2014 Fall Round Robin Seed Swap (fka deejay9) - Interest

Greetings, y'all!

Welcome to another edition of Round Robin where a box (the bird) is filled with seed (from you and me) and travels around the country with each of us giving and taking to send on to the next participant.

We've had so much fun this year and last we decided to do it again. :)

Signup will close on November 1.

PARTICIPANTS:
*****************************************************************************
AmandaEsq
Goldhillal (Crystal)
timmijo (TimmyJo)
Mittsy (Mittsy)
FloGro (Tracy)
Domehomedee (Dee)
Christine (czimmerman00)
JenDion (Jennifer)
CheerMom (Sue)
obliqua (Judith)
memays (Meredith)
Stillplayswithdirt (Becky)



HAVES and WANTS thread is HERE:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1379160/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1379160/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1379160/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1379160/

The Robin will take flight on November 10, 2014.

We collect fresh seed from our own gardens to share with each other.

* All seed put into the Robin MUST be from 2011 or later.
* All seed put into the Robin MUST be clearly identified by the participant with your name, the common name and botanic name of the plant species, and the YEAR of harvest.
* Do our honest best to avoid duplication. Only so much seed will fit in the Robin. If there are already 30 packets of purple coneflower in the Robin, we're not likely to need 15 more.
* I MUST have your complete shipping address and telephone number where I can reach you.
* You must be available throughout the duration of the Robin and be a current subscribing member thru the end of the Robin
* The route of the Robin will be determined by participant availability. If we cannot reach you we will not ship to you!

Fresh commercial seed is welcome too.

These guidelines are to ensure seed quality and high germination rates consistent with fresh seed
and
to foster RESPECT and TRUST among fellow participants.

Let's avoid confusion and frustration whenever possible.

As many of you know Susie (deejay9) has hosted this swap for the past UMPTEEN years!

I hope to serve this time honored tradition with the same high standards and genuine enthusiasm that Susie has shared with us as former participants. Thank you Susie - we will do our very best. :)

I have some nice seed to share and hope you will too.

Please let me know if you're in. I will post a "Haves and Wants" thread in due course.

~Amanda

Image courtesy: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_robin/id

This message was edited Oct 24, 2014 11:23 AM

I'd like to join. I'm a snowbird spending the winter in FL. I'll dmail you both addresses.

I'm in, let me know if you'd like me to send some seed for the initial take-off! I have lots of flower seed this year, already packed up and in a bag labeled "Fall Robin"!

Yay!! Will dmail you my info.

I would like to participate and will dmail you my info as well. I have a question: When the box arrives, after I choose seed and also replace with my own seed, do I take the box to the P.O., get it weighed, and pay for postage to send it on? Just asking. I have never done this before, but I am a faithful seed collector each season. I have plenty to share.

Hello and thanks for playing!

@ Timmijo - yes, someone will ship the box to you, take what you like and give what you can. The cost of postage varies but we do use the USPS. The box will typically be the medium size priority flat rate box, so you can count on postage varying from $8 ~ $11 depending on the loctation of the next participant.

We have looked at various methods of shipping via USPS. If you can get a weight at home you may be able to print postage from home and save $1 or more. Sometimes, it costs less to use a non-USPS flat rate cardboard box to ship. This again will vary depending on the weight of the contents, but we try to use the most economical and expedient method of transport.

Feel free to ask any questions here. We are glad to have you aboard!

A.

Amanda,

I'm in. I'll dmail all my info to you.

sign me up please:))

Please sign me up.

Sue G

Hi again. Amanda, I am an Ebay seller and almost always choose any rate besides Priority Mail flat rate.

For the same size box, you can ship Priority by just putting a Priority sticker on a plain box, at least on Ebay. This is as long as you choose Priority via Pay Pal postage. Saves a few bucks.

I have a scale at home but have not shipped via USPS online; I usually just go through PayPal to pay for my postage label on Ebay.

There is the issue of speed, however. So maybe Priority or Priority Flat Rate is best in terms of speed.

When I really want to cut corners, I choose Parcel Select; however, some of my sold items took twice as long to arrive to my customers. That will probably not do for a Round Robin.

Thanks for adding me in!

This message was edited Oct 2, 2014 6:31 AM

Count me in! Eek! I'm so excited!!

Becky you're a silly, silly girl. :)

I am thinking of getting in on this again :)

Count me in. Do you still want the address D-mailed to you if it is in the address ffile at DG?

Aw heck, I'll just D-mail and you will have it both ways.

Thank you dearie - telephone numbers too - absolute must. I need to be able to call and chat during Dr. Phil.

xo
A.

Hope everybody is enjoying a well deserved Friday afternoon. :)

Just thought I'd drop a note and say I'm excited to see so many excited seed swappers already, and I'll begin sorting thru the Spring Robin to transfer appropriate seed to the Fall stash.

What we don't use (older than 2011)(redundant/excessive supply of single species) I will ship to the Newbie Seed Stash to be doled out to new members who receive these packets like it's Christmas Morning, birthday, and/or other major gift giving holidays.

If you would like to donate seed to the robin in advance of its initial shipment, please contact me via Dmail, and I will share my shipping address. For those in the know - it is already in the Address Exchange for members. I should have already delivered that information to participants.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Let's all have a GREAT weekend!!!

xo
A.

