. Bad garlic can be grown almost anywhere without any special techniques. In the unexpected event that someone does happen to ship "junk", IÂd just return it to them without comment. I donÂt expect that, however.

Bloosquall  thanks for that tip; IÂll add that to the instruction list.

Mbstone  if everyone includes a list of what they donÂt want back, IÂll work it out so that everyone gets something different  unless everyone sends one pound of the same thing!

We could do the exchange near planting time, say late Sept, so that poor quality heads have a chance to rot before the exchange. ;) If they look good in Sept, they will almost certainly grow okay.

I have 12 types, but don't plan to send them all in. I'd be happy to send in a lot of only one type (as supply allows) if it's something that everyone wants.

Early Italian Purple (artichoke)
Inchelium Red (Artichoke)
Kettle River (artichoke)
Lorz Italian (artichoke)
Red Toch (artichoke)
Asian Tempest (asiatic)
Sonoran (asiatic)
Ajo Rojo (creole)
chesnok red (purple stripe)
german stiffneck (porcelain)
Silver Rose (silverskin)
Red Janice (turban)
Shilla (turban)

So, I guess some didn't get the point of my post, and took it a little personal (mbstone). Well let me just clear things up. I'm not saying there's not some integrity and pride from some garlic farmers ( I know of some ), however, I'm also positive there are garlic farmers that don't pay any attention to whether, or not their bulbs have bruising, nicks, or too much sun exposure. Maybe there's an all star growing group here - that's fine, but more likely there's 1, or 2 new growers that - because of lack of experience maybe wouldn't think too much of a bruised clove. Where as, someone else would be very offended to receive something like that in return for their best. I'm just saying it sounds like a lot of work for a middle man to bother with when it comes to sorting all of that. Not to mention the scary thought of someone not taking special care to prevent the spread of white rot. It can be deceptive to an untrained eye, and could cause someone to lose their crop. Maybe I just rely on my garlic to produce too much, but that sums up my concerns. Still think it's a good idea for those who would just like some to plant for their personal consumption. ;)

If there's still room for one more person, I would like to join the swap. Though I would only be able to offer "German Extra Hardy" for the swap. A large amount of it (100 lbs or so) is almost done curing (harvested in June), and I should be able to send as much as you want, if interested.

Sure, there's still time. As our Shakespeare fan suggested, we should probably target mid September as the trade date. So, keep signing up.

yo spark, you have a few I wouldn't mind having more of. Maybe we can deal.

-bloo

I'd like to be in on this as well. I've got enough of these curing to send in on a swap:

Chesnok Red
Purple Glazer
Belarus
Yugoslavian
Slovenian

I've got more varieties, but they're all porcelain types that I'm going to grow out another year after eating the runts. ;-) I assume I should just stick in a list of what I have so I don't get those back?

I'm particuarly interested in getting some Italian varieties, if anyone is thinking about what they are sending in...

Great - we're still open for participants. We'll hold this open until Mid-August, then I'll send out details and hope to get all entries in by Labor day weekend and out that same week so everyone has their swap garlic by mid september.

Please count me in on the garlic swap.
I have 30 years of garlic growing in my blood but just started growing gourmet garlic last year. I am going to specialize in Creole garlic. My creole garlic is kinda small this year but I have 4 different varieties.
This looks like it will be fun.

Good to have you, kmatchek

I'm new to growing garlic and would love to try any variety that someone has extra of. Since I don't have garlic to trade would I be able to buy?

I am really interested in trying creole garlic especially... I have a greenhouse so the weather won't be a problem. Thanks.

I don't think you'll need a greenhouse to grow creole garlic. I found Ajo rojo at least to be a relatively late garlic (late garlics usually work well in cooler areas).

So when are we gonna do the garlic swap?
Someone said mid September and we are almost there.

I'm ready... Going to put the late varieties in the fridge soon and start planning beds...

I would love to join in. I dont have garlic, Was wondering if pole beans or strawberry plants would be sufficient trades.

I emailed 'novelist' and he said that he won't be able to head up the swap, so we'll have to find a new leader or use a different trade format, person-to-person, round robin, ect.

i've emailed a few of the would-be garlic swappers individually. if anyone is interested in doing an informal, bulb-for-bulb, home-grown organic swap via mail, email me at marzuki@earthlink.net ...i'm in illinois, have one 100-year-old heritage bulb (very few left) and some normal organic nice kinds incehlliium red, german extra hardy, silver rose, purple glazer, and maybe one other i'm forgetting. looking for heritage bulbs or something interesting i don't have.