CLOSED: 2nd Annual Tomato and Pepper Seed Swap

Hi Jim,

That works fine. If you could mark Sue's davesgarden id on the seed envelopes, I'll slip them in with the rest when I return her seeds.

Thanks so much.....Heather

Heather and Jim---I was gone all day yesterday and am just now getting back to this post. Thank you both so much. Jim for the offer of the seeds and Heather for your offer and extra trouble. Thank you both so much. Trying to grow tomatoes that don't care for my climate is unrewarding sometimes. That's why I jumped at Marys Favorite. And, the pepper.
Sorry if I caused any trouble and I do understand now.

Beebonnet Sue

I would like to join this if I could and it is not to late. I can send Tomato and pepper seeds.
Thanks
Elf

I would love to join this swap. I have tomatoes and peppers and I would love to have some eggplant seeds. Do we send the wish list with the seeds or would you like to have it ahead of time in a dmail. Can I send my seeds now?

Welcome Elfs_garden and CajuninKY,

I have sent you private d-mails with further details.

You can send the seeds now if you like. Send them any time that's convenient for you, as long as I receive them by the end of October. I'm sorting through them as they come in.

As far as your wish list, typically it's just sent on a piece of paper with your seeds, but if you would like to send it to me ahead of time via d-mail, that's fine too. I've even had people send in their seeds and then send me the wish list by d-mail later on as they've had a chance to compile it. Anything works.

We're up to 90 participants now. Hoping to make it to a 100 :)

......Heather

We're up to 92. Still room for more. Come join in the fun :)

How do you send seeds to Canada? I have tried before, and they never make it through customs?

Hi, Linda Kay!

You send seeds from the US to Canada in the same way that I send seeds to the US.
LIE!
If you MUST fill out a Customs form, declare them as "Garden Ornaments" or "Hobby Supplies".
And pack them so they don't "rattle" and sound like seeds when someone shakes them.

The main reasons that seeds do not make it through customs is that the postal people in the sending country (very true in the US) refuse to believe that they can be sent in the first place and won't let you send them without documentation that is so unnecessary you can't even get it); or that postal people in the receiving country (again, very true in the US) don't realize that seeds CAN be sent into the country, don't check their own regulations, and destroy the envelope.

Faced with this, I figure that lying is the best approach.

Dave may disagree and I may be chastised for this post, but there's the truth of the matter.

Potagere

I agree. I figure the laws, whatever they are, were written to control invasive pests, illegals and tax collection. Our little exchange between friends should be hands off. Besides tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are essential foods in any country. My conscience is clear.

I figure it's a kindness to not bother the dear postal workers with anything that might require them to get their knickers in a wad. I don't remember having to declare contents last time. I used a small padded envelope that could have held photos. I think it was 6 X9. I just put some stamps on it and stuck it in my mailbox with the flag up.

Ah, so we are sending beads, not seeds! Gotcha!

Ah, yes, Moss Point, Mississippi!
I regret to say that Farges, France, with its population of about 1/8th that of Moss Point (pretty big town, actually, I see) is subject to some of the vagaries of French bureaucracy. If I put that package in the mailbox with the flag up, the factrice ("mail-lady") will stop by my house and ask what's in it. Then she will tell me to take it to the post office that afternoon, where she will then have me fill out a form saying that it contains things we both know are "extensions of reality".

Yep, it's bead, Linda Kay, NOT SEEDS!

But twiggybuds puts it so elegantly that I hope we are not censored, because I would love to use her phraseology again!

Potagere

P.S. Just for the record, I am aware that "mail-lady" is perhaps a socio-politically unacceptable term in the US. However, here in France (as in most of the world), our words are "gender-sensitive", so because the person who handles my mail is female, she is a "factrice", as opposed to a "facteur". She is also "a lady", not just "a woman", so I hope that I can be excused this usage. P.

Your excused, and no offense taken here!

So, are you going to join us, Linda Kay? Del Rio ought to be prime "chile-growing territory".
I know you like chocolates, so I've got this gorgeous "Chocolate Habenero" that can certainly light up your nights!

