What are the Trading Table and the Surplus Bench?

THE TRADING TABLE is where you can trade produce from your share. It starts off as a full share, with each produce portion in a separate straw basket, and it evolves throughout the pickup as people trade produce. How does it work? You give up a portion of one thing and you take a portion of another thing. For example, if you don’t want your potatoes, you place your full portion of potatoes in an empty basket and you take a full portion of, say, onions, from another basket. Or if you would like extra potatoes, you can take a portion of potatoes (providing there are some in one of the baskets) and give up your own full portion of say, onions.

Important: always trade full portions for full portions! Portion are whatever quantities of each produce there are for that week. For example, if this week’s share includes 4 potatoes and 3 onions, and you want extra potatoes in exchange of giving up you onions, you must give up all 3 of your onions and take all 4 potatoes from a basket (providing there is a basket with potatoes). In other words, you cannot take 1 of the 4 potatoes from a trading basket and replace it with 1 of your 3 onions. To make this easy, all portions are placed in separate baskets and there should always be one empty basket (unless somebody messed with the system): give your onion portion to the empty basket, and take a potato portion from a full basket.

Remember, the Trading Table is for trading only: don’t take without giving, and don’t give without taking. If you want to take without giving, or give without taking, use the Surplus Bench.

THE SURPLUS BENCH, located on a bench next to the Trading Table, includes extra produce we had or produce donate by members (from their share or from their garden). Whatever is on the surplus bench is up for grabs (within reason… don’t be too greedy). It is also where you can put any produce from your share that you don’t want. For example, if you don’t want your onions and there is nothing on the Trading Table that interests you for a trade, just leave them behind on the Surplus Bench for another member can to enjoy.