CLOSED: Fall Round Robin Seed Swap 2013 - Interest

Can you move those acres to a little warmer growing zone? I've got to be close enough to harvest seeds. Do you know anyone in Lenawee County that can sell me an acre?

What I could plant with 4 acres...you VERY lucky girl.

Robin

We have 12 acres...but are plagued with deer. Even with deer repellant, certain times of the year they come in herds and there is not much left.

I have a small fenced garden area, after years of pleading with my husband.

I just purchased a bunch of almost deer-PROOF plants...and moved many perennials, daylilies and shrubs to the fenced area...most of them planted in the ground.

Several kinds of juniper, boxwood and santolina are the main fare. So far, they have only nibbled on one of my boxwoods, and not very far. Their pruning leaves a lot to be desired. I see that my lovely Ceanothus 'El Dorado', which is variegated will also have to be moved, as it was a good size when I planted it. It is rather sparse at the moment, and right in front of the house!

So I thought with all this acreage I would have loads of beds and borders brimming with lovely flowers from spring until late fall. So now I am working within the confines of the fenced area....which is definitely less than an acre. And all this change and I am retired in my early 70's. I hope I can last at least another 10 years anyway. There are changes everywhere....

GM all I Have 17 acres here & the 1st 2 yrs I Also was Plagued with Deer but then my dad told me to put IRISH SPRING Soap into Onion Bags or Knee high's & Hang them around my gardens , let me tell ya My gardens Have tripled & no more chewed up plants that was 2002 when i started using the bars & I still use them every spring the bars go out about March so the deer won't get my Tulips as they start to grow .
Hope this little tips help the rest of you.well roosters crowing ready to get out so off to open the pens ya all have a great day .

Southampton, where my late mother's house has had its landscaping devastated, is so overcrowded with deer they'd probably eat the soap, lol!

Hey kids.

It's reckoning time, I reckon.

While I toil stuffing and unstuffing the Robin (it's a bird right?)

and work out the Robin's flight path (east west up down all around)

some have offered to ship seeds to me to include in the original shipment.

This would be helpful if you have loads of seed you would like every one to get a grab at, particularly for the first few folks who receive the Robin.

It will be packed with seed from the last Robin courtesy of Susie/deejay9 and seed from my estate gardens. Heh.

To be consistent, I have culled out seed that was included in Robin past that did not comply with the directive that all seed be marked with sender, year (2011-2013), and species (common and botanical names).

I will make a list of those seeds and include them for whomever may request them. But it's not FAIR to have no name no year no idea seed in this Robin. Period. If, during the Robin's flight, you find seed that lacks this vital information, please contact me by dmail (and me only) so we can hang someone in effigy in my garden.

I have also noticed with seed packages that even permanent marker tends to fade from handling over time so I encourage you to include a paper label inside your seed packages or on them.

I also encourage the use of clear plastic bags to hold your seed, preferably zip type bags for easy access and to offer a clear view to other participants of the contents of the baggie. If you don't know where to get this type of baggie we can suggest a lot of places... please don't hesitate to ask questions. But not about the meaning of life (Mipii).

I'm getting excited to ship my first Robin!

Of course we will follow Susie' s time tested guidelines about reporting when the Robin lands and when it takes flight again, about sending me (and only me) the USPS tracking number of the parcel, and about the maximum number of hours, minutes, and seconds each participant is allowed to hold the Robin captive.

I will post the new thread sooooon! I think we have room for more participants if you haven't signed up yet.

Similarly, please let me know if I've got everyone accounted for up top.

AND make sure:

1. You are a DG subscriber with subscription paid thru the end of the year (or better!);
2. You are listed in the DG member address exchange and/or I have your shipping address; and
3. I MUST have your current land line and/or cell phone contact telephone number(s).

These are familiar exhortations to those who have participated in previous Robins.

Newbies please ask questions NOW. :D

xox
A.

p.s. Thoughts on having the Robin make more than one pass?
p.p.s. The Robin's path is determined by geographic location so that shipping costs will be minimized for the participant (typically the Robin in a flat rate medium size box costs somewhere between $8-$15 to ship depending on distance).

Many valuable lessons learned here.
1. The meaning of life is just 'now'.
2. Don't complain about your PLOT in life, it could've been worse, you could've purchased a Deer Farm.
3. Promptly follow through with the Birthday gift to yourself and renew your DG subscription.
4. Apologize for highjacking the thread.

Sorry Amanda!

