CLOSED: 2nd Annual Tomato and Pepper Seed Swap

Hi everyone,

I am hosting another Tomato and Pepper seed swap that will include members from a few different forums. I wanted to post this a bit early so you had time to collect seeds or place an order. Here are the guidelines we will follow for this swap.

1) Seeds must be received by me no later than October 30th, so I recommend you mail your envelope no later than October 15th. Please note that I live in Canada.

You can send "named varieties" of tomatoes or peppers (or both). Do not include mixes or seeds labeled "granny's mystery mix" or anything like that. I cannot, in fairness, send mixed packs of seed back to people that followed the instructions and only sent in "named varieties".

2) A minimum of 10 seeds per packet. A maximum of 5 packets of the same seed. An overall maximum of 30 packets per person.

Please ensure seed packets are clearly marked with the name, and whether they are heirloom, OP, or hybrids. If you are sending pepper seeds, it would help me a great deal with sorting if you could indicate if the peppers are sweet or hot as many individuals in the last swap had clear preferences. If seeds are from a commercial source, please note that as well.

3) If you send tomato seeds, you will receive tomato seeds in return. The same idea for peppers, unless you include a note indicating you would be interested in receiving back a different combination. You can also send in tomato seeds and ask for pepper seeds in return or visa versa. You could even send in tomato seeds and ask for both peppers and tomatoes back. Any combination you're interested in, will certainly be considered.

4) Please include a list of what you are sending, your wish list and if there are any seeds you do not want to receive. If you are only interested in heirloom or OP, please tell me that as well. I will try my best to accommodate your wish list, but there are no guarantees of course. The variety will be completely dependent on what is sent in. Ultimately, you need to view this as a surprise swap. Having said that, in last year's swap, we were able to fill many items on people's wish lists so please take the time to prepare one - it will be worth your while.

5) You will need to mail your seeds along with the correct amount of return postage as follows:

* If you live in Canada - $1.18 return postage stamps
* If you live in the US - $1.24 (CAD or US$) (includes tax)
* If you live outside Canada and US - $2.49 (CAD or US$) (includes tax)

All postage rates can be verified on the Canada Post website. For individuals in the US and International, please ensure your envelope is no larger than 6.1 x 9.6 inches (156mm x 245mm to stay within this price range). It's important that you send a regular bubble envelope and not the heavy cardboard insulated type. Weight restriction in this price category is 50g.

For those outside of Canada, you will need to send enough funds to pay for return postage. You can either send cash in the envelope or you could submit payment for postage via Paypal. Please do not send cheques as they cost me more to cash than the cost of postage. Please do not send stamps from your country. They will not work here.

If you are sending 10 or less seed packets, you should be fine just mailing in a regular envelope with seeds wrapped in tissue (I am happy to provide the return envelope in this case). If you are sending more than 10 seed packets, I would recommend you send a bubble envelope and I will reuse the same bubble envelope to return your surprise seeds to you.

6) If you change your mind after registering, and no longer wish to participate, please please please notify me immediately so we do not delay the swap waiting for your seeds to arrive. This will also save me a great deal of time trying to follow up and track people down.

7) My mailing address is listed in the DG address exchange but I will also email you privately with my mailing address once you have posted here to sign up for this swap.

Any questions. Please let me know. Let's have fun trading!!!!

Thanks……Heather

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This message was edited Nov 12, 2009 7:13 AM

Heather you did an outstanding job last year with the exchange and I would love to participate again. I only did peppers last time and received some wonderful varieties that have been a joy to grow. Thank you for doing this.

Oh, goody ..I found out this year in time. I would also love to participate

I have got tons of great tomato and pepper seeds, lots of unusual cultivars and heirlooms. I spent over $100 at tomato growers supply this past Jan and only planted a few of each..plus smokemaster graciously sent me way more pepper seeds than I could ever plant...started a lot , harvesting now but still have lots to share

Thank you for the invite Heather, I would love to participate again!

Its finally seed starting time for me, I have plenty of new little babies hatching on my windowsills that came to me through your seed swap last year.

This is great. I'd love to participate. I was kinda sad because I had to rip out my 'maters due to Early Blight--but now I can look forward to my next season.

I have both tomatoes (a few surprises there!) and peppers growing in the garden now from last year's swap. I HOPE I'll have enough seeds from everything to meet the deadline, so please sign me up!

Oh yes please! I enjoyed this last year and would love to participate again! Thank you!

Welcome back everyone. We're up to 15 participants so far and I'm hoping we make it to 100 this year (more people - more variety !!!).

I have sent private messages to everyone that's signed up so far with my mailing information.

This is going to be great fun.

