Telford vegetable swap event a success
Surplus runner beans, apples, tomatoes and homemade jams were among the yummy garden delights that exchanged hands at a new vegetable swap event.
Gardeners and allotment keepers also made new friends at the Harvest Local day held at Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge Community Centre.
Among the members of Telford Transition which organised the swapping session were Sue Taylor and Alison Hughes. It was set up as a follow up to the Seedy Saturday session held earlier this year.
Sue, of Ketley Bank, said: "It was a wonderful event. There were so many things, it was like a harvest festival in a way.
"There were courgettes, oranges, squashes, preservatives, apples, beans, jams made from hedgerow berries including plums. Actually spicy plum cake was one of the most popular cakes there.
"People brought in some interesting varieties of plants.
"We were also explaining to people what avocado pears were and the different between spicy and sweet red peppers. It was amazing to see differenct varieties of plants. Someone brought in an unusual looking geranium and people brought in cakes. "There was a carrot cake too.
"It was joy. We swapped items and skills and it was also about swapping the frustration of not seeing things grow. For example, there were a lot of slugs around this year."
The next Telford Transistion meeting will be next Monday(7)at 7pm at the Elephant & Castle pub, in High Street, Dawley.
Seedy Saturday will return to The Wakes, in Oakengates, in February.
Lynn Mann, also from Transition Telford, said: "September is the time of year when the veg patch is producing more than you can cope with - enough courgettes to feed an army, loads of tomatoes ripening at once and more."
Visitors were also given advice on plant care. Next year there are plans to provide tips on how to collect and preserve seeds to be used in the future.