No crops grow here, other than goats, and a few cows! Ground is a very hard caliche, and it litteraly has to be jack hammered if you want to do anything to it!
Most people here that have rances, import all kinds of animals for very expensive hunts. If you want to go deer hunting, it will cost you at least $1000.00 per day, per person, and that will allow you to kill one animal. If you want to kill and elk, that is $3000.000.

Sorry, I don't grow veggies. I have tried to grow tomatoes for two years now, in pots, and they just don't produce. Just too dang hot I guess!
I just had to pop in and ask how you got them across the border.

Linda Kay,

What the H are you growin', then?
I don't take you for an aberrant goat lady!

Don't you have like a covered patio or something?
I've got some great "pot" tomatoes; and the majority of the chile pepper seeds I have came from a DG member who grows 200 varieties of peppers every year IN POTS!
Can you believe that?
Incredible but true.

If you can grow flowers you can grow chiles!

You are NOT getting off this easy!
You can't just "pop in".
You want to say, you got to play!
You need to join in!
Challenge the DHS!
Trade seeds!
Come on. Linda Kay, you can do it!

LOL!
OK, Let me see what seeds I can find.

Count me in please!

QUESTION!

Does "peppers" include ornamental peppers?

Russ,
Do your "Ornamental Peppers" have names?
Are they stable varieties?

I have seeds for about 8 varieties of "ornamental" peppers.
What they have in common is that they are small plants; prolific producers over a long period of time (so they have many colours of peppers shown at one time); usually early/mid season; and hold their fruit either upright (most often) or in a visually prominent position.

They are fun for the flower gardener.

There is otherwise little except fruit size and/or shape to distinguish them
When re-grown from seed, they tend to display hybrid parent disparate characteristics.

If you have something different, even if it is not appropriate for this trade, let's see what you are doing.

Best
Potagere

Ornamental peppers--I have (growing):

Shu
Explosive Ember
Purple Flash
Trifetti
Black Pearl
Alma Paprika
Sangria

... and one more, a misfit--a starter that didn't resemble any of the others but is very attractive: Small, squat, upright deep purple peppers in a plant habit that resembles a small tree.

The Black Pearl seems stable; there are volunteers growing in the garden from last year's ungathered seeds. I don't know how stable the others are.

This message was edited Sep 9, 2009 6:49 PM

Taters55, glad you decided to join in the fun. I'll send you a private dmail with more details.

Russ, ornamental peppers are welcome and many people specifically ask for them in this exchange. Please send in only the named varieties though. The ones you listed are all good (Shu, Explosive Ember, Purple Flash, Trifetti, Black Pearl, Alma Paprika, Sangria). Will send you a private d-mail as well.

As far as sending seeds cross border, I've done hundreds of trades with the US and it's as simple as putting them in a bubble envelope and dropping them in the mailbox. The postage rates are published on the usps website, so if you have stamps, there's no need to ever go into a postal office and allow them to complicate things for you :) The only time I've ever had a problem, was when someone thought they were surprising me by sending me plant cuttings in the same envelope as my seed trade. Customs destroyed the whole envelope....seeds and all. They're good with seeds in my experience....just don't send live plant material or invasive plant seeds or full uncleaned seed heads. It's the critters they're most worried about. Customs has opened and inspected several seed trades I had sent from countries outside of north america as well. They always sent them through without any difficulty.

Wow! We're up to 97 participants so far. We just have to get to 100. It's easier to work with even numbers :) LOL

This message was edited Sep 10, 2009 8:52 AM

We made it to 100 !! Still accepting more participants until mid October.

Hi,

After fermenting some of my tomato seeds for the first time ever, I finally have some to trade! So please count me in! Glad you are still accepting new traders after reaching the 100!

Bumping to page 1. We're up to 102 participants !

Okay, I have a question. Is the Sungold something that people are looking to grow?

I grew a plant from seed this year and actually, it turned out to be very prolific and is still producing lots of fruits. Honestly, I didn't think I would actually get anything from it since I obtained the seeds from store bought tomato. It has surprised me! I normally don't even bother doing that anymore because of GMO's but my dh just loves the flavor ~ they are tasty! The skin is a little tougher than the heirlooms.

