Albany's "Garden Swap" Hits the Chronicle

From the Chronicle: "An American subculture is trying to fend off the apocalypse, one heirloom tomato at a time."

Sustainable Albany

Tuesday Under the BART Tracks: Garden Swap

Thanks to Doug Reil of the Edible Albany Initiative (http://www.facebook.com/albany.edibles) for sharing these photographs of last week's swap. The swap takes place each Tuesday from 6:30 to 7 p.m. across from the community center.

Learn more about the garden swap here. You can learn about Albany Edible Intiatives on Albany Patch, and join the group on Facebook if you're so inclined.

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Sustainable Albany

Albany Garden to Table: An Edible Initiative of a Different Kind

If you're an avid Albany edible gardener interested in teaming up with local businesses, or a local restaurateur, this may be just your ticket.

Would you like to see your plump, homegrown organic radishes blush crimson on a bed of sea salt in a sweet little restaurant? Interested in sharing your extra lemons with locally owned businesses? Community organizer and hyperlocavore Doug Reil is creating a new program that may be perfect for you. Albany Garden to Table, a fledgling Albany Edible Initiative, hopes to provide independent, locally owned restaurants and other institutions in the city with organic produce, courtesy of backyard gardens. Participating growers would drop produce off at the city's weekly vegetable swap; there is no cost to be involved. Reil, who works full-time as a publisher, formed Albany Edible Initiatives as part of Transition Albany to connect and build on …

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Douglas Reil

10:15 am on Friday, July 8, 2011

Ross and Brian, your points are well taken. Ross, it is true that it is taking a good deal of time to move the process along, but the conversation has been focused on the usual model of growth since the beginning. The main points are that there are many questions yet to be answered mainly around the environmental impact study and the ultimate vaguely worded "senior housing". Brian, Transition …   more ›

Sustainable Albany

Photo Gallery: Last Week at the Garden Swap

The garden swap happens Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. beneath the BART tracks across from the Community Center.

The garden swap happens Tuesdays at 6:30 beneath the BART tracks across from the Community Center.  On June 14, two locals who run food organizations visited the swap: Douglas Reil, who's putting together an "Albany Garden to Table" initiative to bring more food from Albany gardens into local restaurants; and "Laurence of Berkeley," who organizes garden work parties to bring neighbors together.  Learn more about Reil's project here on Facebook, or email him at halfreal@sbcglobal.net. Connect with Laurence by calling 510-540-1975, or by email at laurenceofberk@aol.com.

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Sustainable Albany

Tuesday: Veggie Swap, Clothing Swap at Community Center

The city and local residents organize the swaps to build community. Trade veggies at 6:30 and clothing at 7 p.m. (Then attend the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting if you're not ready to get home.)

Read about the clothing swap and see a photo gallery of last season's vegetable swap on Albany Patch. Check back Wednesday morning to learn about the monthly dinner swap, which happened Monday.

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Sustainable Albany

Garden Swap Starts Tuesday

The garden swap takes place weekly on Masonic Avenue under the BART tracks. See photographs here from a swap last season.

This season's garden swap begins Tuesday across from the Community Center. Swappers can stop by from 6:30 to 7 p.m. to share their excess produce in exchange for goodies from their neighbors. Learn about the swap here. Feel free to post your favorite seasonal finds, or what you're hoping to find, in the comments below. Interested in gardening and foraging in Albany? Join this city-sponsored email list to converse with your likeminded neighbors.

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Sustainable Albany

Weekly Garden Swap Sprouts Under BART Tracks

Neighbors meet at Masonic and Marin avenues to trade excesses for treats.

Every Tuesday evening, gardeners from around the area, on bikes and in cars, alone and with their children, flock to tables near a small red tent across from the Albany Community Center to exchange homegrown goods, meet neighbors and see what's ripe in Albany. The event, a weekly garden swap, has just begun its second month of the season, and already has avid supporters, though new fans appear each Tuesday. Belinda Lesser, an educator who lives in Albany, said she was driving her son home from camp when she realized the date and time. "I totally forgot because I wasn't supposed to be in town tonight," she said. "Then I looked at my watch and thought, 'It's Tuesday, I'm late for the vegetable exchange!'"  Lesser said it was her fifth week …

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