I understand your frustration. The ETPS has it's own site with a built in discussion forum for just this reason!

I've been doing my best to talk about other things. Dixietn and I were talking about blueberries yesterday, and I added an East Tennessee Plant Events Calendar today. Sometimes I worry that I'm the only one that checks in here on a regular basis.

Maybe I'll start a thread about disease and pest resistant lilacs that would do well in Tennessee. Look for it shortly.

I check every day, and don't stay long. I do wish this was a more active group.

Mary

If you want a more active group, then get more active. POST SOMETHING.

There are quite a few non-mtps related threads here already. Comment on one of them, or post your own. Nobody is stopping you!

I'm new here to the site, not new to ET, although we just moved in Dec and I'm starting a new garden where we are now. It's much smaller than my old one but I'm kinda excited because I know I will have to really think and work to get everything planted in there that I want instead of just figuring... oh lets build another bed. I guess at some point the unlimited garden space becomes a a burdan because you can't really manage the whole thing...

Anyway I'm still trying to figure out how to actually use this site.

Couple questions.. ET/MT East TN, Middle TN got that... but what does PS stand for?

where is the link to ETPS?

Welcome, Lightheart!

ETPS means East Tennessee Plant Swap. The link is just below this paragraph! Check us out on line, then come check us out in person. We'd love to have you come and meet your fellow Gardenwebbers. We have a truly awesome time and there will be tons of awesome plants that need to be adopted.

Here is a link that might be useful: ETPS website

tn_veggie_gardner, since Im the Director of The Middle Tennessee Plant Swap I guess this is more or less directed to me alone. The biggest reason for all the swap threads is because people love coming to them and their interest level in them is huge. I think that this Spring will mark either our 15th MTPS in seven years or it will be the 17th MTPS in eight years. IÂm sure that JanÂs memory is better than mine. If it wasn't a really big deal then nobody would be talking about it or coming to it twice a yearÂyear after year. There will most likely be 100-150 gardeners that WILL discuss Tennessee gardening topics all day long at The Middle Tennessee Plant Swap on Saturday May 16th! The wealth of information you can glean at a MTPS from talking to our members is simply staggering. It is a fantastic event that brings us all together for friendship, to get acquainted for the first time, to have a great gardening-related day, to swap plants and stories, for enjoying awesome food and to benefit from extremely informative lectures! It's only natural that the closer we get to the swap date the more people are excited and want to talk about it. Come to one and you'll be hooked, then you'll understand what all the fuss is about.

Conversely, you have the right and ability to start as many threads discussing as many topics you choose as often as you choose...kinda like complaining about too many MTPS threads (which by the way is a FIRST in all my years on GW). Quite simply, people are going to post and comment on threads that they are interested, involved, concerned and attracted to! If you want to start a thread about the mud on your shoe then don't be surprised when nobody comments; nobody is interested. If there are 25-100 comments on a thread then you can easily tell where the interest is. If you do a search then I think you'll find in excess of 200 threads and over 5,000 comments on GW pertaining to The Middle Tennessee Plant Swap; there's good reason for that level of interest and I'm very proud of it! The board does slow down a bit during the Winter months and as Spring and the warmer weather get here people are busy spending time in their gardens/beds rather than posting new threads. That has been the trend for at least ten years now on GW. From the end of May until September I doubt that you'll see hardly any threads about the MTPS at all.

More to your point, there are 30 threads per page on the forum. 80% of the threads on this page have nothing to do with the MTPS at all. When you look at the last two pages and take those 60 threads into consideration then 87% have nothing to do with the MTPS. So considering that around 200+ of our members will be attending one or more of these plant swaps in the next several weeks it is not uncommon or unnatural that 15%-20% of the threads will pertain to this subject matter. As the Director for the MTPS, I have a certain responsibility to disseminate information to our members concerning changes, updates and to promote the event especially for newbies and first-timers. As this will be my last MTPS as Director, I cannot say how it will be handled after May 16th but trust me, people will still be excited about the MTPS events and want to discuss them.

Again, I would suggest that you pick a swap that is nearest your location and make every attempt to attend. You may find that you become just as excited and passionate about them as the rest of us and see what you've been missing. We would love to have you attend the MTPS and for a better idea of what goes on and what to expect visit our website at http://www.midtnplantswap.com/. If you would care to discuss it with me personally then feel free to contact me at your leisure at jtoothmanindadj@comcast.net or by phone at 615-310-4155.

Jeff Toothman, Director (for the next 49 days and 17 hours)
The Middle Tennessee Plant Swap

I meant no harm in my post, though it may have appeared so. I was slightly disgruntled about finally finding a TN gardening forum and only seeing posts about something I knew nothing about (not subjects I came here to discuss, at that point). My apologies. It sounds like a nice event & I may very well attend (wearing a fake moustache...lol). I will give this forum the chance I should have given it in the first place.

Peace - Steve

No problem Steve; were all family here! Like any other family, we dont always get along but we do love each other.

Please come to the swap; no mustache or disguises needed and no grudges held. This is a fantastic forum with some of the most knowledgeable and giving gardeners you will ever meet. The expertise and experience of these guys on here will flat-out knock your socks off. Don't be discouraged.

This is my last MTPS as Director and Ive kinda got my emotions on my sleeve more than usual. I certainly didnt mean to bite your head off. Im just very proud and protective of the MTPS; Ive spent so many years, so much time and attention in nurturing this thing that its almost like an adopted child to me. The thousands of hours, countless sleepless nights, stressful situations, the cultivation, development, promotion and fostering that have been involvedsee this is why I have to step down. This event is taking over my life! Needless to say, when I read that post it felt like some stranger had hauled-off and slapped my kids face. So my apologies for overreacting.

The swap threads will be flying for the next eight weeks before they die down. Ill probably start a dozen more. After so many years, I forget that it's hard to fathom the passion and excitement that the MTPS brings out in us unless you've been there. I didn't get it until I attended my first one either but the only two I've missed since then were because I had multiple broken bones and couldn't travel and one where I was out of state working and couldn't fly back. It's just hard to explain to a Newbie but we've all been where you are now!

Try and imagine an 8-hour day with 100-150 of the nicest, most helpful, generous and knowledgeable gardeners you've ever met. By the end of the day they will be your best friends; I'm not kidding!!! Now imagine them all in one place in an atmosphere that is akin to a loving and happy family reunion with table after table of the best food you've ever put in your mouth. Now add in 4-6 hours of swapping thousands of varieties of free plants, most that you'll never see in a box store or local nursery. Don't forget an hour-long incredibly informative lecture and Q & A session with a guest speaker that is guaranteed to impress and inform. Last but not least add in the beautiful and peaceful setting of the Duck River and Henry Horton State Park as a backdrop and you may get some semblance of what we're all jacked-up about. Trust me, I'm not exaggerating at all...if anything I'm down-playing it. Go to our website and check it all out. Look at the Picture Page too! http://www.midtnplantswap.com/

I have registered for the swap. =) I just hope that I have some plants to give away that interest others. My Cherry toms are awesome this year, even though they're quite common. Most of my plants i'd bring are common.