Amanda ~ Thanks for the invite. I will be on the road starting Oct 15th, traveling with my husband to the PNW, and maybe find a new place to live. It will be an adventure for sure. I may check in with you from time to time...we'll see. Y'all have fun! ^_^ Evelyn

I would like to participate. Meredith

Hi Meredith!

Please send me a dmail with your shipping address and telephone number(s) where we can reach you.

Look forward to having you aboard! :)

@ Evelyn - thanks for checking in - we will miss you!!!
Good luck with the house hunt.

xo
A.

I would like to participate again. I loved the last one.


Judy

On the road, halfway to KY. Will be gathering seeds at my sons place.

Thanks for checking in! :)

Also thanks to Dee (domehome!) for already shipping a box of goodies to my door - thank you Dee - your package arrived yesterday.

Looking forward with excitement!

A.

Am think I might join but not quite ready to commit yet. Sorry, am planting like crazy.....need to finish before I gather seeds. At least another 500+ plants yet...... Not sure how well you can see all the sticks of the newly planted areas... Most plants will be different than what I have in the front garden, I might find a few here and there off of some of the new ones in the back (most be probably be next season tho...) If I join.......I would also like to mail early so they are in the first round.... Kathy

Wow, you're on such a different time table than I am. It's a clean-up the garden and make plans for fall/winter sowing time here. Not that I haven't planted out a few plants that have been ignored for way to long. You know the ones, the ones that have grown so big that it's pot is bulging and you wonder how it has survived being so root bound. The ones that keep falling over because they are way to tall to be in a 4" pot. The ones you finally admit that they must go in the ground or go to curb with a sign "free plant". It's late, good-night all.

It is kinda late here for planting out. Except for trees and shrubs that need to be kept watered til the rain starts. I am always afraid if I plant this late things will not make it. But different areas are so different in how the plants react.

Here's a few pictures of my jungle. The corkscrew vine tried to take over and pretty much covered all the hibiscus, cannas, jasmine, devil's backbone, amaryllis, and bird of paradise. I have removed 4 garbage bags full of clippings, You can now see I have my work cut out for me to make it look pretty again!
#1 was taken from inside the lanai and through the shade cloth and screen.

more of the same, I think my banana patch went from 2 to 5. Hard to tell from these pictures.

mittsy-Looks like you are going to be busy!

I didn't collect a lot of seed from KY as it was quite rainy and windy while we were there. I did bring quite a bit from NY so now I have them lying on plates drying and will send to Amanda just as soon as I can package up. Most are just open pollinated annuals and perennials but quite a good selection. I was pulling up the zinnias to put in the compost pile and my niece told me to stop, that she'd let them go, harvest the seed when the frost killed them, and then clean up the flower beds in preparation for winter. I did attach two photos but something happened and where are they?

This message was edited Oct 20, 2014 7:13 AM

I'll try to resend them later.

I assume that we will add to the box and take some out when it comes to us. Are you getting enough seed to start?

The seed I am sending off today is all commercial seed bought recently (on sale). I'll add my garden gathered seed when the box comes to me.

Crystal - I have seed from the spring Robin and last season's fall robin as well as seed from Dee so far.

It's fine either way - of course there's less cost involved if you just wait for the bird to come to you. ;)

I am posting the Haves and Wants thread today. Good Gravy, Mittsy and Kathy - your gardens are something to behold. Mine is a meadow "garden" and really difficult to walk thru this year, but I love it and so do my bees and butterflies.

May have to chop down the pecan tree (kidding!) for more sunny garden space.

xo
A.

HAVES and WANTS thread!!!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1379160/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1379160/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1379160/

Thanks for playing! :)
xo
A.

Yesterday I mailed the packet of commercial seeds. Please let me know when they arrive.

I recently visited a Master Gardener's garden and came home with a lovely avocado, perfectly ripe. Holly also gave me an Everglades tomato plant, they are very prolific and so flavorful. I am going to purchase a large quantity of compost/soil mix from Rocklege Gardens and fill all my 5 gallon buckets to start my winter garden. I'm still cleaning up the patio, but it's looking much better, more pictures of the work in progress.
1 Avocado
2 Everglades Tomato
3 Cuban Bananas
4 Tree hibiscus
5 planter

More clean up pictures
1 raised wall garden under the bedroom window - Tropicana , Praetoria, Orange Crush cannas, Devil's Backbone, pink shell ginger,
2 Cleaned trellis, variegated pepperomia, African Evergreen Mango Allusion, slstroemeria Casablanca, amaryllis
3 Variegated liriope in pot, Jasmine, various sansiveria,
4 Dwarf banana Cavendish, more amaryllis, agapanthus

Hello, I am still here, been very busy working and traveling. I hope to send something before October is out so that there will be a little more in the pot to choose from when the Robin gets sent. Thanks so much.

Would anyone like a FL native canna, we call them firecracker, I can collect seeds if anyone would like them. They grow about 4 ft tall with multiple small blooms at one time.

Mittsy - Are those Canna patens (small yellow & orange flowers) or Canna indica (I always thought these were just red but if you looks at google images they'll really confuse you)?