Stop press! Plantswap in the news.

Two page spread article in the Sheffield Telegraph

It’s been a rather bonkers couple of weeks for both Fay and Sarah, and for PlantSwap in general – we’ve become minor media darlings!

I thought it might be a good idea to give you all an update, and give you a chance to catch up if you’ve missed anything.

On the air…

Firstly, Fay and I were excited to be asked to take part in BBC Radio Sheffield’s Monday Night Social programme with Kelly-Anne. Together with Dave from Kelham Island Books and Music and the lovely Rose from Sheffield Green Estates; we spent a completely chaotic, funny and enjoyable two hours discussing everything from roller derby, our favourite books, a mutual love of maps, and of course, plants and PlantSwap. You can listen on BBC Sounds – a fun listen whilst walking the dog or re-potting some plants?

Recording Monday Night Social at BBC Radio Sheffield
Recording Monday Night Social at BBC Radio Sheffield

Then on Sunday we had our 14th PlantSwap – 14th!! We were excited to be back at Haggler’s Corner; and to welcome lots of new swappers, as well as our returning regulars. Over 150 people came together to discuss, swap and appreciate plants; despite it being a dull, damp January afternoon.

Two special visitors to our latest PlantSwap - Felder and David
Two special visitors to our latest PlantSwap – Felder and David

In print….

Excitingly we had two special visitors to the swap. Firstly, David from The Sheffield Telegraph came to do a piece about the swap – lots of people at the swap were wonderfully accommodating and willing to have their photos taken – thank you everyone.

Double page spread on PlantSwap in the Sheffield Telegraph newspaper (23 January 2020)
Double page spread on PlantSwap in the Sheffield Telegraph newspaper (23 January 2020)

The resulting article was mentioned on the front page of the newspaper; and the main article covered two pages with a collection of photos of our wonderful swappers. If you didn’t catch the print version, it’s now also available on The Sheffield Telegraph website.

Visitors from further afield

Secondly, and most excitingly, we welcomed two plant lovers from further afield; Felder Rushing and his lovely partner, Susan.

Felder is an ‘enthusiastic American’ (his words!), who also happens to be an amazing and incredible garden writer/blogger who lives in both the UK and US. He’d contacted us about interviewing us for his ‘Gestalt Gardener’ podcast in America.

Wonderfully, he and Susan were able to come to the swap. His enthusiasm and excitement was totally infectious; I know he took some great photos… and of course he interviewed us.

To do an audio interview we needed somewhere quiet to record; for any of you who’ve ever been to a swap, you’ll know it’s not quiet in any way!

Sarah and Fay are interviewed by Felder in the quiet of Sarah's car!!
Sarah and Fay are interviewed by Felder in the quiet of Sarah’s car!!

But we managed to find a recording location – my car!! Well, that was a first! You can listen to a snippet of the interview and read his thoughts on the swap on Felder’s fantastic website.

As I mentioned, Susan (Felder’s partner), a photographer and plant lover in her own right, also came along, and she has shared some photos and written up her thoughts on her blog.

More front page news

A couple of days later we woke to some exciting news – we’d been mentioned in an article on the front page of the BBC news website – THE FRONT PAGE!!

BBC News Website screen capture
BBC News Website screen capture

Fay was interviewed a while ago about the environmental impact of houseplants; and this has appeared as part of a larger piece and a photo of the two of us appeared; it’s an interesting read, and actually asks some thoughtful questions about where we should source plants and the environmental impact of ‘plant miles’.

We love talking about PlantSwap, and we’ve certainly got lots to say!! If you know any journalists, podcasters, tv presenters, or writers- please do point them in our direction or, even better, bring them along to one of our swaps. We love sharing news of our lovely planty community.

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