June 26, 2013 Food Swap

Whoo hoo! What an exciting food swap we had on Wednesday June 26th, 2013!

3: 00 pm came and we had a friend show up and swapped fiji apples for apricots. Then shortly afterwards another friend came over with more Caigua seedlings. And I think he swapped a seedling for jam. 

Another friend came and brought Chocolate Almond Bites:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of raw almonds
• 1 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 4 tbsp cacao powder 
• 1/2 cup freeze dried Goji Berries

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender. 
2. Transfer to bowl.
3. Use coconut oil, almond milk to add a touch of moisture. 
4. Roll into balls. 

Alt Options:

Use other nuts instead of almond or mini white chocolate chips. 

As you can see she brought a plateful and well....

We stopped eating, so I could take a picture of the last one.

In between friends coming and going, another friend brought eggs from her hens, and (2) 1/2 doz eggs were well received. 

Lastly, another friend who came the furthest, about 1 hour and 30 mins away, brought us grape leaves, and diatomaceous earth (food grade), and enjoyed the afternoon with her 2 sons playing in my yard.

The afternoon turned to evening, and I thanked everyone for coming, and cleaned up my yard.

Again, thank you everyone for coming see you next week. 

June 19, 2013 Food Swap

After such an exciting week last week, I am very sorry to report that no one contacted me about attending, nor did anyone just show up.

Again it has been brought to my attention to have a swap on a weekend, and I'm not trying to come off as a know-it-all or be rude at all. I am saying that in the past I have done it on a Saturday morning... and no one showed up. No one contacted me about coming or not, and no one showed up. So I just sat in my front yard for the fun of it for 3 hours. No really it wasn't fun.

If someone would like to open up their front/back yard for a weekend swap I am ALL for it. I will come and bring some awesome herbs or fruit (my apricot tree is starting to ripen) and I will swap with other people, and have a grand ol'e time. I just want to keep the swaps at my home to Wednesday's from 3-6 pm. (3-5 pm in the winter).

Please leave a comment below or contact me directly if you want to host a swap at your home and we can talk about the details.

Thank you, :)

June 12, 2013 Food Swap

After the previous week of the people coming without letting me know, I decided to update my post on the Nextdoor website, to include please RSVP so I can set up for the event or cancel it. This got people's attention and I had 3 people RSVP. YEAH!

So the day of the event I put my sign out in the yard

and set up a table in the front yard, and went to collect herbs and fruit for the swap.

one neighbor shows up and bring home grown kale, two varieties. 

and another neighbor comes and brings Achojcha / Caigun, 

And another neighbor comes and bring homemade bread!

I am so excited, what I have envisioned for over a year has just come to life before my eyes. People are talking about their soil in their yards, and above ground gardening, and they are excited to come back again and see what everyone else might bring.

Even the kids are playing with the chalk and bubbles!

Before I know it everyone has swapped, and time to go home! Yeah!

Thank you, neighbors for coming you don't know how much it meant to me to see you come and be neighborly.