Seed Swap and Chat # 48 ... seeds will be coming soon

bsgardens'
Isn't it sad we can't enjoy our plants and the beauty of them all for people not us, that are hunting a high lol. I am so glad I can get high on my plants.. Now have to go with what I have to grow my beauies. Just for me and friends who admire.
Carolyn

I use Fafard seed startign mix. Combo of peat, vermicultite and perlit e that been groudn down real fine. I us e perlite, the white pieces to flif f up soil. I t giv e s a heavy pottign soil more air space. If I have enough I throw the vermicutite n ther e too if I aking my own, helps keep the mix light and fluffy. For seed starting, if a seed says cover, I us e a thin layer of vericultie on the top . It helps keep the seedlings place. Also allow s light to go through to the seed but keeps it covered at the same time.

I have heard about using cinnomon, good for th ehuman body too, but haven't trie d it yet. Dapig off come s from too much water. Til the babies get up enough I us e a mister. Take s forver and the finger s cramp with the small one i have, but usually never have dampign problems.

But for the container s outsid e wintersowing, not sure if if folsk put anythign on top other than soil? Maybe soe of the experience d Ws's wil tell hwo they al do there's.

Ok, The last of the piggy boxes arrived today.

Got Carolyn Crooper
MamaWk
Critter.

That evrybody in now except for MechelleT who will have to send evrybody their few oinks.

Suuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii man ther e abunch of seeds. : )

You know I just read where this man picked the blooms from his Brug. plant and boiled them in water to make a tea to drink so he could get high and he almost died. Another man was picking off branches from his to go root and it was hot outside and he was sweating,so he wiped his forehead with his hands where he was handling his plant, and he got so sick from the juices of the plant, he had to go to the ER. Some of the sap must have got in his eyes from him wipeing his head. I've had these plants for years and broke them bare handed and never would have thought someone would want to drink or smoke or taste the plants at all. Same thing with Moon vine and morning glory seeds, I can't believe this stuff. I guess I just led a sheltered life. Man! I guess I'll have to start watching people wanting to "look" at my flowers and really watch the seeds from them, and watch Who I give cuttings to. (I don't mean on site trading, I mean in my neighborhood).

bsgardens, I'm not sure what $$ soil mix you're talking about.

For shallow seed starting trays, I do like a finer soil-less mix... sometimes Miracle Gro gets pretty chunky, great for larger containers, not so hot IMO for seedlings...

Sometimes I use Pro Mix straight up, just adding some polymer moisture crystals... If I want better drainage/aeration, I add extra perlite... Last year, I was doing mostly 2 parts Pro Mix, 1 part hydrated coir, 1 part rice hulls, 1 part extra perlite, plus appropriate amount of polymer crystals. That seemed to make a nice balance between good drainage and good moisture retention (seedlings like moist but don't like soggy).

I hope the boozehag next door doesn't learn about morning glories. I'd have empty trellis and trampled plants.

I am glad that Bella the cat isn't interested in planting, just certain plants. Don't worry, I make sure that I have nothing potentially harmful to cats or dogs in reach. She has her own plants. The cat grass/oats is dead again, time to plant a bit more. I have to let it get tall before I put it down or else she will devour it in a day. At the moment she is sitting on my feet. Last spring the dog ate my soybean seedlings. She never showed any interest in plants before, except if a rodent was hiding around the pots. I am trying soybeans again this spring. I grow a pot of grass for her from her favorite grass patch. Ironically, the cat doesn't eat the dog's grass, just bats it around. The dog is not interested in oats or catmint. Does anyone grow anything interesting for their pets?

I have been busy winter sowing and starting seeds inside. I am trying some morning glories in small pots. I think they will look nice climbing in the window. (They would look even nicer if I clean the window again.) I am looking forward for the piggy seeds!

We just got a dusting of snow. Should be cold and clear for a few days.

Be careful with the dog if it eats the soybeans, I'm not sure which all dogs it effects but soy will kill Mastifs and Chinese Sharpei and some others. They can't eat dog food that contain soy products. Soy causes bloat in dogs and usually won't recover from it if not treated immediately. Bloat can kill a large dog in a couple hours.

Thanks Brandy for the info. I copied it and put in my file for if I ever get another one. I am so careful too. I never open anything I am not expecting. But, s--- happens. Guess someone just doesn't have enough to do.

Jeanette

Just trying to catch up on all the posts.... hope everyone's new year is off to a great start~

Genna

"I hope the boozehag next door doesn't learn about morning glories. I'd have empty trellis and trampled plants."
LOL! GardenQuilts, that cracked me up!

Gypsy, think she was serious. I didn't know about those either. I knew the brugs were bad, but I have never heard of people actually doing anything with them on purpose.

If you go to the Plant ID Forum, at the top of the page is a "sticky" with a ton of info on plant toxicity....for humans and animals.

