Hey Brenda - I was thinking about Earth Day, Saturday April 22. Same bat time, same bat station.

That date is good for me. BTW Brenda, the Bluebeard has sprouted. I am so excited. Shannon/Dirtrx

OOopps!!!! Seeing as I will be out of town that day I think I will move it to the following weekend - Saturday April 29th. I will more than likely have a gajillion plants to toss into the fray - the hoop house (I call it a hoopey house) has allowed way too many plants to survive my winter care - most of my fall taken cuttings have rooted, so I am overloaded. Does this stop me from buying more, absolutely NOT! I am a man possessed.

Your load is our gain! Sounds great to me. One more weekend to prepare.

i was kinda wondering if they might have something going at the park for earth day anyhow. sounds good to me! we'll be there with bells on. :) tam

I am looking forward to this year's spring swap, whichever weekend it is. I just completed a lean-to greenhouse and brought another load of plants from our old house in Greenville, SC. I will need to make at least one more trip to Greenville to get the rest between now and April, but should have lots of good stuff for the swap. The only possible conflict is that our other daughter (in Chattanooga) is expecting a baby around May 1st.

That weekend is good for me. The wintersowing is going well so I hope to have alot to bring. Shannon/Dirtrx

I haven't had time to work up an official post yet but the big news is that this years swap will be held at CREECH ROAD PARK the place we had it a few years back. Seems that some big whoop-dee-doo shindig will be taking over the entire park at Lake Benson (600+ campers!!!). Anyway so it will be at Creech Road Elementary School Park on the north side of Garner on Saturday April 29th from 11am til 2pm.

You know you've hit the big time when you wander into the city offices to reserve a shelter in the park for your bi-annual little baby plant swap and the clerks at the park office AND at the cashier counter recognize you from years past and ask how the plant swaps are going!!!!

I really liked the School Park better so I am happy. I think you, TJ, are a memorable guy - big smiles 'allatime' - so it doesn't surprise me that you were recognized by the Garner clerks.

I'm gonna bring some strawberries and wondered if yours got enough sun to bear?

I'll be bringing daylilies, acidanthera, and iris for a change. I just can't bring anything home (hah!) 'cause I have stuff in pots still waiting to be nestled from last fall.

Nancy the nancedar

Nancy - I believe we have started asking attendees how many plants that they brought are from the previous swap and how many of them are in the original container??? Seems like a few hands went up last time.

The strawberries did great. I put them in a bed mixed with plants from various sources so I don't know which variety produced more but I can tell the difference between the plants, some stay short while others grow quite tall for a strawberry.

glad to know i'm not the only one who doesn't get everything in the ground right away! i actually did pretty well with the swap stuff from the fall swap, though i still have a bunch of mini liriope to put somewhere. sometimes i feel like i have more in my holding areas than in the ground. :) tammy

yeah, but I knew where the other place was...
My husband just asked when the swap was. I'm not quite sure if he asked out of dread or support, but knowing him it was because he knows the more I swap the less I buy. I will be there! -Ais.

ais, the other swap place isn't too far ro hard to get to. it's smaller, but all the tables are in one spot, instead of divided into 2 like at benson. bring your hubby along for the food & he'll be happy to come. that's what keeps mine and my kids coming & not grumbling. plus like you said, less money spent(i think, anyhow... lol). tammy

YAY! I realized this morning that I didn't know when the spring swap would be, and was _terrified_ that I already had something planned -- most of my saturdays through mid-april are busy, and then in May I have 2 scientific meetings and my sister's graduation over weekends... But the 29th April was free!!! Now I have to start figuring out what to bring this year... Maybe I will be lucky & can bring some groundcover... hmmmmmm.

:)!

Arwen

TJ - the taller strawberry is 'Sweet Charlie' from Stark Bros. I like that the berries stay up off the ground so I don't have to put mulch around the plants. Now is a good time to put down the first dose of Escar-go against the midnight raiders (slugs) ya' know.

Nancy the nancedar

Nancy, I got bareroot strawberries at the fall swap. Were those yours? I had planted them in 4-inch pots at the time. When I planted them recently in a 4 x 8 foot bed, I was amazed at the amount of new roots since there were very few old leaves on top of the soil. Are they the same variety(ies) as John's?

Sorry, I don't remember if I brought them to the fall swap - that was SOOO long ago. I also share Allstar and they tend to get mixed together. I did give both to tietie the year before so maybe she brought them? Both are good bearers and if you got some with dried old leaves in the fall that means they will be second or third year and will bear heavily the end of May and through June here.