This year at the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum Plant Exchange we met this hen.
The Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum annual Spring plant exchange this year was in Arvada. There was a potluck and hundreds of plants being exchanged by gardeners of all levels, from the beginner to the master gardener. The hosts had a chicken coop where this little hen lived with about 5 others. The gardening forum holds the plant exchange a couple times of year, in the spring and again in the fall. everyone starts plants from seed or divides them from established plants in their gardens to bring to share with one another. It is a wonderful way to expand the plants in the garden without having to spend any money at the garden center. This year I shared lemon balm, golden zucchini, chives, coreopsis and strawberries. It is nice to see the plants that are reproducing and spreading in the garden enjoy a good home.
Here is some of the little plants with big potential that I traded for.
I ended up with several different plants to add to the garden this year. My new plantlings included: Eggplant, Tomatillo, Ice Plant, Johnny Jump Up, Forget-Me-Not and a couple varieties of Mint. Some of these are doing great, others not so much, like the artichoke and forget-me-not.
The plant exchange in progress.
For the Potluck portion of the event I made a white bean dip with rice chips and fresh veggies.
This white bean dip with chive blossoms was as tasty as it was pretty.
You can find the recipe here for the White Bean Dip. I chose this recipe so anyone could eat it, gluten free, vegetarian, healthy and with the addition of chive blossoms, great for a garden party. The girls and my good friend Cat went with me. Cat has a most fabulous garden and I have plans to feature her garden here on the website in the near future.
My friend Cat enjoying the plant exchange potluck.
Cat is the one who introduced me to the gardening forum, which you can find here on the Garden Web. There are all kinds of forums to choose from if you live in a different part of the country. Gardeners talk about everything from what to plant to plant identification. Check it out!
Here is a nice specimen from last years swap. It is a Speedwell.
The purple blooms on this sweet perennial open in early spring.
This little plant has nearly doubled in size since last year when it was planted. I love the delicate lime green foliage. Cat and I have been exchanging plants with one another for a few years now. Our gardens are going to start looking very similar with the one exception that I have tons of yellow flowers in my garden and for some reason Cat has something against yellow! Her garden is still beautiful however!
I hope you find a great resource with the Garden Web and if there is not a plant exchange in your area, I encourage you to organize one! And let me know if you do!
