CLOSED: Free Seeds for New Bees May 17, 2011

This thread is for Newbie seed requests, information and questions.

"New Bee" means that you joined DG in the last year (or so)
and are a paying subscriber. (Not "new to gardening", though that's fine too.)

For the cost of postage, we'll send you at least 10 packets of seeds in a bubble mailer.
That's all there is to it, thanks to all those who share seeds with us.

Everyone, new and old: if you would like to donate seeds for new members, that would be great!
If you don't have lots of seed to give away yet, we can also trade (Dmail or post a list of your Wants).

There is another "New Bee Seed" request thread over in the "Welcome Mat" forum:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1182272/

There is also a "New Bee" Chat Thread over in the "Garden Talk" forum:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1152857/

We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1160896/

The DG Address Exchange is: http://davesgarden.com/address_exchange/
(You have to add your address to be able to see everyone else's.)


To get your seeds, send whichever you prefer:

1. A bubble envelope containing 4 or 5 first-class stamps, your printed address and a Want list.

(Even the empty mailer will cost you $1.71 to send, so this is the most expensive option.)
(I am in the address exchange as RickCorey_WA, so you know where to send it.)

2. A First Class envelope with 5 or 6 First Class stamps, your printed address, and a Want list.
(I'll supply the bubble mailer.)

3. A private Dmail to me (RickCorey_WA) to get my PayPal ID and send me your address, $3.00 by PayPal, and a Want list.

(Don't post your address here in the public forum, send it by Dmail or put it in the Address Exchange.)

Be sure to send:
- - - your DG screen name,
- - - real name,
- - - return address,
- - - postage and
- - - a list of "Wants".

You can list specific or general Wants: vegetables, annual flowers, re-seeders, perennial seeds, or particular plants. We won't always have exactly what you ask for, but will try. The more specific you can be, the more lucky you might get ... and it also prompts me to try to add those to our Stash.


It's fine to print or type your address on a plain piece of paper: I will glue-and-tape it to your return bubble mailer. If you send a bubble mailer, I'll use that to return your seeds.

If you use tape to close the bubble mailer you send to me, I'll do the same when I return it, so you can use it a third time.

We need four stamps worth of postage ($1.71) to return a bubble mailer. The extra stamp goes into the "pot" for postage due. If you don't send a bubble mailer, we ask for an extra stamp to pay for the new mailer.

Please make sure to use enough stamps when you send to me.
An empty bubble mailer is now $1.71 (four stamps). That's why I urge a 44-cent First Class envelope.

If you are kindly sending seeds to share, it takes another stamp, if you go over 3 ounces.
Please let me know if I may add your name to labels for seeds that you donate.

First Class "Package" ... bubble mailer
1 ounce $1.71
2 ounces $1.71
3 ounces $1.71
4 ounces $1.88
5 ounces $2.05
6 ounces $2.22
7 ounces $2.39
8 ounces $2.56

Please feel free to Dmail me with questions, and don't hesitate to remind me if i'm slow.

Happy Gardening Everyone,
Rick Corey
(Helping Robin)



This message was edited May 31, 2011 12:23 PM

This message was edited Jun 21, 2011 8:48 PM

This message was edited Jun 21, 2011 8:51 PM

Welcome aboard, Corey. I'll have to look at my seeds and see if I have anything to contribute to the box.

Thanks very much, Mary (if I got your name right). It's the seed donors who make it work.

Corey

I go by Marti or Mary. Doesn't make a difference to me.

Uh-huh.... there you go (on the other thread), already trying to micro-manage the robin. tee hee jab jab

I haven't gotten you the seed sieve yet, but I also haven't forgotten you. I just forget about it when I am at the store. That is what I get for forgetting my list and trying to remember stuff.

I don't remember what thread we were talking about Super Thrive, but I have a question. I looked at Lowe's and Wal-Mart and neither place knew what I was talking about. Where is it that people have found this? What does the bottle look like?

I just posted this in another forum somewhere else in response to yours - good thing I'm following you around:

p.s. Walmart carries it - usually on the top shelf (?) mixed in with their other liquid plant food products (i.e. tall skinny bottles of miracle grow, Shultz, etc.).

A.

