Bill Maynard’s blue eyes sparkle with enthusiasm when he’s asked anything about gardening. It’s not surprising considering that he’s devoted his life to helping other gardeners get the most benefit and enjoyment out of their gardens.  

This month, he is presenting a workshop to teach local gardeners how to set up, and reap the bounty from, a “Crop Swap” with their neighbors. The Crop Swap idea is a simple one—get together with a group of neighbors once a week to trade produce from your backyard gardens. In the process, you’ll get to know your neighbors, enjoy a variety of freshly grown foods and have a chance to swap information, recipes and gardening know-how.  

The Crop Swap workshop will be held April 7, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at 3330 McKinley Blvd., in the Shepard Garden and Arts Center.  

There are numerous Crop Swaps in cities around the country, but the idea is relatively new to Sacramento. In 2008, Maynard helped residents establish a Crop Swap in Oak Park.  

“They wanted to have a community garden, but they couldn’t get one right away,” said Maynard. Instead, a devoted group of Oak Park residents got together and started the Crop Swap to demonstrate their interest to the city. The result? A successful summer of camaraderie, education and good eats—and a new grant to support a community garden on Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd. through the national NeighborWorks Program.  

“The first year, it was a makeshift thing. We had about a dozen or 15 people,” he said. “[They would] get together once a week on Sunday afternoon to swap what they grew in their backyards.”  

Maynard is no stranger to community-based gardening. He is the community garden coordinator for the City of Sacramento’s Parks and Recreation Department, and he also heads up the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition.  

“Through the coalition, I’m letting other people know that they can create a Crop Swap. Just show them how to do it, and how easy it is to do it. And, we give them free seeds, so it really doesn’t cost them anything but their time and effort.”  

The April 7 Crop Swap workshop will cover setting up a neighborhood swap, choosing appropriate crops and organizing a weekly trading event. Maynard will also discuss past experiences with what works and what doesn’t to help participants get the most out of their Crop Swap. Workshop participants will receive a planting and growing chart, as well as free seeds to get started. Maynard encourages neighbors to get together early to plan what they will plant to get a diverse range of crops and varieties, and so that everyone can enjoy their favorites—whether that means heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, or favorite herbs.  

Maynard also discusses some of the trickier aspects of a Crop Swap, such as figuring out equitable ways to trade crops. Gardeners need to decide how to trade crops that have different values. For example, a pound of artichokes might be worth more than a pound of tomatoes.  

“You have to be fair about trading,” he said. “Take what you need, don’t over take, and bring what you have. Sometimes we encourage people to bunch things up in one-pound bags. They’re just easier to trade that way.”  

Maynard has big plans, too. He envisions Crop Swaps throughout the city, where people can go every day of the week to a different one to trade for produce that they need.  

“It can bring people together.”  

Maynard, a Master Gardener who learned from his grandparents and mother, says that interest in community gardening and the Crop Swap idea is increasing, even though the idea of barter has been around since the beginning of human civilization. He credits the downturn in the economy for some of that interest, noting that people are now want to grow their own food not just for the pleasure of it, but to get through tough economic times and provide their families with healthy, home-grown food. He recently returned from a visit to Washington, D.C., where he was invited to work on the new White House vegetable garden and the U.S. Department of Agriculture gardens. He’s also been invited to help with Maria Shriver’s garden in Sacramento.  

For more information about the workshop and community gardens, contact Maynard at (916) 508-6025. For more information about the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition, go to http://www.saccommunitygardens.org/.