2015 Fauquier Seed Swap

Bonnie has been honing her gardening skills over the last few years and she's had great success! I, on the other hand, have managed to grow some lilies and the occasional herb, and killed multiple other varieties of botanicals. I keep trying though, and Dory says that counts.

Last weekend we went to a seed swap in Warrenton, organized by Outlaw Garden, to trade in some seeds we have leftover from previous years for new kinds. It was a free event, but we were on the honor system to make sure the amount of seeds we took for ourselves vs. left for others was about equal.

To prepare for the swap I went through my seeds - I thought I had a whole box full, but turns out I only had zucchini and butternut squash. I must have done a purge last summer. I put the extra seeds into a baggy and added a label that included the sell by date. The rules of the swap said they could be up to a few years old, so these passed. I used one of my green Mason jars to hold the seeds, some ziplocs just in case and a Sharpie for labeling the bags once I got my new seeds.

Once we got to Warrenton and figured out where to park - small town Virginia gets you every time! - we were greeted by this adorable display by Haute Cakes Pastry Shop. How cute are these garden-themed cupcakes?

They had the tables organized by type of seed - flowers, herbs, root veggies, squash, etc. - to make it easier to find something specific:

I ended up with chives, cantaloupe, and morning glory flower seeds. But the real haul for me came back in the car when Bonnie went through all the seeds she brought to potentially swap and gave me some of her stash! Plus, she went back into the swap for more once we saw more people showing up, and came back with okra for me!

After the swap, we decided to take the scenic route home down Route 29, and stopped at Lee Highway Nursery on a whim. It had an outside garden center, and inside they had gardening-related decor, some wine, canned goods, and pet stuff. It was a weird combination of things for a garden center but I like quirky places like that.

Then we went further south on 29 and made it into the town of Culpeper. We had some lunch and then stopped at Shenandoah Garden Spot, which I felt like we'd been to before. The smell was familiar when we walked in, but it could have been a smell that reminds me of little shops in Amish country - combination of candles, flowers, fruit, and wood? You know that smell.

Then we went to Lowe's and Target (a BFF day isn't complete without a Target run) and then headed home. I'm very happy with my haul for the day and can't wait to start some seedlings inside! I need to figure out what window in the house gets the best sun and get to planting!

Here's my haul from the day:

If you're interested, Sneed's Nursery on Huguenot is having a seed swap this Saturday (March 21st) at  noon!