Swap your crops or snap up fresh produce at Singleton Public Library

Published on 15 October 2024

A unique and exciting new initiative has cropped up at Singleton Public Library, giving the community an opportunity to sustainably share and access locally grown fresh produce.

Singleton Council has partnered with Slow Food Singleton to host a monthly Crop Swap at the Library where local growers can swap their homegrown goods with other gardeners before the table of fresh produce opens up to the wider community to buy for a small donation.

Mary-Anne Crawford, Council’s Acting Director Infrastructure and Planning Services, said Crop Swap was a wonderful example of what can be achieved when Council and community collaborate to achieve sustainable outcomes. 

“Crop swapping is a great way for people who grow their own food to make sure nothing is going to waste, helps people to eat better at a lesser cost and also builds community which, at its core, is what creating a Sustainable Singleton is all about,” she said. 

“The way it works is simple - harvest your produce, make sure the dirt is removed but it’s not washed or processed in any way, and bring it into the monthly Crop Swap between 9.30 and 9.50am to get your swapper card.

“Then, at 10am, you can swap for produce that other people have brought along.

“If you don’t have any locally home-grown produce to swap, anything left over will open up to community members for a small donation to Slow Food Singleton.”

Crop swaps will held in the foyer of the Library on the third Saturday of every month, with the first locked in for Saturday 19 October.

Bronwyn Dowd, Slow Food Singleton President, said the group was excited to launch Crop Swap, which will be facilitated by the local community group’s volunteers.

“We were looking for an opportunity to enable the community to swap fresh produce from their gardens and came up with the idea of a regular Crop Swap, based on the successful swap in Parkes in central west NSW,” she said.

“It’s a step on from our annual citrus rescue, where we have provided a space for people to donate their excess fruit, and then encouraged other community members to take the fruit for free.”

 What CAN be swapped:

• Fruit, vegetables and herbs that have been harvested, dirt removed, but not washed or processed in any way
• Seedlings of edible plants ONLY (i.e. fruit, herbs and vegetables)
• Eggs ONLY if they are stamped as per Food Authority requirements
• Nuts – only if in a container and clearly labelled

What CAN’T be swapped:

• Eggs if they are not stamped as per Food Authority requirements
• Seedlings of non-edible plants
• Honey
• Pots of succulents
• Any prepared food e.g. relishes, jams, bread, cake etc.

In addition to Crop Swap, Slow Food Singleton facilitates a number of other community initiatives including the winter citrus rescue, a yearly Edible Garden Trail and the Seed Library at Singleton Public Library. 

Further information can be found on the Slow Food Singleton Facebook page.