Thanks...Heather

This message was edited Aug 17, 2009 6:03 AM

I would like jion in this..Thank You

Please sign me up.

Patti

I loved the trade last year and am growing some seeds I got! Sign me up again!

Definately count me in!

Hi everyone. I'm trying something new this year. In the very first note at the top of this thread, I have added a blue quote box to keep you up to date on the number of participants. I thought it might be easier to find at the top of the thread.

This swap is going to be lots of fun. We only just got started and we're up to 27 participants already. We should have a great variety of tomatoes and peppers, so get busy working on those wish lists.

....Heather

This message was edited Aug 17, 2009 8:41 PM

Please include me.

Thanks!

Sounds like fun. I'm in!

Bethw336

I had good results from another seed-swap last year, so I'd like to try this one.
Thanks

Don S.

Hi again,

I've d-mailed everyone that has signed up so far with my mailing address.

A quick note about your "wish list". Please take a few minutes to make a wish list of specific varieties of seed you would like to try. You are not making extra work for me as my goal is to try to fill as many items on your wish list as possible. I have a couple of spreadsheets I've developed to keep track of seed types received and wish list items, so it's very easy for me sort. (I know I know....get a life right :) Of course there is going to be an element of surprise with this swap, but it is helpful to know the kinds of things you're looking for.

Keep in mind, even if you are sending in all tomato seeds, and wish to try some peppers, that works too. If you don't specify, I will send you back tomato seeds or visa versa if you're only sent in pepper seeds. So don't be shy about stating what you're looking for. We might just have it for you :)

Even if you haven't developed your wish list before you mail your seeds, you can always d-mail it to me later.

Thanks......Heather

P.S. We're up to 34 participants so far.....woo hoo!

This message was edited Aug 18, 2009 5:19 PM

Wow, what a great idea! Now that I know about "seed swapping" I'll participate NEXT YEAR so I can lookout for some really nice "named" tomatoes from which to collect seed. My best tasting one this year was "Better Boy". The "Celebrity" and "Taladaga" plants I purchased grew well, but the flavor was only so-so. My plum tomatoes had blossom end rot so badly at the beginning of the season, I would not like to pass along that trait to anyone, and the "Money Maker" had nice tomatoes, but every plant seemed to put out a different kind of tomato, so perhaps they were mis-marked.

The only tomatoes that had truly great taste were some cherry type volunteers - these were probably from "Sweet Baby Girl" that I grew last year. I plan to buy fresh seeds of this type again next year.

As for sweet peppers: The "Bonnie Green Bell" plants I purchased gave fruit that was absolutely tasteless!

Is it okay that I have mainly heirloom tomatoes? I have a few hybrids that I could start to get the seeds from but it will be a while before I have any seeds at all. Being in the NE we have had nothin gbut rain and cool weather until this week. I have tomatoes but none are ready to ripen. I hope that I can get some for this trade cause I am really looking for some mortgage lifters and ace55 seeds for next spring. Thanks for doing this.Day

Hi Honeybeenc,

Just a thought, but a number of participants have bought a few commercial seed packs and used some of those tomato seeds to swap for more variety. Very few end up using all of the seeds in the pack and there's usually at least 10 left over (our minimum) for swapping.

It's a great way to expand your collection by starting with just a few commercial seed packets.

If you find yourself getting tempted later and decide to purchase a few commerical seed types, come back later and join in our fun THIS YEAR :) There's still lots of time left. The deadline is not until October 14th.

We'd love to have you as part of our little exchange group.

.....Heather

This message was edited Oct 11, 2009 9:10 AM

Hi Day,

Absolutely..we love heirloom tomatoes in these exchanges. In fact they are preferred by the participants since the tomatoes will come true again from seed.

Typically it's not a good idea to collect and trade seed from hybrid tomato plants you have bought as they will not breed true and people will have no idea what they're going to get when they grow again from seed. Often people don't know the parent plants that were used to create the hybrid in the first place. It's ok for personal consumption, but for trading, people typically like to know what they're going to get when they grow the seeds they received. It's really the equivalent of sending in an "unknown seed type".
Sending in hybrid seeds that have been commercially purchased works well (ie sungold) as the person receiving the seed knows exactly what they're getting. We've had a few people create their own hybrids, in which case, the parent plants are known and clearly labelled on the seed packet. Those are good for swapping too.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Let me know if you decide to participate. There's still lots of time left. As long as you mail your seeds by mid October, I'm sure I'll get them in time.

Thanks....Heather


This message was edited Aug 19, 2009 4:13 AM

HoneybeeNC,
Do it, girl!
It's fun, and you'll love it.

