PlantCatching - Sharing From The Garden and Building Community

[Nenuphar]

PlantCatching (http://plantcatching.com/en)is a site that connects gardeners locally, allowing them to find (free of cost) or share seeds, plants, produce, compost, and other garden-related items.

From the site:

PlantCatching connects you with gardeners in your area and lets you do two very simple things:

1. Find plants, seeds and bulbs, gardening materials and even fruits and vegetables given by fellow gardeners, either anonymously in a public area, or personally at or near their property.

2. Share your passion by giving your plants, seeds, bulbs and your own harvest crops so that existing members of the site or even passers-by can catch, plant and admire them, or eat them.


The site is available in English and French, and is a nice alternative to Facebook for connecting to other gardeners in your town or city. There is a lot more information on the site than it would appear at first glance. Exchanges can be done anonymously, or you can register an account on the site to keep track of your exchanges and share information with other gardeners in the community.

There is no activity in my region yet, so I am thinking of squirreling away packets of seeds and plants throughout town to get things rolling. :sun:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EdL0eBtsII

[Bubu]

we have two mature moringga that produce lots of seeds. seeds anyone?

[Constance]

Awesome website Nenuphar! :blackwidow:

I am catching your enthusiasm here. :sun:

Here is another site that helps with the free sharing of food. The collaboration is growing and is a part of many countries.

Falling Fruit (https://fallingfruit.org/)

"Falling Fruit is a massive, collaborative map of the urban harvest. By uniting the efforts of foragers, freegans, and foresters everywhere, the map already points to over a half million food sources around the world (from plants and fungi to water wells and dumpsters). Our rapidly growing user community is actively exploring, editing, and adding to the map."

About the project
Falling Fruit is a celebration of the overlooked culinary bounty of our city streets. By quantifying this resource on an interactive map, we hope to facilitate intimate connections between people, food, and the natural organisms growing in our neighborhoods. Not just a free lunch! Foraging in the 21st century is an opportunity for urban exploration, to fight the scourge of stained sidewalks, and to reconnect with the botanical origins of food.

Our edible map is not the first of its kind, but it aspires to be the world's most comprehensive. While our users contribute locations of their own, we comb the internet for pre-existing knowledge, seeking to unite the efforts of foragers, foresters, and freegans everywhere. The imported datasets range from small neighborhood foraging maps to vast professionally-compiled tree inventories. This so far amounts to 2,705 different types of edibles (most, but not all, plant species) distributed over 1,430,910 locations. Beyond the cultivated and commonplace to the exotic flavors of foreign plants and long-forgotten native plants, foraging in your neighborhood is a journey through time and across cultures.

Join us in celebrating hyper-local food! The map is open for anyone to edit, the database can be downloaded with just one click, and the code is open-source. You are likewise encouraged to share the bounty with your fellow humans. Our sharing page lists hundreds of local organizations - planting public orchards and food forests, picking otherwise-wasted fruits and vegetables from city trees and farmers' fields, and sharing with neighbors and the needy.

[Pam]

This is so exciting! Your post actually made my heart soar. This is the way that the internet can benefit communities and create local cooperation and interaction.

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we have two mature moringga that produce lots of seeds. seeds anyone?

What a generous offer, Bubu. I wanted to take you up on it but I don't think the moringga will grow on the Peninsula in Washington state...thanks anyway. What kind of climate are you in?

[Pam]

I went to the site and there is no activity in my area, but I bookmarked the site and will offer to share when I have extra seeds/produce in the summer. It would be great for anyone that can to initiate offers to share to get things going in your area.

[Nenuphar]

I think that's the way to go, Peterpam. ;) Most people wait for others to start things before getting involved, but someone has to get the ball rolling! Offering a few things and also posting information on actual community bulletin boards (like at the library, seniors' recreation center, coffee shop boards, etc) might be a great way to make others in the community aware of the site and - hopefully - join in, too. :flower: :sun: :flower:

[Bubu]

This is so exciting! Your post actually made my heart soar. This is the way that the internet can benefit communities and create local cooperation and interaction.

¤=[Post Update]=¤


we have two mature moringga that produce lots of seeds. seeds anyone?

What a generous offer, Bubu. I wanted to take you up on it but I don't think the moringga will grow on the Peninsula in Washington state...thanks anyway. What kind of climate are you in?

Philippines has a tropical climate