Last fall, my friend Guinevere gave me some encouraging words about organizing Cville Swaps, about how it would someday take on a life of its own.

And it has.  We paired up with the Woolen Mills Gardeners United group for last Saturday’s swap and it was a bonafide success.   

The lovely smiling Stephanie did a fantastic job of helping to spread the word, as did others.  There was a wealth of plants shared, in addition to food, seeds & other handmade treats.

I swapped for a Kumbucha mother – something my girl has shown some interest in getting into after swapping for kumbucha last fall.  (I’m pretty sure her entire fascination with the drink stems from the Whole Foods Parking Lot video.  If you are ever bored, take my kid to Whole Foods.  She’ll point out where it’s getting real and you will never again look at that store the same way.)

I also got a Wünderbar – an organic handmade body bar that in just a few days has become my new favorite moisturizer.  They are available on etsy or at ReThreads here in Charlottesville.  I also got one of her sunscreen bars, but due to the fact that it has been grey & chilly since the swap, I haven’t given it a good try out yet.

Kathy took these shots – further proof that Cville Swaps has taken flight, because I wasn’t the only one there with a camera.  Thank you for sharing Kathy.

Turns out people I don’t know read what I write in the local press – the local NBC affiliate, TV29, contacted Betty for a story about her building after reading the piece I wrote about it in The Hook’s Green Homes & Living.  Watch it here.

I spent two days last week driving back & forth to Harrisonburg, taking a course required for me to legally sell pickles.  Most of the course was geared towards large-scale food packaging – for someone who was already leery of processed foods that has spent time working in a cookie factory, it did nothing to encourage me to change that stance.  I learned the technical terms & science behind what I already knew as a canner & pickler as well as how a pressure canner works.   Between that & the lesson Jessica gave me a few weeks ago, I’ve lost my intimidation towards the process.   I’m thinking a batch of bacon jam that I pressure can rather than freeze is in the works….