(This was written to be an Ideas article, but was recommended for this forum, instead. I've made a few edits since the article submission, but here it is!:)
With all of the members here on ATP, there are so many opportunities to exchange ideas, opinions...and seeds! Wouldn't it be great if there was an easier (and less expensive) way to get all of the seeds and plants from all of the different people that you want? Maybe we can!
Chances are, you've heard of plant exchanges. Maybe you've even been to one. Maybe fifteen people showed up or, if you're in an area with a lot of gardeners, maybe fifty. Wouldn't it be great if a hundred people or more showed up? Or a thousand?
Here on ATP, we have many members, from veggie gardeners to iris enthusiasts to orchard owners. Some of us have tapped into the potential to obtain new and unique plants by trading with others here on the ATP site, organizing our trades via TreeMail or through the forums, but it is usually one person trading several items with one other person. What if we could, one time a year, streamline it into a massive seed and plant exchange? I think it's possible.
Imagine this: at the designated time each year, everyone submits their list of available seeds to one, central location. It could be a forum, but I wonder if
@Dave could even set up a more user-friendly mini-database or other means of viewing the various lists. People would communicate with each other which items they want off of other peoples' lists and what they are willing to trade for those items and all requests would be made made within the designated time period; say, two weeks.
After that time, everyone who found traders for their item submits their items, labelled appropriately, to a single, central source (a person) who has been designated beforehand. This person would be responsible for receiving and re-packaging all of the trade items into single boxes going out to everyone. If you don't follow, no worries, here is a simplified example involving 3 people:
Person 1: Wants seeds L and M from Person 2 and wants seeds Q and S from Person 3.
Person 2: Wants seeds seeds A and D from Person 1 and wants seeds R and T from Person 3.
Person 3: Wants seeds A and C from Person 1 and wants seeds J and N from Person 2.
Once everyone has agreed to the trade, everyone involved in the trades (lets call them "vendors") send the seeds from their stock, that were requested to the central person who acts sort of like a warehouse. In this example, Person 1 would send in seeds A (x's 2), C, and D. Person 2 would send in seeds J, L, M, and N. Person 3 would send in seeds Q, R, S, and T. The central person would organize them into the boxes where they are supposed to go according to the lists they receive from the 'vendors'. The 'vendors' would also send along a tip of some sort (to be agreed upon as a group?) as gratitude to the person who is giving their time to fill all of the orders in order that we may all save a great deal of money on shipping costs overall.
When you think about it, you may realize that you would like seeds, plants, and other items from ten or twelve different people and that this could save you anywhere from $30-$100 on shipping those items individually because the items would be packaged together and mailed to you all at once.
If most people are interested in seeds, the best time of year will probably be before Southern gardening season begins in March. If we're looking at exchanging plants, we may wish to consider something that allows for plant ship dates in late April or early May.
Let's get a conversation started below and discuss your ideas. If you have questions or concerns, state them below and maybe we can, as a community, come up with a solution. Most importantly, it would be great to get a 'show of hands' of who might be interested in participating in such an event.
