tcs1366 picture (Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #17

on a different "Drive" on my PC - i just found all my notes from last year, and possibly some stuff i was sending to Suzy ... lot of "Wants" lists....

but here were some of her rules:
A sheet of paper with your:
1. name,
2. address,
3. email,
4. DG name,
5. Number of seed packs sent, and number of seed packs wanted back
6. Description of your garden, and yourself as a gardener and grower from seed(new, middle, experienced.)
7. 10 things you want,
8. 10 things you don't want, and
9. a list of the seeds you are sending of all the loose packs that are not earmarked for another player.
10. Added Jan 9, 2008. Due to the sheer volume, I need to send these envelope or boxes back to you with delivery confirmations which cost an additional 75c.


here is a snippet of what my "Letter" to her looks like....

here was Page 1


This message was edited Nov 6, 2008 10:39 AM

here was page 2 ... with what i was getting from others

Hiya All,

I have to say that even though I'm not *cough* asking for much this time around I'm getting excited for the swap. Our first frost came way too early this year and between the dog incident and the frost I don't have as much variety to offer as I'd like, but what I've got I've got in quantity.

Tomato seed savers I've got a question: I've got a tom on the porch from which I'd intended to save seed. It's probably been frosted and maybe even lightly frozen. Will the seeds still be viable?

Lala... They should be. I don't see why not. I have saved seed from tomatoes I had in the fridge before and they germinated fine.

tsc...LOL your letter looked alot neater than mine. : )

Lala -- those seeds that happened in the 'dog incident' can't you just baggie them and say, Mixed seeds ??
I'm sure you roughly recall which ones were in the mix, right?

you can always donate them to Lorraine and her "project".

I thought about trying to germinate them myself Terese but I'm not sure how successful they'll be. They're such a hodge-podge of seeds with different needs and different lengths of time for germination that it would really be a huge experiment. I managed to sort out the distinctive ones, but there are still 2 baggies of seeds that would truly be mystery grab bags!

Oooohhhhh -- mystery grab bag could be exciting.... I'd just sprinkle them in a flower bed and see what happens.

I have done that with wildflower 'mixes' and had great outcomes.

La, I'm sure those tomatoes are fine for seed saving. I have them volunteer every year, so freezing must not hurt them.

tcs, you are so neat! How did you find the time to do your list so neat lol I'm jealous! Mine didn't look anything like that! The double rows is what does it but I couldn't figure out how to do that and it takes too much time to just space in between :)

Neal, I didn't get done :) I have 7 asters left to get in the field and two wallflowers lol But I still feel good about what I got done and I'm tuckered out, the neighbor had me over to help her move a desk and I had company of all days and my mentor Bill was helping me get leaves collected so I had to stop and do it with him, I wanted to get the leaves on before the spinkles tonite but didn't make it. It's going to be 65 tomorrow if the wind doesn't blow like it did today it should be a nice day, how is your weather there are you having the same weather? I'll probably do leaves all weekend if I can stand what cold we are getting :) If not I'll be doing seeds.

Have any of you all saved all of your pods from cleaning the seeds then throw them out in the spring, I've done that a few times and gotten plants lol Waste not want not lol I save everything LOL I've got a shopping bag with lunch sacks of pods in the tv room and dad thought it was trash and started putting his empty cig. packs in it lol I had to take the trash can out of the kitchen cause he was throwing lit cigs. in it! Poor baby has no mind left :)

>>The double rows is what does it but I couldn't figure out how to do that and it takes too much time to just space in between :)

you just have to set the "Columns" to two or three.... and i do a bit of tweaking to get it nice and neat.
I just assumed everyone did it that way. *wink*

>>Have any of you all saved all of your pods from cleaning the seeds

No - i pitch mine now... most of my seeds were collected and the pods tossed as i'm still outside. Some have gone in the compost and most probably just blow away.

I will sometimes save a few pods if they are interestign looking. They make for good dried arrangments and wreaths and also for sometimes little bitty decorations.

I'm not computer smart at all, every time I mess with my word I mess it up somehow then have to do the default thing :( I may try that later :) If anything can happen when I try to do somethng different on my word it does lol

I thought about saving some of my pods to make a fairy garden with for next year but by then I'll forget where I put them and end up using something else anyway lol I saved some of the money plant pods and the wild indigo thought those would be cool to make something out of but I just don't have any imagination!

We're getting some rain! The babies are getting a soaking, I hope. In the 60's here too, so today more seed packing. I've got a little tin I'm putting seeds in for this swap, those that go to specific people on 1 side, extras on the other. Its been an almost meditative task- nice quiet time, and I'm committing more Latin names to memory while labeling. Feel like I'm getting a bit of brain exercise, LOL.