If you can't still find seed at your local garden stores, I bet you can go to a Farmer's Market and someone there will have named varieties (probably even heirlooms) that you can buy and save seeds from. In fact, the Farmer's Market route is how I have gotten some of my best tomatoes and peppers!

Potagere

Hi everyone,

One of the participants is donating some extra eggplant seeds for me to distribute as bonuses. I didn't want to distribute them randomly as I know not everyone grows eggplant. I don't know what type it is yet but will post again when I receive.

Let me know if you'd like me to slip some of these in your envelope when I return your tomato and/or pepper seeds to you. I don't know how many I will be receiving but I suspect it will be a good size quantity.

I will distribute on a first come/first serve basis until we run out.

Thanks....Heather

One can never have enough varieties of eggplant!
I would like some, whatever they are!

Potagere

I love eggplant, yes please!

As a kid I didn't like eggplant...Now older I enjoy it..Is that like older & smartter..LOL



Tubby

This message was edited Aug 19, 2009 6:57 AM

Hey Tubby,

I'm sure you're right....older and smarter for sure.

When I was younger, I didn't like wine either...what kind of fool was I back then ? :)

So, can we tempt you with some eggplant seeds? :)

Yes please...Glass of wine sounds good too..LOL

Tubby

Hi, I have at least 3 varieties of tomatoes I can share. One is a very old Heirloom and one was introduced last year, and one introduced this year. So count me in. One quick question: Not sure which are hybrids, but how true to type will they be? Thanks.

Thanks for the invite - I'll check my seed packages to see if I have any tomato seeds dated for 2009.

I am brand new at this and only have one type of pepper to exchange so far but, would like to start there. Please sign me up.

I'd love some eggplant seeds!
I'm so happy that my two varieties I planted this year have finally started to grow with the long-awaited warm weather!
It's so hard to be patient.

Wow! We're up to 51 participants and it's only been a couple of days. This is going to be a great swap. I can't wait to see the varieties that are sent in.

Hi Buttoneer,

There are so many different hybrids out there. If you're not sure whether a particular type of tomato you have is a hybrid or not, you might want to try looking it up first in the davesgarden database. There seems to be lots of information there.

You could even post the name of the tomatoes that you are curious about and I'm sure some of the participants will be able to give you insight on your particular type of tomato.

I'm no expert, but there are so many variables that can influence how close to true a tomato will grow if you collect from a hybrid tomato. Genetics play a big role and I'm no expert on that. All I know is that you can see some pretty big variances. Perhaps someone else participating here could point you to a good article or further information that get's into more detail.

If you're not sure whether your tomato is hybrid or not, please do look up information first. As mentioned in one of the previous posts, it's really not a good idea to share seeds that you collect from hybrid tomatoes, as it's the same as sending in an "unknown" seed.

Please let us know the names of the tomatoes in question and I'm sure the folks here will be able to help you figure out if it's safe to collect and swap seed from them or not.

Thanks....Heather



This message was edited Aug 19, 2009 8:40 PM

Ditto what Heather said. It is very important that you know for a fact what you send in. I chose to grow only a few indeterminates for fresh use last spring. I started extra seeds of one very popular variety that many folks rave about and distributed them to 4 other people and kept 2 for myself. It turned out that they had been mislabeled and we were all disappointed and I feel like a fool. I named them Sorry Little Sour Knots.

I saved a lot of seeds and plan to send in some extras so if you feel you come up short, join in anyway because there will be some others like me and we love to share.

I agree with Heather and Twiggy. And I will be putting in extras too, I hope some come your way

Yes. Eggplant too please, Heather, if I'm not being pushy being new and only having a bit to share back at this point...I do love eggplant though...lol...

I will note it in a note enclosed with my pepperseeds as a reminder...

I do have one question though...how did you get so wonderful to do all this? 51 people already WoW this is a project...Thank You! I'm so excited to see what the mail will bring.

Please put me on the list for eggplant seeds!

Thank you,
Patti

mrsjamiep,

You're not being pushy at all. The participant is sending them in with the intention of sharing them because he has collected way more than he could ever use personally and would love to see them passed around to people that love eggplant as much as he does.

I really enjoyed hosting the last swap and just had to do it again this year. Lots of wonderful people and good fun sorting through seeds dreaming about better gardening years to come. Typically by the time the seeds arrive, we're already into cold weather or snow here, so it's a treat to be sifting through tomato seeds that time of year :)
I personally find that I learn a lot as well. When the seeds arrive, I sort them and many times I see seeds I've never heard of and have to research them. The history behind some of the seeds is facinating to me.

Have noted that you'd love some eggplant seeds.

Thanks again....Heather

Hi Patti,

You bet. Have you down for eggplant seeds.

I've also noted everyone else that has requested them.

Thanks....Heather