Swap don’t shop: Ainslee Parklands Primary School pupil Ethan, Jan Down, Karen Cheah and Ruth Bode get into the spirit of the Croydon food swap. Picture: Rob Carew
GROWING your own produce can be a healthy and rewarding experience, but what happens when you have more veggies or fruit than you can possibly use?
It's a common dilemma for gardeners and one solution for outer east residents is to head down to the Croydon food swap meet and share it.
The idea behind the meet, on this Saturday, is to bring along any extra produce from the garden and swap it for what you want and need.
Event organiser Karen Cheah says the idea is to promote the consumption of foods with a low carbon footprint.
"We want to encourage people to eat sustainably and be environmentally friendly," said Ms Cheah.
Croydon Food Swap is an initiative of community group Transition Town Maroondah and Sustainable Gardening Australia. Transition Town Maroondah aims to create and support projects that help promote resilient and sustainable communities in the area.
It will be the third food swap since the the first was launched in July this year.
Ms Cheah said the past two swap meets were very successful given the time of year it was.
"Considering it was winter, there was quite a good variety."
This season the most popular products to share include citrus fruits and herbs.
Produce can include homegrown fruits, veggies, herbs, seedlings, cuttings, seeds and anything edible from the garden.
There are no joining fees or commitments, simply the chance to enhance your garden and health.
The next food swap will be at Ainslee Parklands Primary School, Croydon, at 10am-noon this Saturday. BYO bag. Details: ttm.org.au or call Karen Cheah, 0431 582 555.