Thanks amanda. And it is a bottle, right? I went up and down the isle twice looking at every single item. Will have to check another Wal-Mart I guess. Or maybe they had it somewhere else.

I think they sell it in a box, but when I looked for an image online see that there are many varieties of this product.

Try this link:

http://www.google.com/search?q=super+thrive&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=gLk&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=SPHTTZicKszAtgeFvoGWCg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CEMQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=478

Our nurseries sell it and the package looks exactly like the pic Amanda posted;o) It's a small bottle so don't go looking for a giant one - lol.

Yep, I was looking for a small bottle. May print the pic and take with me while I'm trying to find it. lol Have a couple of nurseries that I am going to go check out.

Welcome Rick! I'm glad such an able person was chosen to succeed Robin in her mission to replant the entire earth. We've all been grateful of her fine efforts, thanks much Robin if you're still out there. Good Luck Rick, hope you enjoy the new post.

Al

Thanks very much! I think that I will mostly just pass things from boxes to envelopes and glue on address labels and postage.

The people who really make this possible are those who donate the seeds!
My thanks go out to them.

(YOU know who you are!)

Corey

Hey all!!!

And especially Robin - I received my newbie envelope stuffed with all kinds of groovy seeds! Thank you so much! I will have to start killing more grass/making new bed for all the new plants I will be growing since joining DG. I have been so busy with school and now work I have been terribly negligent towards my planting/growing. The "good" news is that I hurt my hand and planting seeds will be just the thing to keep me from doing anything too ambitious over the weekend.

Thank you, thank you!!! :)

A.

Hope your hand is ok ,Amanda. Have fun.

This message was edited May 27, 2011 2:28 PM

Your welcome Amanda!! Keep diggin .......

Wow - somehow this seems to good to be true! Sign me up!

I just found DG... yesterday. Can't wait to start trading!

Ha Ha!

Welcome ClaireF. I may have been the most recent newbie on this thread, but now thanks to you I'm an old-timer.

I did and still do think DG's newbie seed offer is too good to be true, but my envelope came back stuffed to the gills.

I know you will enjoy your time here.

A.

WELCOME clairf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will love it here. The people are terrific and always willing to share with others. You couldn't ask for a better group of people. They are like family even though many of us have never met any of them in person.

COREY .................... you're up buddy. Your first "newbie" to send to. Make us proud! :-)

Wooo-Hoooo! jump on in here Ric, got a lively one here.
Welcome Claire, hope you enjoy hanging out with us newbees. What kind of flowers or vegie garden are you planning for? Or what do you grow now? Your snow probably just melted and it's about time for you to plant! Tell us about yourself, don't be shy. Only Lucy bites and she is locked up right now.
Edited to correct type-o

This message was edited May 30, 2011 10:23 PM

sheesh mekos, there you go again. She meant to say don't be shy. lmbo

I thought she said, "don't be soggy."

I don't think anybody around here is shy. Some of us are soggier than others depending on the weather.

Al

lol amanda and al !!!! ya'll have a wonderful day! At least it isn't Monday!!!! 4 day week. yippeeeeee

Hi Claire

And welcome!

>> Wow - somehow this seems to good to be true!

I would say that they people who contribute to this are too good to believe, but truly are gardening angels.

Many people send bags of this and that that they saved from their garddens (or, sometimes, bought wholesale or at year-end sales.)

My living room is currently covered with bags and boxes, sorting and labelling, trying to get familiar with all the seeds Robin sent. To get an idea, Google "Svalbard Seed Vault".

I didn't see your address in the Address Exchange
http://davesgarden.com/address_exchange/

If you add your address there, you'll be able to see the other DSG members' addresses.
Or just "Dmail" it to me, driect, along with a wish list. Veggies, annual flowers, perennial flowers, trees, shrubs, herbs, vines ... "we got it all".

I recently found lots of edible beans, Hibiscus, Trumpet Vine, and Moon Flower Bush. Some Lilies, especiually Canna (they may be very tender, like almost tropical.

Just let me know. The first post in this thread has details, but here's the main thing:

To get your seeds, send whichever you prefer:

1. A bubble envelope containing 4 or 5 first-class stamps, your printed address and a Want list.
(Even the empty mailer will cost you $1.71 to send, so this is the most expensive option.)
(I am in the address exchange as RickCorey_WA, so you know where to send it.)

