OVER the years the Seed Swap run by Sustainable Crediton has taken root and now grown into something not just about plants but very much a social event, a chance to swap information and ideas as well as find unusual seeds and plants for indoors and outside.

Held at the Boniface Centre on Saturday, February 29, it provided a refuge from Storm Jorge with good, home-made refreshments, too.

There were a number of regular stallholders such as Orchards Live, Devon Wildlife Trust, Crediton Garden Club but among the newcomers this year was a man selling bean poles cut from locally-grown hazel and Crediton Town Council with its poster competition for children, organised by its Climate Change and Sustainability subcommittee.

As well as the poster competition, the town council is holding a “Community Conversation” day at the Boniface Centre on March 28 when people can put their views about farming, land use, transport and more. There will be free cake.

As well as Crediton Community Bookshop with lots of books, there was Paul Cleave and Harry West from the Crediton Living Library of Food Memories giving away book boxes in which people were asked to write their own memories to go into its community archive.

This is where people can write about any special family foodie treat, how food was put on the table in hard times perhaps, maybe a family’s food history or food tales or lore, or the big meals needed for harvest and threshing.

Many visitors were intrigued by the Pig Club, now in its fifth year, part of Sustainable Crediton.

This aims to support native pig breeds and be sure of good welfare through working with local smallholders. Members can have a pig or part of a pig for their freezer or to salt but must commit at the beginning of the year.

Kate Povey of Orchards Live had plenty of information about apples. During the past 25 years this group has been instrumental in helping to save traditional orchards and to help in the replanting of new orchards in the northern half of Devon.

It runs training days and practical instruction days on pruning, grafting, orchard management and more. A grafting day was held at Lapford in February, a day on planning and planting a new orchard is to be held at Landkey this month and a top working day on April 18 at Chulmleigh, among many other courses.

Chris Mellor was offering bottles of the juice of various apples from his orchard at Little Emlett, Morchard Bishop.

Members of Crediton Garden Club had a variety of gardening books and plants. They meet at Crediton Library, their next being on March 24 when Ann Cann will talk about plants and people of Northern Thailand.

The Garden Club has its own plant sale at the Library on May 16.

There was information about the Sustainable Crediton Pollinator Project as well as another display about the work of bees.

Simon O’Sullivan had a table full of plug plants and other plants that attract the various pollinators.

Ann Stobart was showing the work of Holt Wood Herbs and how people can join and help grow the woodland.

There was local honey and honeycomb, and a lot more going on as well as the seeds and plants available for a donation to the Pollinator Project.

Entertainment was by “The Woodmen”.