Tomorrow (Nov 22) on my way to work....I'll be mailing an envelope back to "Gardadore".
Thanks....Heather
This message was edited Nov 22, 2011 2:11 PM
CLOSED: Come Join us - Fourth Annual Tomato & Pepper Seed Exchange !
Ooh-hoo! And so it begins...
OH...This is the hardest part...The anticipation
Today I received envelopes from:
* kurantkat
* nf2932
* poajoan (second envelope)
NF2932...I know you were worried about your envelope since you mailed it Oct 26th. Your envelope was the only envelope that was opened and inspected at customs. That explains why it took a little longer. Must have smelled particularly good to the sniffer dogs :) LOL
I have not had a chance to open or look at the envelopes yet, as I only had a second to drop by the house and let the dog out. Back to work and I'll get at these envelopes later tonight. May need to reach out with questions once I open the envelopes.
Thanks....Heather
(Dancing on tippy-toes!!)
Just got home tonight after being away for two weeks to find when I opened the computer that my seeds are on their way! What a nice welcome home present! Can't wait! Thanks, Heather, for the many hours you devote to making us happy!!! Happy Thanksgiving, all!
Heather... such good news! I suspected that customs must have been retaining the envelope as the timeframe seemed much too long. I am glad they made it to you unscathed!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone... I am thankful for the DG family! And thanks Heather for administering all of this for us... it's a big job and we all appreciate it! Nancy
Corey-can you post a picture of you dancing on your tippy-toes?
You'll have to take my word for it that I was dancing on my tippy-toes shortly before this shot was taken ...
someone took this one when he wasnt looking
risingcreek! He's naked .......
oh dear ! sorry for exposing you corey !
w00t! w00t! w00t! So looking forward to this. Hope ya'll had a blessed Thanksgiving. :)
We did, thank you and I hope you did as well. Off to bed soon. I'm pooped but blessed.
I've been OUTED!
Corey
Today I mailed seeds to "beebonnet".
Have made my way through filling seed submissions against specific named wish list items. Now I'm working my way through, other general preferences (ie origin, color, dtm, traits). Will get more envelopes filled later today and tonight. Right now....gotta get this little pooch out for a couple of hours of exercise. He's staring at me intensely...as if to say....what's it gonna be...me or those seeds?
Stay tuned for more updates.
Thanks....Heather
Tomorrow morning I will be mailing seeds to:
* Don Shirer
* NF2932
Thanks....Heather
Yipee! Can't wait for my Christmas present to arrive. Thank you Heather, for all you have done.
Thanks for the update Heather and for getting them out so quickly - you're amazing!.... it will be interesting to see how long it takes to come back this way... do you also have to fill out a customs form for entry back into the US from Canada? I'm guessing it will come back this way quicker than it made it up to you, but time will bear that out. Can't wait! I've been getting lots of seed catalogs...so far i'm restraining myself - I should hold off until I see what seeds head back this way... but it's hard to do... -:) I must be patient! (not my strong suit when it comes to gardening) I agree with beebonnet... it's just like getting a Christmas gift in the mail!!
I took a drive around the neighborhood this morning admiring all the colors of the fall trees....and it's hard to imagine ripe tomatoes right now... but they have to be my most favorite garden veggie, and I really look forward to spring despite my appreciate for the fall. Have a great day everyone! Nancy
Haven't forgotten about you guys. Have been mailing lots of envelopes back...just haven't finished off one from Davesgarden for a couple of days. I know the suspense is killing you :)
Eagerly awaiting, not to say all a-twitter!
Corey
Anyway to send me a list of what you're sending when you do send? The reason I ask is that I give away a lot of seedlings and want to put together a list before giving out options. Seeds may take weeks to arrive.
Today I mailed seeds to "Muck4doo".
Muck4doo...I just saw your posting now. I'll see what I can do about putting a list together for you, but at the moment, I have my hands very full.
Thanks...Heather
My seeds arrived today (I guess yesterday would be more accurate considering the time!). I can't believe they came so fast - quite a difference after last year when it was at least two weeks! As always you amaze me, Heather, with the diversity and number of packets you include. How are we getting so many more seeds than we send in?!!!! I am not complaining, just in awe of this package. You were able to give me so many from the wish list!! The bonuses are really exciting as well!! Thank you, thank you!!
Jessica (Gardadore)
Got the list. You are awesome! :)
Glad you're happy with your surprise pack Gardadore. My excuse for sending you more seeds than you sent in is because I cant count :) LOL Really...we had some very generous participants that donated seeds to share, so it's always exciting to be able to send you some extra surprises.