No, I said on purpose. I know about the plant toxicities.

Today I winter sowed. : ) My first real witne r sowing!!!!!

be proud of me. Pat me on the back. tell me , " Way To Go" !!!!!!!!!

What did I winter sow, you might be asking. That a good question. I have no idea. It was a little roudn black seed and a funny lookign brown one and ...and....

it was all the bit s and piece s of see d that had opene d or fell out of packets and got ont he bed spread. I took the spread, opene d the door, stood on the porch and shook and shook. So whatver wa s itn eh crumbs got witner sowed.

So now I officiall a witner sower person. Now dont' ya think that so much easier than doign containers. heheheheheh ducks befre I get smacked. LOL

Now I wodner if anythgin wil come up or if the chipmuncks wil find it first. gonna be itnerestign to see. : ) : )

Good for you, girl. Did a great job and ya fed a few birds too.
They will need it in this weather.

Hahahahahahaha Love ya Star.

Probably be better than if you were very fussy with them. You be sure to take pictures when they are blooming. We are all holding our breath. LOL

Jeanette

Beautiful job Ella, couldn't have done it better. I did some more yesterday. I direct sow mostly, but yesterday I decided to use this huge container by the garage that I threw all the extra dirt in from containers that had annuals that I let die from the season. I threw the seeds from the bottom of my seed box on top and walked off. Of course it's all sitting on top of about 4 inches of snow so the birds will most likely get them all. If they do I have more I can dump after the snow melts and I can put more dirt on top .

I'm such an idiot. I didn't think of this before Robin said it. I have tons of pots in the front that still have the soil, that have HHP and annuals in then. I'm just gonna use those rather than what I was going to do for wintersowing. Duh!

Patricia... that is what my neighbor does... but she does her's in the spring... she said she's going to try Ws'ing this year... But every spring she sprinkles seeds, usually Zinns and Marigolds in all of her bizzillion pots, then transplants in the summer.

I direct sow "almost" everything. So I'll use the pots for something that requires more attention. Marigold and Zinnas are a direct sow for me as they come up so easy. I just don't want to have to transplant too much :)

I have some annuals that keep self seeding in these pots and perennials that I don't want to spread like St John's Wort and mints and Catnip and they house my annual tomato crop, so I'll have to only put in stuff I know is different that I'll be able to tell the difference as to what it is when it comes up.

I've had horrible luck sowing inside. I did that the last 2 years and either they all come up and then die or they don't come up at all. I try to direct sow as much as possible, as I usually have better luck, even with the birds.

Now if I only had a greenhouse.....

I am instage two of seed preparation on my iris seeds. Have completed the daily changing of the water, and keep submerged, have done the half hour 10 percent bleach soak and have them in the fridge for 14 weeks of "winter". Hope I have good germination results.

herbspirit, is your St. John's Wort a Perrienal shrub.
That is what mine is. I have it by the side om my sidewalk,
it is still green even with all this cold weather.

Mittsy... I nevr did Iris seed that way before. belive it or not, I take my Iris seed, but it in a piec e of panyhose and tie a knot and put in the back of the toliet tank. I remmebr many many years back, when I heard an Iris person say thats hwo they starte d theres and I laughe d my hea d off til I trie d it. Ya just got to remmebr to make sur e ther e no tidy bowl man floatign aroudn in ther e too. LOL

But every time ya flush the cold water goe s over and chage s on the seeds. : )

yep, my St John's W is a perennial. Doesn't get big enough here to be a shrub, but it does reseed quite a bit so I keep it in a pot.

Nice job ws Ella :)

I have to go dig out our milk jugs and see if we have any soil to fill them. Today, our yard was full of a wave of American Robins. They came yesterday too. The Robins come for the ripe, red berries on our huge Holly tree. They also visited the heated water bowl :)

And along with all the Robins, we had a wild turkey, Turkey Tom, stop by today! A lot of activity for a freezing cold day.

It's funny how we see so many turkeys this time of year. Think it is because maybe it is easier for them to see the seeds etc. on the snow? Or is it easier to see the turkeys on the snow? We see flocks of them when we go to town every day. One flock, I am sure, had close to a hundred birds. Strange how you sure don't see them during hunting season.

I doubt they are in those big flocks that time of year. Quite often see a flock of jakes only here in our yard. During nesting season we normally have one hen that has a nest around here close by.

Thanks for the toilet tank tip, I'll try it next time.

Mornign piggies!!!!!!!

Today is monday and hope d to send all yoru boxe s out today, but sorry it gona be tommorrow. I took yesterday off for myself and have soem frozen pipes from it gettign down to 15 here again this morning. I picke d up roe leave s for another helpign project and the bags were soakign wet of elave s and they frozen solid to insid eof my car, so hoepfulyl later this afternoon after sun gets shiningin there cna get them unfroz e andpuleld out for the piggy boxes. That is after the other door unfreeze themseves. Onyl got oen that wil open now. It definately nto startign otu to be a good day.

