Gardeners once relied on the harvesting and sharing of seeds to plant for enjoyment but also for sustenance. Today, instead of talking over fences or putting out curbside baskets, many Southern California avid gardeners gather to socialize and reclaim a little bit of that tradition.

One of the newest groups is the Plant Traders Inland Empire California Garden Trading Community, the brainchild of Robert “Barty” Robarge of Lake Elsinore. It’s a long name for a group with a simple goal — promote gardening and share harvests. What began as a Facebook post eight months ago has turned into a monthly meeting of gardeners. Membership just topped the 2,000 mark, and meetings for the rest of 2015 and most of 2016 are already booked.

“We get together in different cities throughout the Inland Empire and trade or share our extra plants. Not just plants, but everything from seeds, plants and cuttings to even farm fresh eggs,” Robarge said. “We get a lot of beginners who then get to learn from the people who grew the plant. This is a step back to the old days of harvest exchanges.”

Small raffles are conducted to cover some group costs, but the only things exchanged are smiles, advice and garden extras. “We aren’t after making money, just not wanting to have to pull money out of pocket to maintain our community,” he said.

Families are welcome, and so are people without plants.

“We just ask that they bring bottled water or bake something just so they have something to share. They never leave without a pile of new plants. Many in our community are simply sharing the extra trimmings from their yards versus throwing them away,” he said.

Jaime Martinez was one of the first gardeners to show an interest not only in the group but the concept of sharing. The avid Riverside gardener, who once grew about 200 chile plants to sell to people at his work, now trades some of them.

“Well, I traded a lot of my chili plants for other succulent-type plants, some propagated pomegranate trees, and met a lot of people that had great plants, ideas and great personalities. We all have questions and we all have answers, so it’s kind of a network group that helps each other out. We’ve become quite close with some of the members,” said Martinez about himself and girlfriend Adrie Morales.

No group required

Many gardeners routinely share their bounties without the benefit of a group. Barbara Cogswell of Santa Clarita swaps seeds and plants mostly with people she knows as a gesture of friendship.

“Sharing seeds and plants helps to preserve old nonhybrid seeds, lest tomatoes become more and more storable and less and less edible, as an instance,” Cogswell said. “I was once given a few seeds saved for several generations of a Potter Valley friend’s family. They have been lost somewhere in several moves, but that was such a nice idea.”

Elisabeth Wolf, too, does whatever she can to promote native plants.

“I have two best girlfriends who live within a couple of blocks of me. We all love our gardens and all grew up in and around nature. Over the past few years, each has had major landscapers to put in large gardens and complex landscaping. Fancy stuff. I had noticed, however, that neither had milkweed. Among the most important plants we should all be growing was nowhere on their properties,” said the Pacific Palisades woman.

So she gave both gifts of clippings, explaining the connection in the life cycle of Monarch butterflies. “Each time they see Monarchs, they call me, or send me a picture, or zing me a text. And, most importantly, they now give gifts of native milkweed. We are becoming a small Monarch rescue team,” she said.

Mary Montes of West Hills routinely harvests California poppy seeds in the spring and gives them away in the fall. She also has saved numerous California native tree mallow (Lavatera assurgentiflora) saplings from her yard and is willing to share. But the tree’s growth rate can be scary — about 8 feet tall and 8 wide in about two years. She still has seven left. “Know anyone who wants a California tree mallow?”

How to participate

Who: Plant Traders Inland Empire California Garden Trading Community

What: Members and newcomers meet, talk gardening and trade/share seeds/plants

When: Meets monthly. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Canny Knack’s Kaos Farm in Ontario with trading, a potluck and fun children’s activities starting at 12:30 p.m. Future meetings are set for Nov. 8 at Menifee Harmony Ranch, 26760 Corson Ave., Menifee at 2 p.m.; Dec. 6 at 7012 Garden Rose St., Fontana, at 2 p.m.; Dec. 13 at Louie’s Nursery, 27985 Wickerd Road, Menifee, from 1 to 3 p.m.; and Jan. 9 at the Jurupa Mountain Discovery Center, 7621 Granite Hill Drive, Riverside, at 1 p.m.

Admission: Free

Information: eplanttraders@gmail.com; facebook.com/groups/ Planttradersie