Gardening Clubs
Forester2
Posts: 1,477
I have promised to join our village garden club in the new year and as most of the members have been there for years they are getting excited that new blood will be joining them soon (me)! I asked if they have a seed swap/plant swap section up and running (a negative response to that question) so they will possibly be asking me to start this up. Has anyone had experience in running something like that and how do you stop greedy people grabbing everything on offer? Any ideas or experiences would be welcome.
0
Posts
A small cost helps. Have someone selling them rather than just leaving them on a table
do it at the end of the meeting when everyone is there so a few members don't get into the habit of turning up early and grabbing everything
Can't think of anything else at the moment.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Good ideas Nut - thanks. A small fee of 5p or 10p could go to club funds perhaps. Also a good idea to have it at the end as they all like a cup of tea and a gossip.
Some kind of rationing system with more for people who donate could be introduced if grabbing is a problem.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I do this with my garden group. It's the usual suspects who bring the most plants and like to have first pick which seems reasonable to me but then they're all very polite about it being all women with an honorary husband who tags along and who provides some of the best plants.
We also provide many of the plants for a charity sale in May and that can vary from our well prepared seedlings, cuttings and dvisions to poor plants that have been grubbed up and stuck in a bag or pot with no care at all.
I would insist on having plants properly potted up and labelled so they can be identified and looked up. Proper labels on any seed packets too and then charge according to plant or pot size depending on how easy it is to find and propagate.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Thanks Obelixx - how much does your group charge for a packet of seeds or a potted plant? (this is just to give me guidance)
We do it in Euros so anything from 50 cents for a 3" pot with something common like forget-me-not or a primula to €5 or more for a large pot with a perennial or a shrub. Seeds like honesty and verbena bonariensis will go for 50cents. Sometimes we get spare packets of sweet peas or pumpkins and sell those for €1,00. Last year I picked up 8 unwanted deep purpe gladioli for just €1 as they were left at the end. They did very well in a pot with purple and white petunias.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
You could raffle the plants and seeds donated, too.
Another good idea Woodgreen thanks.
Our gardening club used to have just short of 140 members, but this is now down to the high 80's1
The problem is that there is not many young ones, mainly elderly ladies and unfortunately the elderly pass on and are not replaced!
I/we bring free seeds such as from Garden News, also garden mags etc which are free to take or a small donation is acceptable, also we have a plant sale in May which members provide free plants which are sold for club funds!
Members can also bring plants for sale, a 10% fee is charged on any sales which also goes to the club, these are offered at the end of the meeting and if any male happens to get in the way of the "ladies"trying to be first, tough luck, they make the St Trinians lot look like proper young ladies!
Oh Jimmy, I have a wonderful vision of the riotous garden club ladies battering down the men. As there won't be much that can be offered by anyone at this time of year perhaps I can introduce it slowly and see what happens - bearing in mind I'm not even a member yet I am just wondering what I am letting myself in for!! Do your members make up their own prices for the seeds/plants on offer?