spring swap

another swap has come and gone and again, as always, I came away feeling so full of inspiration and love and gratitude for this wonderful group of women.  due to some travel and family matters and such, it was a smaller swap than our usual 15-20 people.  I most certainly missed several of our regular swappers, but there is something to be said for a smaller and more intimate group.  I actually got a chance to really catch up with everyone, which was nice.  and we all still came away with such wonderful goodies.  there were indigo-dyed tea towels, sandalwood malas and necklaces, lots of beautiful, healthy plants, kombucha, salves and balms and body butters, tiki torches and bug spray and fresh shiitakes.  essential oil inhalers and reusable counter wipes, yummy seasonings and adorable little zippered pouches.  it's always such a beautiful spread on the swap tables!

I contributed flavored kombuchas (lemon-ginger, and blueberry-lime-cardamom), two jars of our backyard honey, and some plants (comfrey, elderberry, and echinacea).  I came away with some milkweed and motherwort starts, a lip balm/salve set, two beautiful sandalwood and seashell/stone necklaces (one immediately gifted to one of our swap regulars who couldn't make it here for the swap but came by shortly after to hang out), a tiki torch with vegetable-based oil, the most delicious crackers made entirely out of seeds (which I inhaled quite rapidly), an essential oil big spray, a magnesium/shea butter achy body balm, nutritional yeast/seaweed seasoning, and a generous set of 5 reusable cloths/counter wipes.

I've actually lost count of how many swaps I've hosted here now, but I think we're up to somewhere around 10.  I host them twice a year, and I so look forward to them.  this year there may even be a third one because..... well, because they are such fun and because I just truly love these women and we have such a grand time trading our goods.

I'll link below to older posts highlighting some of the previous swaps- it's always fun to peek back at what sort of things have been traded in the past.  and for anyone interested, I've got an article coming out in the upcoming fall issue of taproot magazine that will go into detail about how to get started with hosting swaps and setting them up in your community.


fall swap, 2012 (the first one!)
summer swap, 2013
fall swap, 2013
fall swap, 2014
soup swap 2014
spring swap, 2015
fall swap, 2015
spring swap, 2106

looking back like this and adding in other swaps that I didn't write about, I think we may actually be on swap number 11 or 12 now! whew!

growing, swapping, camping

I hosted another swap recently and it was a lovely mix of people and goodies, as usual.  (Yes, those are bibs- and no, they are not for any impending new offspring of mine.)  This time around I contributed some herbal tinctures, eggs, and elderberry plants, and I came away with some wonderful body butters and bath salts, tea, body scrub bars, reusable kitchen cloths, an indigo-dyed tea towel, the bibs, an infinity scarf, kimchi, and the most delicious strawberry-ginger jam ever.  it's possible the jar was empty within 24 hours of the swap....

The peonies have come and gone.  Our little plant gave us just two bright pink blooms this year, but oh how I enjoyed them!  I'd like to have lots of peonies one day, and I can totally imagine myself as an old woman, sitting outside with my peonies and just smelling them and photographing them to my heart's content.

(these pretty peonies were sweetly gifted to me by my good buddy Lisa after she was all done selling her gorgeous baskets at out local tailgate market last weekend)

There was also a couple of days (and nights) spent camping by the river with friends recently.  It's always good medicine~ running water, birdsong, campfires......  yes, please.  Hopefully there will be much more of the same to come this summer!

weekending :: a swap, a festival

I could stare at this bouquet all day long, I think.  I mean goodness, just look at those colors! dahlias are not a flower I have grown myself before.  I think I get intimidated thinking about how you are supposed to dig them up and all....... someone tell me it's easy and I just may dive in.  a friend surprised me with this lovely bouquet when she showed up for the swap this weekend.

so yes, another swap~ this was the seventh one.  as per usual, we had a fun mix of folks and food and drink and goodies.  not as per usual, I didn't take a single photo during the swap.  here's an after shot of the tables though, taken when Mike and I were running around readying the garden for a 31 degree night.  it was probably already down to 40 and here's Claire, hanging around in her old flower girl dress as though she can't be bothered to notice the cold.

this time around I contributed medicines.  elderberry tincture, nettles tincture, tulsi/holy basil tincture, ginger/echinacea syrup, and sore throat/cough syrup.  I came away with two amazing infinity scarves, pumpkin butter, ginger spiced apple butter, hot honey, beeswax candles, a trio of compound butters, mint extract and butter mints, and a lovely pair of essential oil rollers (one uplifting and cooling, and one grounding).  there were many awesome goodies, and a couple that I didn't score but was inspired by were a beautiful fire cider made by Ashley, and an oil pulling/mouthwash set featuring thieves essential oil.  there was laundry soap, hand knits, peanut butter, deodorant (I actually was gifted one of each of the last two as well- these ladies spoil me!), honey lollipops, hand spray, Lisa's incredible rope baskets, Molly's granola and cloth napkins and mulberry jam, and I'm sure I'm probably forgetting some option amazing things.

anyway, the point is...... I love these gatherings.  they feed me in so many ways.  connecting with others with intention and a common goal of sharing our goods with one another and learning from and inspiring each other...... oh it's good stuff.  the community of women who come together at the swaps shifts from time to time, but there are several folks who have become regulars and I love how it has come to feel like we are all a part of the swaps, that it isn't me making it happen, but that we create them together.  and of course, that's true.

the morning after..... easy like Sunday morning.  drip coffee, those incredible dahlias, the amazing autumn light softly filtering in through the cold windows.  a peek at the plants tells me they're fine.  of course they are.  we plant what we plant for the fall because they are frost and cold-hardy.  but still, sometimes I fret.  pretend I have control.

