About the Vege Swap

It’s the gardener’s dilemma: whatever you have, you have by the bucketload – but you’d love some of what your neighbour’s got!

What’s it all about?

A ‘Community Fruit & Vege Swap’ is about fruit & vegetables – of course! Don’t let your surplus go to waste –find a good home for it and take home something different. Swap plants, seeds and cuttings. Share information and problem solve with other gardeners. Get motivated to grow food by sharing ideas about how to cook, eat or preserve what you grow.

AND … it’s about community. The ‘Vege Swap’ brings together people of different generations, backgrounds and walks of life who may otherwise never have met. Get to know your neighbours, feel ‘at home’ in your local area, make friends nearby. Over time our Swap has grown into an informal but powerful local network which provides support to participants during life’s ups and downs.

AND … it’s about sustainability, in the broader sense of changing our behaviours not only to prevent or avoid, but also to cope with environmental changes. The Vege Swap philosophy is that resilience in the future will rely on local networks – people within local areas pooling resources, sharing information, and supporting each other to develop skills, cope with crises, solve problems and find the courage to change. The Vege Swap cultivates ‘greener’ behaviour in many subtle ways.

How does it work?

The Community Fruit & Vege Swap works on the principle of sharing – not direct swapping, trading or bartering. We don’t try to measure the relative values of contributions – it would be impossible. We simply pool the produce and invite everyone to share it. It’s an honour system of sorts – and incredibly, it works.

Swapping evens out over weeks and across seasons. You may bring apricots in summer and take home pears in winter. You may take home someone’s apricots and another person’s jars one week, and next time bring along apricot jam.

Of course, we swap more than fruit and vegetables. Ideas and information flourish in the informal atmosphere. People of diverse backgrounds swap experience and knowledge on many subjects. We bring tangible items –preserves, goodies for morning tea, jars, plants, cuttings, seeds and seedlings – and non tangible contributions such as recipes, local history, gardening tips and good company.

Where did it all begin?

The West Croydon Community Fruit & Vege Swap began in January 2008 when local resident Julietta couldn’t stand the sight of another fig. “Walking around my local area with my baby,

*CERES: Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies www.ceres.org.au

I noticed so many fruit trees and vegetable gardens and I thought: wouldn’t it be great if I could swap some of what I have, for some of what I can see in another person’s garden?”

Inspired by an idea pioneered by CERES* in Melbourne, Julietta created a weekly meeting point for local residents during the summer. The Swap now also runs monthly in the cooler months as a “Winter Open Garden Circle”.