Gemini.. Have to agree with you there. It is the funniest and th e best way to start learning scientific names. Sure beats beinghanded a list of names and just told tomemorize hundreds of them at a time and the more you work and handle them the easier it becomes. : )

Well, we got some rain but didn't even register in my rain gauge :( No more rain until the latter part of next week so I should have time to do leaves :)

we only got a lil bit yesterday... not much to holler about.
today is sunny and windy... currently 43° .. only supposed to be low 50's today... with COLDer weather on the way.

Oh gosh, not sure how I lost this thread, but *hugs* to Terese for giving me a nudge!

I can see I have a LOT of catching up to do... did a quick browse through the posts just now...

I hope other people saved some of my favorite Italian basil for the swap. As I think I posted before, my patch of this one was mistakenly planted with a mix of varieties, and I wasn't around enough to deadhead for selective seed saving.. I did try to get some seed toward the end (by cutting off any blooms on the non-Italian ones so they wouldn't cross), but they matured slowly and I didn't get any before the frost. I have seeds for me, so I'll have them in my garden next year (and will try to do better!), but I don't have my usual ton of extras.

On the other hand, I might have a few seeds for this swap from Magical Michael basil, an interesting ornamental edible, and from a "Hot & Spicy" basil that came to me from a friend of a friend of a friend, who sent them from an island off the coast of Sumatra. Pretty cool! I'm thinking of hosting a basil/herb seed swap this winter instead of my usual SASBE basil offer in the herb forum, since I only have a few varieties to share this year. I'll see how many packets I end up with once I get the seeds sorted and dechaffed. :-)

I ripened some extra "Hot & Spicy" basil seeds inside, or tried to... looks like it might end up a mix of black and dark brown seeds, so I'm unsure of the germination rate on them... but I can add them anyway with a note to sow heavily. It's got an intense flavor, so you really only need a couple of plants!

I do toss chaff, pods, etc out into my little orchard area, just for the heck of it... fun to try!

Critter, my husband and I tasted the ornamental purple peppers (well they actually turn red by harvest time) and they are HOT HOT HOT and dried real well. They are good as a culinary spice! :)

Wind.. Yoru braver than me. I look at them and never got the nerve to try them cuz I wasn't quite sure if they were safe to eat or not.

Critter... I didn't even know Basil came with such a hotness. What kind of dishes do you put it on and does the leaves leave a hotness to yoru fingers to picking?

The "Hot & Spicy" basil reminds me of the pungent flavor of one of my favorite Greek Oreganos, also called 'Hot & Spicy'. The flavor is not unlike Thai basil, but with a definite and intense added "kick." I'd say it's more of a stir fry basil than a salad basil. And no, my fingers never burned from picking the leaves.

Those purple peppers are definitely hot! I didn't think there was much to them besides heat, though... so I use other hot peppers for cooking. Hmm, I think I've asked this before, but I can't remember which pruple pepper you're growing -- the little round 'prettty Purple pepper' or 'Bolivian Rainbow' (which did have a bit more flavor to it). ? In either case, they are OP and will come true from the seeds, so I hope you saved some!

:-)

Critter,
Can I have some of those basils of yours? Want to grow some on the windowsill this winter.....

Wondering if I'm preparing correctly for the swap. I've been packing up seeds for the swap and in a separate tin, and I've labeled a few things for specific people, and am putting in 5 packs of each variety. There are some things I've been excluding, thinking they may be so common that way too many may be sent in, like blue bachelor buttons, mixed hollyhocks, love in a mist, etc. But I do have plenty of those things, and would be glad to include them-perhaps newbies or those without much to trade would like them. How should I proceed?
Neal

Neal,

I've only been in one swap... the Big one last Jan/Feb that Suzy did and most of us were in one.

what we did was... once the swap was "open", we posted the seeds we had to offer others [each person did that over a few week period .... when the later comers joined in, the 'frenzy' started all over again]

If you saw a "seed" you wanted, you would add a post stating you wanted that seed.

you could do it in the thread and or in Dmail [there was a lot of that going on too]

People would also post what they were looking for, or types of seed [for example .... drought resistant wild flower type, or seeds for full shade, or grasses] then someone that had something to offer, would add a post stating that they could give so-and-so 'this type" of seed.

as things were winding down .... people were fine tuning their lists, again, stating what they had to offer. And people began "Oinking" again.... that is pretty much why it became known as the Piggy Swap.

and last year..... I did not think I had a lot of offer... but there are folks who still want common seeds.

So, once its "open" just post what you have.

Terese

Critter-since DH is a chef he would LOVE to try the Hot & Spicy Basil if you have some to spare for this swap-he is always looking for unusal varieties of herbs to use in his "creations"

Has anyone seen Bluespiral lately?? I couldnt find a post from her since Oct 21 in here....

I'm sure she remembers that she is doing the post for the new swap, but is she aware of the dates?
I do believe it begins on Monday the 10th, right?

I haven't seen her either and hope that is alright. Makes you worry when our gang is not aroudn for awhile as so many things in life happen. I don't know if anybody has a private email or phoen number for her or not to see if she ok. I pray that she is.