I'm really a fan of heirlooms and understand you are really looking for them to trade... but I have saved seeds of this also. Soooo... should I send some of these seeds in my package?

Hi Allwild818,

Thanks for your question. Sungold is a hybrid, so seeds you collected will not grow true to the original. It's best not to send in/trade seeds you collected from a hybrid plant for exchanging as the recipient will be ending up with a complete surprise when they grow out the F2 seed you collected. If your intention was to send them in as giveaways/bonuses, that's great, I'd be happy to share them, but for exchange purposes, they wouldn't be suitable.

It's ok to send in hybrid seed if they are F1 (usually seed leftover from commercial purchases). People are definitely looking for sungold seed (F1), but what you've collected will not grow out as the original sungold. It will just be an unknown plant.

Thanks for your understanding.....Heather

This message was edited Sep 15, 2009 8:15 AM

Got it. Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I had a couple of private d-mails asking if there was a minimum number of packets that had to be sent in.

I thought it would be worth posting a note here to confirm that there is no minimum number of packets. We do have a maximum of 30 to keep within postage limits.

The only minimum is that your seed count per seed packet must be at least 10 seeds.

Hope this helps for any lurkers that have been thinking about joining and haven't dived in yet.

We're up to 106 participants !!!!

Thanks......Heather

We're up to 112 participants.

I'm still accepting signups until about mid October. I will post a note when signups have been closed off.

For those that have already signed up, feel free to send your seeds in early if you have them ready to go. No need to hang on to them until close to the deadline. I'm getting some in now and sorting as we go along.

For those in the US and overseas, you'll need to allow about two weeks for mailing time, so plan to mail your seeds no later than October 15th to get them here by the deadline.

Thanks....Heather

I'm starting to dry my seeds.
"Texas Star" grew some nice big tomatoes this year.

Wow, that's a nice looking tomato Byndeweedbeth. How do they taste?

It's a new one to me, and the ripe ones are just getting ready to taste...so the jury is out for a few more days :)
I'll let you know!

Hi everyone,

I received a d-mail question and thought it would be worth posting a note to clarify in case anyone else is wondering the same thing.

On point #3 of the swap guidelines....where I mention you will receive tomatoes for tomatoes or peppers for peppers unless you include a note indicating you are open to receiving either in return.

What I meant by that, is that if you send in tomatoes, and i do not receive a note indicating that you want any peppers, I will assume you want all tomatoes and will only send those back in return. Visa versa, if you send in peppers and do not state an alternative preference, I will have to assume you want all peppers, and will only send those in return.

You can also send in tomato seeds and ask for pepper seeds in return, or any combination that works for you. Or send in pepper seeds and say you'd like tomato seeds in return, or any combination. I will do my best to follow your preferences.

I believe with the level of participation we have in this swap, the variety will automatically be there to allow the flexibility for getting different combinations of seeds returned to you according to your personal preferences.

I hope this helps to clarify. Later tonight I will edit the wording in the swap guidelines to make it clearer.

Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions.

......Heather

This message was edited Sep 21, 2009 5:28 PM

Today I received seeds from bethw336. Thanks Beth

Oooo, count me in! I'll do both both tomatoes and peppers!

This will be fun! I don't suppose it will help me be more reasonable about the quantity of tomatoes and peppers I grow next year, will it? :)

Angie

Welcome Angie,

Glad you decided to join us.

Hey.....there's nothing unreasonable about having a tomato and pepper addiction.......the more the better.

We're happy to be your enablers :)

Just sent you a d-mail with more details.

Thanks....Heather

Hi everyone,

Just a friendly reminder...please be sure to include a note with your dg id in your envelope. This will save me a great deal of time trying to figure who's seeds are whos. Also, please do not send stamps from your country if you are not in Canada...they do not work here :)

Thanks so much....Heather


This message was edited Sep 23, 2009 12:38 PM

Heather - just packaged up my seeds and putting them in the post tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
Claire

Thanks for the update Claire. Will let you know when your seeds arrive.

Mine will be in the post today or tomorrow too.