2. A First Class envelope with 5 or 6 First Class stamps, your printed address and a Want list.
(I'll supply the bubble mailer.)

3. A private Dmail to get my PayPal ID and send your address, $3.00 by PayPal, and a Want list.


Be sure to send:
- - - your DG screen name,
- - - real name,
- - - return address,
- - - postage and
- - - a list of "Wants".

You can list specific or general Wants: vegetables, annual flowers, re-seeders, perennial seeds, or particular plants. We won't always have exactly what you ask for, but will try.

Corey







This message was edited May 31, 2011 12:16 PM

Hi Patti

>> Your first "newbie" to send to. Make us proud! :-)

Actually, SoFlaCommercial got in first, by Dmail. I'm still floundering around, and haven't sent yet, but DID stumble onto just one pkt she was especially looking for: "Myer's Lemon Tree", from 2008.

Claire can be first from Canada! (Claire, I haven't found lots of tomato seeds yet, but I have some cold-climate tomato seeds in my own stash, if you're interested.)

P.S. to all New bees and potentail New Bees: if you say exactly what you are most eager to get, one of the Old Bees who monitor this thread may well perk up and save a batch and send it to The Stash (or even direct to you).

There are a lot of generous gardeners out there!

Corey

Hope Robin sent you the Canadian stamps I donated. :D

Yup, got a bunch of large-denomination Canadian stamps! Thanks.

Which reminds me: when sending from the USA to Canada, do I ned to put both kinds of stamps on it, just Canadian stamps, or what?

Hopefully there's "reciprocity"!

Corey

anything tasty and unusual that can grow in 10a.

I hope to have enough of a harvest in fall to:

1. donate seeds to DG,
2. be able to start to can and preserve food.

I would absolutely LOVE some sort of funky hot pepper. I don't eat them, but have friends who do, and I saw some recipes for 'critter spray' that call for hot peppers.

perhaps some seasoned DG'rs can recommend some unusual vegetables, fruits, and herbs so in future I (and other newbees) can intelligently request seeds.

:)

For edibles, I've seen mostly beans and some melons. For "unusual", some Asian greens.

I don't know "The Stash" very well yet, but I do have my own little stash of hot pepper seeds that I may never get to ripen in the PNW. I would be happy to throw a few in. And a whole bunch of "cruswhed red pepper" Thai chili seeds, saved from hot peppers from afruit stand (may be hybrid).

Cayenne, Thai Bird and Habanero: would you rather have just 2-4 seeds each, or 6 of the hottest?

I have just a very FEW "Bhut Jolokia / Naga Ghost" pepper seeds. Would you like 2-3? I saw a video of someone biting one, and they look painful. Acording to some websites, it is 1/4 as strong as civilian pepper spray! I use tweezers just to handle the seeds.

850 THOUSAND Scoville units, 17 - 28 TIMES hotter than Cayenne (30-50 thousand). Allegedly, in India they smear it on fences to keep out wild elephants.

Umm, for "unusual" peppers, check out this one. I used to have a few seeds, but may have given them away:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/82902/
Capsicum annuum 'Red Peter'
(aka Peter Pepper)

With luck, by next Fall, I'll be able to post a list of a few of the things we have lots of. Then you can browse it when you donate seeds, and get bhack anything you see that you'd like.

Technically, we can "swap" seeds with Old Bees, but I think that's a misnomer. "Swapping" seeds with someone who saves seeds, is likely to "swap" a pinch for a cup, a year or three later!

Some people have literally sent in a QUART of some seed types! "Trumpet Vine" comes to mind.

Corey

Someone on a different thread discouraged the use of hot pepper and such to deter wildlife. She cited sources that said if animals ingest or get in their eyes they can self-inflict severe physical harm including blindness trying to scratch it off or out of their eyes.

If I'm right about the spray she was referring to, peppers are only one ingredient, and it seemed to work more by smell.

I haven't used anything hotter than "pizza pepper" (thai chili pepper), and question how risky something can be, that people eat in large amounts, and that I touch and inhale while grinding.

Then it gets hugely diluted by spreading, and being rained on. It seems to me that iof this endangered animals, there would be a lot of blind cats and rats around the back of pizza parlors, where it would be present at much greater concentrations, and attched to food as bait.