I was wondering tcs, since you have all the links already and pics and just about evrythign else form the whole thing, would you mind puttign together the initial first post and dmailign me a copy of it to read incase we can't find her or if somebody and she is unable or doesn't want to do it. Let's keep her in thought that all is well and maybe she just real busy or something.

critter, I have grown the purp[le ornamental, but I have the seed I got for the teeny tiny little roudn rainbow ones too, forget what the name of them is off hand.

I can futz around today... First i'll see if i can contact Karen to see if she's been working on it.
If not.... I'll get something off to you.

OH -- was an image decided on? I recall the Pig was not going to be used... but obviously i do have it if we are.

Terese

**edited to add...

I did Dmail here, then did a bit of searching... look some time, but found her in the Morning Glory forum... posted yesterday.
so i'm sure she will see my Dmails later and pop in here.

maybe she didnt see the link for this thread....

This message was edited Nov 8, 2008 8:59 AM

Thanks tsc. Glad ya found her. I don't know how to look for people. That a big releif. : )

LOL...it wasn't easy. and it would be time consuming to explain the steps i took... I'll let ya know when i hear back if she doesnt pop in here.

I'll do my best on the basils... please repeat requests when it's list-posting time, as I haven't been keeping up with a set of wish lists yet.

I guess what I was trying to ask, in a round-about way, is whether anybody had saved seeds this year to share from my "real Italian basil from Italy"... I know I sent out a lot of seed packets last year, but I'm not sure if everybody just figured I'd be able to supply seeds again this year or if anybody saved seeds themselves (I know Wind was trying). Well, if not, hopefully I'll have plenty of seeds for next year's swap!

There are still some seeds out there... has anybody harvested hibiscus seeds (rose of sharon or hardy hibiscus) after frost? Since they can be winter sown, I'm guessing they'd still be good.

Critter, those seeds of the hardy hibiscus and rose of sharon should be good ev en after a freeze, I only have three more pods to collect on my Blue Bird rose of sharon yet but all of my hibiscus seeds are collected, I need to get some out to Tuink lol I've been so darn busy cleaning seeds and planting :)

I think my seed collecting will come to a hault next week looks like Monday will be the last day, it's going to rain for four days after Mon. We really need it though! I brought some petunias that I had potted up in the house tonite to collect the last of those seeds lol

Tunik, since it turned so cold out there and my planting is done I'll get those hibiscus seeds out to you this week, sorry it's taken so long :) Last time I looked at them it's a good thing I've waited there's little critters moving around in those baggies lol I was hoping to have time to take them outside to bag them up for you so I could kill those but guess I'll have to do it in the house it's too cold out there for me LOL

Thank you, Lebug. I highly appreciate that. Still have bugs creeping around the house from a batch of seeds I got from someone else. DH hates them!

I'm sorry, Critter, I don't have any basil seeds from my own gardens. They did flower but it was too cold for them to set seed.....

That's OK, Tuink, I was just hoping we'd have that Italian basil to send around again this year even if I didn't manage to get seeds. But if not, we'll have it next year. For anybody who hasn't tried it, it's absolutely the best pesto basil I've ever found! Tuink, please remind me, and I'll include a few seeds of it from my "private stash" for your windowsill.

Ok gang..... I know the seed swap / exchange is quickly approaching ...

here is the first thread of the Suzy Swap last January
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/801335/

now, are we planning an over all SWAP, where the hostess will just divvy up all extra seed like Suzy did, or are we sending seeds that are asked for...

though any extra seeds can go to Hurricane victims....

here is a snipped from said post --- add your opinions....

Cool! I must have absorbed that through osmosis, lol.

forgot to add, I'm not interested in getting back the same amount of seed I send, and love the idea of sharing extras with hurricane victims and newbies.

I'm thinking we can either add a 3rd catagory, a baggie of "extra" seeds for disaster victims... or we can just follow one of the original rules of Suzy's swap and say how many seeds we'd like to get back... any seeds beyond that number can either be divvied up among participants or parceled out as extras, at Starlight's discretion (that would let her rummage for seeds that might be especially desired by those who have lost their gardens).

?

there are always newer seed gatherers/gardeners, who may not have a lot to offer, but would love extra seeds... I'm all for that.

heck... my flower beds are only so big ... and when i'm out gathering, i cant let any seed 'get away' unharvested... so i have A LOT of certain seeds. [though i donated a bunch to Lorainne]

BUT -- it's ultimately up to Star, since she's handling all the incoming and outgoing....

If any of you have CONSTRUCTIVE suggestions/ideas for group buy alternatives, please go here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/921955/

I'll send seed packets for specific persons, everyone can pick whichever they choose from my seed list. And I'll send a box of 'leftover' seeds, bits and pieces that can either be given to our newbies or hurricane victims, whichever suits best!