breakfast the morning after a swap is usually pretty special.  for a while it was my friend Jen's lavender-coconut tapioca (what? that's a dessert? pshaw!), which she brought to swaps a couple or few times in a row, possibly due to pressure from me.

today it was toast with some of the vanilla-honey-pecan compound butter that Rachael brought, along with pumpkin butter made by my sweetest of friends, Kassie.  (and then maybe I had the same thing later on as an after dinner snack)

after our slow, easy morning, we headed off to the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF!) with some buddies for the afternoon.  this is a wonderful music-and-art-and-so-much-more festival that happens to take place about 6 miles down the road twice a year.  Claire loves it and looks forward to it all year (well, twice a year, actually).  the lineup is always superb (my highlight this time was Rising Appalachia- I adore those ladies, and there was a ton of New Orleans jazz and funk and zydeco and so much more), there is a ton of international music, there is great food...... and it's in a beautiful location.  it happens to be held at the camp where I worked on the farm this summer and it turns out that gig is worth a couple passes(!).  score!

today we mostly snacked (tacos! spicy kombucha on tap! kettle corn!) and let the kids play.

thank you, glorious October weekend.
weekending with Karen and friends~

late spring swap :: (live and in person)

oh my.  every time, every single time- I come away from these thinking it can't possibly get any better and that no way can these incredible people keep coming up with more variety and more fabulous goodies (and that they don't get bored but keep coming back to my swap parties!).   but it does, and they do.  and do you see how beautifully everyone packages their stuff? my goodness!

this afternoon 14 swappers convened in our backyard and we ate and drank and connected and then finally, we swapped.  this time around I contributed sets of photo cards, some plant starts, a couple dozen eggs, a bottle of maple syrup, and some salve.  Mike made the two pollinator boxes pictured above.  I came away with Irish Cream, rosemary-infused honey, loads of lip balm, a digestion support tincture that was combined with a stick of first aid salve, body butter, strawberry-rhubarb jam, blueberry relish, and two awesome (and functional!) wall hangings made by a friend by transferring photos to wood.  Mike chose some orange/tea tree cleaner and another one of the wall hangings (it's possible I swayed his first choice and urged him to grab that little blue wall hanging for me after he drew #1 from the jar and I, after absent-mindedly forgetting someone when we drew numbers, traded my own #3 for her #14, because what kind of host would I be if I didn't).

I am honored to have a core group of swappers (and so loving the new faces joining in) who keep coming back and help keep this thing going.  each time I learn a little something about how to pull it off more smoothly (though often I forget those things until after subsequent swaps) and I think we're getting to a place where (even though swapping close to 150 items takes a good chunk of time- between 2 and 2 1/2 hours) it is feeling efficient and fun for all involved.  if only I could remember to go around at the beginning and have everyone tell a bit about what they brought instead of briefly going over the logistics and then diving in.  I suppose I get a bit amped up once everyone has finally arrived, set up their things, and numbers have been drawn.  I start feeling a bit of that jazzy hostess-energy and like I need to get things started so we can get down to business.  if you happen to be at the next swap, please do gently remind me to chill out and take the five minutes to go around the beautiful circle of ladies (and gentleman) to allow everyone to talk a bit about what they brought.

in the mean time, I can't wait to dive into this box of beauty.
friends, that is a whole lot of goodness right there.

weekending :: exchanges

this weekend was pretty much all about food.  about food and about spending some time in the company of others who ended up in the same place(s) as me with the main intention of swapping some food.  on saturday I hosted a small group of women for a soup swap, and this afternoon I attended my first ever cookie exchange.  so, on the one hand, my fridge is now filled to the brim with about 2 and a half gallons of various kinds of soups in jars.  jars that honestly, are unlikely to make it to the freezer because I am happy (thrilled, really) to have soup for lunch and dinner daily until the soup runs out.  on the other hand, my countertop is heavily laden with enough cookies and yummies to more than throw off all that soupy-nutritional-powerhouse-goodness.  I'll take it.  and I suppose I'll share the sweets.

my contributions to these happenings were a roasted butternut squash soup with coconut milk and nutmeg and a bunch of other goodies, and some chocolate-peppermint meringues.  I've already had a bit of chipotle black bean soup and a soupe au pistou a la Julia Child.  yumyumyum.  and maybe also a taste of peanut butter cookie, rocky road brownie, and glazed shortbread with rosemary and red peppercorns.  let me just say that this cookie swap was no joke.  said glazed shortbread (they are the trio of lovely round, glazed cookies with various toppings in the photo above) were made by one of the owners of the amazing and extremely popular French Broad Chocolate Lounge.  it happens to be my favorite place to go for dessert in Asheville.  it happens to be just about everyone's favorite place to go for dessert in Asheville, actually.  so, you know- the cookies are good.  there were other cookies made by other professional baker types as well.  I met a woman who lives in the same town as me whose blog I've read here and there.  turns out we have several (in real life and online) friends and acquaintances.  so happy to have made the connection.  the host of the cookie exchange was Ashley English (she made rosemary/orange shortbread cookies from her book Handmade Gatherings)- a very talented local author/cook/homesteader extraordinaire who is as lovely and gracious and warm in person as one would expect she may be after reading her blog and books.  it was a lovely, lovely time and I am so happy I was able to attend.  Claire stayed with papa while I went, and I will admit I am rather proud of braving it on my own, without the little one as an automatic-conversation-starter/diversion-if-needed.  I'm enough of an introvert that going to a gathering where I don't really know anyone and am just barely acquainted with the host is, well, a brave thing for me.  but I did it and it was great, and the group of women there couldn't possibly have been more inviting.  and my goodness the abundance of treats that are now in my possession!  (locals- who wants some goodies??)

also this weekend, we went for our annual Nutcracker viewing, and it was the best one yet.

and now, let the eating commence! (er, continue)


*weekending with Karen