LOL....
Just another tidbit...you can try putting chicken wire on the ground outside your garden...from what I've read they hate walking on it!!!! (or won't)
And thanks Susie, I will try the Irish Spring in the spring. (lol) Could you PLEASE let us know when you put yours out as a reminder....? I already have toooo many strings on my fingers as it is... Wow, susie, didn't know you had that many acres...good for you! Or should I say all your plants. How's the chickies doing?

Sorry, didn't make it to the PO this morning but will try again on Mon. or Tues at the latest....I'm busy planting today....gotta try to get the last of things in the ground... snow on Monday and Tues. Shucks. or is it Yeah!!!? Want moisture but wanna finish planting. Kathy

Ps.....pfg...do you recognise the leaves in pix was sent with Joe Pye earlier this season (thanx)

Pfg sent Lobelia syphillitca with my Joe Pye this summer.

Actually that's all she sent, but i was thrilled with it anyway (beaming). :)

I had no idea the Lobelia Siphilitica had seeded itself so abundantly in and around the Joe Pye, lol... Kathy, did you get any Eupatorium at all, or just the LS? I can send you another chunk of the real thing, while the stalks are still unmistakeable.... Sorry!

There's a surprising amount left in the garden, a few hardy late bloomers. But not for long... We're expecting temps in the low 20's tonight, that should finish just about everything off. Another surprise-- lots of seeds aren't ready. None of the Platycodons, Verbena Bonariensis, and the extra tall Salvia Victoria doesn't seem to have made any. I went around yesterday and got a few things added to my haves list though. Today I'll get more, most of the annuals are ready, and update my Haves list.

Fairy Rose, Easy Wave Petunia, Aster Jindai, Veggie garden, View from the garden Room

PS Kathy, I'd love some Ammi visagna, if you have enough. Thanks!

Oooh, very nice garden Pam...very nice!

LOL///mipil

Pam..sorry sent off the package this morning. Have Ammi in the red or white or both if you like...will send directly.. Pix look great...Gotta go frost my daughter's B cake..later.
wwk

And I thought squirrels were rough to deal with, digging things up isn't nearly as destructive as chomping. Although, since I lost both my dogs, we're visited more frequently by rabbits too, they're no slouches at defoliating.

I've got the perfect solution...pen the dear deers, they'll be so unnerved, find a way out and run like h___. I'm sure the same would work for gardens...plant and attentively cultivate weeds and you can bank on a beautiful hummingbird garden. I haven't had the guts to try it myself but, I swear it'll work!

What do Deer really, really like to eat?

I just saw this thread and wanted to find out if possible to still get in on this. we are in a new place and would love to see the seeds. I'm a seed addict....LOL

I have many seeds from this past year that I've collected and I have the ready to where I could mail out tomorrow and they should get to you before the 11/10 ship out date.

Just let me know if possible to join.

Jan

Sprinkle cayenne pepper around new plants and they will still be there in the morning! Black pepper works too, but it has to be fresh ground.

Well, good news...our friend shot a buck yesterday morning (on our property). So we eat, and one less of them to eat our plants. ^_^

I'm just not going to have time to get my seeds to you in advance Amanda. I will wait until the box get's to me to put my seeds in.
If I have seeds promised to folks that will get the Robin ahead of me, I'll mail to them individually.

Amanda, do you have a tentative flight path yet? Are you going east to west, or vice versa? Some of my seeds are still drying, but I can get the others to you by the weekend if I'm way down the list. Or I could send to #2? What do you think is best?

Let's see...

Jan. We'd love to have you participate. Welcome to the Robin. :)

Pam. I am thinking the Robin may not leave till a little later in the week. Still debating whether there will be a second pass, haven't heard anyone's thoughts on that, but as I am on the east coast, it will start on the east coast. I should have it figured out by the end of the week. :)

I am for a second pass, since I'd either have to mail seeds directly or send them to you Amanda, either way I'm sending more than once.

Ok great

I'll pm ya for the address to mail the seeds out tomorrow.

Jan

I'm okay with a second pass.

Second pass is good for me too. :-)

They also love sedum, hosta, daylilies, phlox. They eat buds and blooms of roses, iris, peonies. They eat the new shoots of English Boxwood in spring, but not Korean Boxwood. They love Japanese Maples...

However in my part of the world Salvias and Artemesias are safe. They are quirky, so there are regional differences in their diet. Also, if you plant only things they don't like, if they are hungry enough they learn to like them. :-(

Good luck!