Tomorrow (Dec 3rd) I will be mailing seeds back to:
* allwild
* kurantkat
Thanks....Heather
This message was edited Dec 3, 2011 3:38 PM
I'm just wondering not complaining, just wondering how do you decide what order to send the seeds back? I would be so overwhelmed I wouldn't know what to do with them.
It's kind of hard to explain. I have a process I follow on filling specific seed types. First I start with going through the stash in alphabetical order and crossreferencing specific wish lists that list named varieites. I am gradually partially filling all envelopes as I work wish lists this way. Then I start to tackle wish lists, by other preferences once the requested named varieties have been allocated first. Once I've made my way through all the tomatoes, hot peppers and sweet peppers this way, I'll typically grab envelopes that have only a limited numbers of varieties remaining to fill. In otherwords, I may need only 5 or 6 more varieties to match the number that person sent in, so that's easy for me to complete, add some bonuses, capture it on the spreadsheet, write a note and mail. :) Sometimes I decide which envelopes to tackle based on my mental capabilities that night. If I've put in a really long work day (12-15 hours), I'll lean toward envelopes that are easy to fill when I get home from work.
Some envelopes take a lot more work to fill, because of very specific wishes, and requirements which means a requirement on my part to do a fair bit of research to figure what varieties to fit the bill. These cases typically haven't named a bunch of tomatoes on a wish list, but instead they outlined only specific traits they want and are very specific in what types of tomatoes they don't want. Same thing with Peppers. For example, "I only want hugely productive tomatoes that are red, not pink, that do well in hot climates and are disease resistant". As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm no tomato einstein, so I have to really roll up my sleeves on that type of request. I don't live in a climate that remotely resembles that. So, I have to be mentally pretty fresh to tackle an envelope like that, so I'll carve away at it a bit at a time
So there's no magic to it. I do what I think I can tackle comfortably after work every night. If it's a really late work day, I pick an envelope that feels easier for me. I don't tackle one envelope start to finish in one sitting ever. Specific named varieties on wish lists first, then I fill in from there. It allows me to apply a better sense of fairness by spreading all of the rarer varieties around
Too much information I know :)
Tomorrow (Dec 4th) I will be mailing seeds to:
* rickcorey_wa
Thanks....Heather
This message was edited Dec 4, 2011 3:40 PM
I dont know how you do it, really. Thats amazing.
Today (Dec 5th) I will be mailing seeds to:
* 1lisac
Thanks....Heather
OH, BOY!! Christmas is coming early this year!!
Thank you, Heather for all your hard work!
Corey
Received my seeds today (1 week in transit--not bad!).
Many more than I expected, and at least 5 were on the list I was about to order commercially!
Thank you so much, Heather (and the bonus seed donors). : )
(Next fall we ought to revive this site and thank those donors whose seeds did exceptionally well.)
OMG soooo excited. I never order seeds until after this exchange. This year, with all the seeds I've gotten in trades and such and all I have from previous years I can't imagine ordering anything.
Can hardly wait, I'm on my tippy toes! I'll post when they get here.
Heather--I got my seeds yesterday evening. I was cooking dinner and had to wait until I finished to open them. All I can say is WOW. What a wonderful assortment as I look more closely this morning. They are awesome seeds and so many with wonderful names plus ones that I asked for too. And, oh the bonuses. I can't wait to start researching them. You are a dear to do this for us. Tomato season starts now. LOL
Counting back from Nov. 27---Guess it was 8 days to my mail box.
Todays news tell us that next year it will be much longer. Oh Well.....
Happy 2012 tomato season everyone.
Thanks for the updates everyone. I'm so glad you're happy with the seeds. I missed the "today's news" part beebonnet. Haven't seen anything referring to mail service in the news here. All they're talking about on my news channel is the new border security program
I managed to get a few more envelopes out this morning. At this point I have to turn my attention back to last minute prep for my workshop this morning.
Sorry for the delay in getting these out everyone. This is taking me a bit longer than I had hoped as I've had a number of very late nights for work. I'm running workshops the remainder of this week as well, and tend to get home shortly before midnight, so thanks for your patience. Am striving to get the remaining envelopes out by this weekend.
Thanks....Heather
I think what beeb means is that the USPS is losing so much money that they are going to close some distribution centers (including some big ones in my state) and want to eliminate Saturday delivery. Who'dve thought email could make that much difference?
heather-the envelopes are so worth waiting for! i know i will be doing a happy dance when mine arrives.
Got the seeds today. Everything was perfect. Who is awesome? You are, that's who. Off to update the diary.
Heather... received my seeds yesterday late in the day... everything looks wonderful... I will take some time tonight to really look over the varieties and do some research... thanks for all the extra's also... and for all the time you put into this swap. It's really been fun participating! I'm really anticipating trying some of these (new to me) tomatoes! Come on spring!! Nancy