Any ways, thinsg are just abotu set and ready to roll and got soem mroe pics for ya.

Ok, rmmeber last time ya sa wmy bed it wa s covere d with piles of seed and ha d taken the crumb seed s that wa s on it and did my shake off in the yard for so called winte r sowig LOL

I go tto look at my be d for a fe w minute s befor eit wa s time to start hauling the buckets back in that ha d been temporarily all down the hallway, w a sonly plac e with any roomleft. LOL

So her e the start of moving buckets back in

All them empty buckets now filel d with seeds : )

start of buckets to shippign boxes. be d says what goign on bene seeign themblack buckets for so long now ya giv e me somethign new. ; )

boxes.. boxes and mroe boxes. Everbody all in box just waitign for the go word. They gettign just as antsy to get off the be dand in car as you want them too , too. : ) Just hope they cna behave for alittle bit logner and have no piggy fights wile I deal with frozen water issues. Woudl hate to have to put anybody in piggy trough time out. hehehehhehe

So while I waitign for thigns to unfreeze and warm up today , am workign on wiritign out all the priority stickers, later this evenign will add all the bulbs and the monk hea d seeds from freezer Lebug sent for soem of ya and tape everybody up and tommorrow wil load all ya hungry pippie s up and tommorrow will start the piggy pics journey. : ) So hoepfulyl evrybody shoudl have their boxes between thrusday adn saturday. So watch your mail. I wil have have evrybody confirmation sticker if yoru box dont ariv e and then if ya need it wil dmail it ya.

Looking good there Star!! I don't know how you do it - but I am thankful that you do!!

Genna

Star, did you have enough postage and is there ANYTHING we can do to help you? I know you will be relieved with all the boxes gone and you can have your house and beds back. Bless you for all your hard work and Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Star, put some Alcohol in a spray bottle and spray it on those frozen locks. Lord, girl, did you ever get to sleep? Those pots of seeds are beautiful. You did a great job. Let meknow if you need anything I don't know what I 'd do but I would try to help. Thank you

Hee, I can just see it now, a little piggy parade on its way to Alabama to rescue Ella in her robe and fuzzy slippers and take her to the post office! I could pick up Mekos, then ridesredmule on my way! Anyone else on our route?

Yeah, Haw!!! Let's go help her girls>>>>

Hey I tell ya, I been seriously thinkign it would probably be alot easier to carry all thes e boxe s on a coupel of pack mules.

Rides, if ya missign a coupel of mule s in the morning, Don't look my way. hewhehehhehehehe

KL.... Ya knwo it was embarrassign to say the least, been so freezign here and me so cold , so always in fuzy slipper s and ha d on and forgot to change into shoe s before I went to church yesterday and ha d to apologiz e ot folsk for my piggy , and with sweaty feet they do smell piggy right now, LOL

I don't have any alcholol. Abotu another horu and a half or tow hour s and should be able to get into and get them bags of leave s out. Had folsk all savign leave s for famr s that lost evrythign from flood s in N Ga and was lookgin for leave s and mulch. So lady calle dme and she had her son rak ethe leave s and I had to go pick up and the bags was soakign wet and heavy. They in thin black trash bags, so hoep they don't rip on the way out , or the pigy boxes, gonan be riddign in a piggy nest on the way and that too cosy of an are a for al them piggie s to be. heck the'd be arivign at yoru house s and havign piglets . snort. snort..

Nope I fine. I got 6 mroe cans of pringle s the other day. Got plenty of coffe e and sugar, so I good to go.

I sure ther e something somebody wil be missing or I did wrong. So hopefully ya will forgiv e me. This year been the biggest swap ever and at tiem s it been a big challenging to say the least, but hopefully folsk will be able to have some ne w flower s for next year and all you newbie s that new to ws and cottage gardening, well ya just hang aroudn adn ask questions and you'll find the folsk her e wil help ya build soem gardens as beautiful as the pic s they have poste d for us. : )

Starlight, I'm sure everybody will be delighted with their boxes!

Especially for newcomers, bear in mind please that this is a swap and not a catalog order... if you didn't get everything on your wish list, I'm guessing that you still got plenty of seeds to play with and that it was well worth your time & postage.

And if you got seeds you don't want or can't use, just pass them along to somebody else. There's a "seeds for newbies" effort ongoing, or you can post a list of what you have available in the seed trading forum, or if you come across a new subscriber, you can offer them a "welcome to DG" packet. :-)

I'm hoping to see everybody posting in the CG forum this year, with all their new sprouts and blooms!

I'll loan them to you Star, No problem.
Just give them a cookie and they will do as you wish.
They are very easy to Bribe. See, these two waitn at
the gate foryou and their mouths ready for the food. They don';t care what it is.