I have heard several people say that animals "scratch their eyes out" but am not familiar with any source that observed it happening. Could be, I just haven't seen it.

The squirrels and cats that I see seem pretty smart. Especially the squirrels.

Corey

Well, I imagine what happens to me when I inhale black pepper for instance. Say you got lemon juice in a cut?! I think it's entirely possible/probable that if a critter got something in its eyes it could cause itself serious harm.

No telling what some people put out to deter critters. The person was referring to using a powder of some kind of very hot chili peppers, or something to that effect.

Just sayin'!

A.

p.s. The terrible thing about gardening for wildlife is that you have to put up with all of their bad behaviors!!!

Amanda:

actually, I was referring to a 'critter-b-gone' spray.

basically, a whole bunch of ingredients, like jalapenos, garlic, crushed red pepper, and it's fermented over two days, strained, and diluted.

you then spray it where you don't want critters. i'm assuming it's the scent that keeps away the critters, since there's no actual barrier, such as powder, or fencing, that keeps away the critters.

just sure wish it worked on bugs, though.....

Ha ha - well when you initially said you were interested in hot peppers, I thought, "cool - I can send you some." Then you said to repel critters. I'm a fool, I know. I grow everything for wildlife (even a memory garden for my dog). I'm determined to grow some fruits and vegetables this year for ME. heh. So I am doing containers in the driveway with trellises for support to go vertical. Perhaps the critters will have less opportunity to swing upside down to eat my sugar baby watermelons. ;)

Someone took out a new dicentra tuber. Jerks!

Perhaps that same someone took out 2 milkweed seedlings I planted yesterday too.

Let me know how your pepper spray goes. I wonder if I could scare away the rust from my hollyhocks with it? :D

A.

Wow, a little overwhelmed! You guys are a chatty bunch!

FYI - my snow did not *Just* melt.... ;) I'm just watching the iris blooming.

I've been working on my perennial and vegetable gardens for about 5 years now, but I've only just started actually taken a real interest in collecting plants and learning more about everything. Right now I'm trying to increase my population of native plants and bird and butterfly friendly plants. This year, my husband and I are building a greenhouse from salvaged construction materials that we've been collecting over the winter, and I hope that this winter I'll be enjoying my own homegrown tomatoes. I've got three small children, and I grow a lot of 'sacrificial' plants for the little ones- that is, meant to be picked and played with, and the kids have their own small vegetable and flower gardens to tend to on their own.

Regarding seeds - I have a want list as long as my arm of things I'd love to try - but mainly I'm interested in flowers. Hardy to zone 6 would be nice, but if all goes well I'll have lots of room to overwinter tender plants this winter. I'm trying to start some hellebore seeds right now (almost more patience than I have) and I'm willing to try some of the more difficult plants.

When I get a few more minutes tonight I'll sort out the details - put in my address etc. and send you the PayPal payment.

thanks all! I'm going to like it here. :)

Hi, Claire!

I will try to spot which seeds will survive in Zone 6 - heather32 was also looking for those. It sounds as if you might be able to handle unusual seeds, so I'll take a chnace on som e where I don't recognize the names.

Just a warning: I've already fallen behind, but I'm not LOSING any requests, they are just piling up on top of my keyboard at home.

Everyone who's waiting for seeds: don't hesitate to remind me after a few weeks ... I'll just blame my cat, Toby, for eating your envelope.

Things might go faster after I find "a system" ... that's my theory anyway.

Corey

I just can't believe someone is coming up and taking your plants. That's just not right! Not right at all !!!!

Maybe the "someone" is an army of slugs, a mole, a vole, chipmonks, vegan cats ...

Slugs must include some at least some "X-men slugs" with the super-power of making seedlings totally disappear.

Or those alien abductors are now testing plants for intelligence. Ever see the movie "The Big Empty?"

I was thrilled that "Komatsuna" were springing up so fast in the cold and wet (I now proniunce it "Come Up Sooner"). Leaves ALMOST big enough to eat. The slugs must agree. Slugs with machine guns - at least the leave the parts AROUND the holes for me to eat. They don't drag the whole seedling off to their lair.

Corey

Actually we are all being nice Claire, just wait till we get to know you. THEN the REAL us comes out.
Corey has us on our best behavior right now.