Yeah, they are funny alright. They will even eat delphinium, monkshood and hellebores. I think the monkshood will kill them, but they do not know that. One day I saw my monkshood chomped down, and there was a dead deer nearby, but there is no telling, really. It could have been hit by a car....or maybe it was impaired first and then got hit.

My one boxwood, which is on one corner of the house gets nibbled every year, but not down to the end. I think some are just trying it....browsing, and don't find it all that delicious.
The other boxwood that is near the porch has not been bothered by them, so far...but they almost stripped the beautiful variegated ceanothus. Right now it is sitting in a pot, recovering in the fenced area.

I just collected some more seeds. I hope they dry in time. If not, I can send them later to any individuals that may want them.

Greek Oregano
English Lavender
Montauk Daisy
Boltonia asteroides 'Snowbank'
Aster 'Bill's Tall Blue'

I do not know if the aster would cross with one another or not, as I have some short asters growing as well, but I did not collect any seed from them. So I cannot guarantee that it will be the tall blue.

This message was edited Nov 6, 2013 9:27 PM

Wow, I had no idea they were such a nuisance for gardeners...I'd be tempted to install an electric fence. I'd even install it myself! Evelyn how do you get the chance to collect seeds?

Inside the fenced garden area.

This week I received seeds to include in the Robin from Kathy and Dee.

Crikey!

Ladies you put me to shame with your tidy clean seed in individual packets. :/

Do I have everyone listed up top who is participating?

Do I have your TELEPHONE and Is your shipping address correct in the member address exchange? If I don't have your telephone number send it now.

Or your name may not appear on the Robin's flight path.

I think that's equitable. I've been in other swaps and even Robins where a participant just disappears. POOF. I don't think for a minute that any one of you will disappear, but I have to have a way to reach each of you in case...

We have enough interest for a second pass. If you don't want to receive the Robin again as it returns from west to the east you don't have to. Please indicate if you haven't already your preference.

Will be shipping on Monday unless anybody else is sending me seed ... then I will wait for your seed to arrive.

Let me know if you think I'm forgetting anything.

Also, feel free to call me names. I'm a grown up. I can take it.

A.

Thanks for all your work Amanda, you competent, witty so and so!

Updated my member info to include a phone number.
Thanks for the compliment on my seed packs, I do have fun packing up seed.
Put my first perennial seed on the heat mat today. I have room for 4 of the large trays, that's a lot of seed!

Just sent ya mine, as I'm not sure if my info is current since I just moved. I'll go check but wanted ya to have it before hand.

My seeds are ready and I'll put them in the box when it arrives.

Thanks so much for allowing me in at the last minute.

Jan

Evelyn,
I always have trouble looking up members too.
First you go to "Guides and Information" at the top of the page.
There is a dark brown bar at the top, go to "extras".
Then that gets you to a list were you can find the "Address Exchange".
I don't know why they don't make this easier to find.

I think, the more the merrier Jan. I've got a sneaky feeling we will all end up with more seeds than we need...right back to whence we started. Makes perfect sense right?
Robin

I hear ya Robin, I love my seeds, as there is wonderful hope with seeds don't ya think...LOL

Jan

Yes yes! A couple of years ago I realized there was optimism in planning a spring garden. :)

I never had that feeling during my 14 year trial practice so that's why it surprised me.

Okay. So somebody make this easy for me...is there mail on Monday, Veterans day? I sure wish I could go home again to when I was like, 10, and watch the big parade. For some reason marching bands want to make me cry.

Any who. I've been bonkers lately...now house/cat/dog sitting staying overnight there coming home... and one of their neighbors left a note complaining about the dogs barking and couldn't you find a way to bring them in by 8 pm (her daughter's bedtime). So yesterday I had to go over there four times.

The good news: Snoopy stopped with the diarrhea and vomiting (two days of that and four rolls of paper towels later) and my mechanics found a nail in my tire which is why it was going flat AND despite all this I found the time and energy to do my three mile speed walk last night. Don't forget I'm training for firefighter 1 certification physical test/field day on December 14.

Phew.

Well the box is shaping up and I'm excited. Thank you Susie who is the Wizard behind the curtain. She worked up a tentative flight plan for me in this madness (she could probably do it in her sleep!) and we'll give it a once or twice over and post it asap.

I haven't checked dmail yet but I will be back to gripe if I don't have everyone's phone. I feel like the school teacher saying "there'll be no recess if the person who knocked over my ink well does not come forward."

Running........
A.



This message was edited Nov 8, 2013 11:51 AM