My heart beats for Community and the well being of others.  When I think back on how I got started Gardening a lot of my plants that I started with I got for FREE.

One of my goals as a blogger is serving YOU, my readers. I like to help solve a problem you may be having.  Here’s the thing.  Recently MANY people have lost their jobs. This has been hard for many close to me. My big community heart wants to HELP.

So I created a community garden swap.

Here’s all the steps of how I made mine and let me know if you plan to host a community garden swap too!

Community Garden Swap

Here’s how I made it:

Step 1:

I found an old cedar box planter I had not been using. I took out my stencils and paint.  I planned out the words and painted them on the box. I used stencils – not a fancy machine with vinyl. I don’t make enough signs. Simple stencils from the dollar store!

Step 2:

Fill it with plants you are not wanting anymore. Plants you have extra of!! Sometimes our seeds do really well and we don’t need that many.

Step 3: 

Let your community know! My box sat for close to 2 weeks before any plants started moving. I realized my mistake in not advertising to the local community group on Facebook.

I’ve ran into some problems with mine and realized I needed to add some “Rules and Guidelines” to the box.

FREE PDF Version click Community Garden Box

Step 4:

Have fun – Get to know your local gardening community. You might find someone to share the Harvest with! I’ve already had lots of great connections with my neighborhood through mine.

Here’s the Final Community Garden Swap

The box did get picked up (stolen)  from a miss understanding and I was able to track it down and get it back.  My seed container in the box had a bunch of loose seeds rolling around. So the guidelines was needed.

I just printed the guidelines – put it in a plastic sleeve and stapled it to the bottom.

Step 5: (Optional)

If you want to host one in your community and like to be added to the list of locations join the Community Garden Swap Facebook Group.

If your not on Facebook and want to know a list of locations with contact information fill out the contact form.

Benefits of hosting a Garden Swap:

1: Your helping someone who has a minimal budget grow food for their family.

2: Get to know your Gardening Community Near you – SHARE THE HARVEST.

3: Try a new plant!

4: Gardening is great for our health and well being on so many levels.

Gardening is an ESSENTIAL part of my life.

I shared more in my 10 Reasons Why I love Gardening

Love to hear from you,

Do you share your plants or harvest with others?