Seed Snatchin' Part VI

Welllll how'do PerennialGirl !! ... Scope ya out a seat on the bus and plop yourself down a spell ... There's all sorts of snatchin', pilpherin', and conversin' goin' on here ... Tons of tidbits shared and learned.

The pro's are those that have them thar ol long involved and intuitive posts!
Myself, I'm mostly learnin' .... and will most likely serve, in more of a 'fishin' and 'detractor' capacity!
(heppin' to fish 'em dumpster divin' divas out of them big ol boxes - safely and quickly .. and .. keepin' attention drawn elsewhere! ... Hee ..)

Share your wisdom, experience, and input and suggestions too, please ...

No doubt .. the rest of the bunch .. will be delighted to see, and have ya here !! And, for as long as you desire ...

Welcome!! ..

- Magpye

Off topic but we must put up with idle chatter while motoring to our next target...

Is this a good day or what?
*** New Liberty's arrived in the mail (they're taking a long hot Downey bath Sidney)
*** Yoko Squash seeds arrived (promised shares will be on the white truck tomorrow)
*** Second coming of Christmas - she decided to bud up and bloom again since moving out of the basement to the guest room cum aquarium/plant room!

can you tell it doesn't take much too make me happy?

This message was edited Jan 27, 2005 6:00 PM

Thanks Magype for the welcome. So okay Wise Ones....tell me what to look for when I come down?????
:) Donna

Boy did I miss a bunch.
Weez, Sugarweed, and NC, loveyour pics. Oceangirl/Magpye, I never noticed mashpee before, you realize I had to go because of the sewed up fly thingy.
Everyone sure looks good in bibs, gotta get me some. Carter's is my favorite brand, or is it Carhart's? NC, your boy is adorable, and you trained him well.

Did someone say WABBIT STEW??? I'll birng the carrots!!!

Delicata squash is supposed to be wonderful. Is it bush or vine?

Sugarweed, have a safe trip. Hurry back, and pull lots of weeds LOL

Weez, I guess your weren't home, so the 90 ft falling tree didn't make any noise, eh?

My snatchin today consisited of finding something to snatch, now to call and get permission. A feed store between here and Borger had a small fire. The fireman broke open the burned bales and spread them around on the ground. Now they are blackened and wet, but mostly just wet. I am sure they will appreciate someone cleaning that mess up, gonna go call them now. Should be enough for the okra patch.

Now I am really getting addicted to (or desperate for) finding more leaves. Twice now I have seen someone pulling in at the Recycling Center with a pickup load of balck platic bags, and I eagerly (trying not to drool) ask "Are those leaves?", and twice I have gotten a strage look (after all, it IS winter), and a repoly of "no, it's trash" (like what else would they be taking to the dump).

But soon, and very soon, there's going to be more seeds. Lot of dead headin, just watin to be done (sing that to the tune of ?)

Keep up the good work everyone :)

Tamara

Kathys999, good job at Lowes, sounds like you are already an expert...

PerennialGirl~What a coold name, welcome to the snatchin thread.

Looks like I missed the last two posts, congratulations on your happy day Blaine!
Hello PerennialGirl!

Hi, Tamara! Yu'all haven't still answered my question! Still waiting for the "Wise Ones"!!
:) Donna

PerennialGirl Hi and welcome!
I'm one of the token, hairylegged boys they let tag along to change tires I think.

For your seed snatchin' - stop at your local 1 hour photo shop like at Walmart and ask for some of those empty film cannisters. A fine Sharpie writes on top, they stay closed and store nicely. Just my personal preference.

I have been saving Yoplait yogurt cups for cuttings. I am new at this, so I don't know how they will work, but they fit nicely in the built in cup holders in the dash. Oh, and always have a jug of water and some snippers in the car.

I am big on collecting mulch too, so I carry a box of Dollar store lawn bags and rakes or pitchforks in the car.

Maybe the Wise Ones will visit us soon. I have to turn the puter off for the night, or I won't get anything done :(

Thanks, Hairylegged Boy! Great idea about the film canisters. I had forgotten about that. I was thinking if I bring lots of little baggies I can carry even more inconspicously....lol.

Oh come on know, Tamara....you are one of the "Wise Ones" to! Don't be sooooo modest!
:) Donna

Hey, hairy legged boy, be sure to mention that all seeds must be dried before adding to film canisters! Same with those little zip locks... I like paper cups because I can keep things dry until I can sort and sift.

Good thinking! Okay, I'll bring little brown envelopes.
:) Donna

PG
Disguises are good. Multiple pockets are good for garden centers, if you can remember whats in which pocket. When we get real Dumpster divin serious, we need people for everything. Lately we have been having to count over and over to make sure no ones left in the dumpster at lowes, or the stock room of the produce dept at the grocery store.
Thats a start.
Sidney

Are you really serious about going into the dumpsters at Iowes? Is this like a Home Depot? Hey can we have a hunt when I come down??
:) Donna

I'm so glad you had a happy day, Blaine... :)
I really think you should be careful... a name like Hairylegged boy could stick! LOL
I'm taking in all this advice and putting together a seed snatchin kit... Has anyone seen the kit for sale in Territorial seed Catalog? pretty neat. But I like free.
And I already sort of have a leaf snatching setup going on, but I have to wait till the snow clears for that.
Seaweed is another thing I like to go hunting for, in the early spring.
Cindy

Well I'm just as happy as a pig in mud. I have run low on pots for my deck and most of the ones I used last year, I knew was their last year, they were cracked and falling apart, (clay) and I just knew after I filled them, NOT to move them. So after the season, I had to throw most of my BIG ones away.

So I was at Walmart the other day and I saw this Tuscany looking pot, really caught my eye cause I like that look. It was 24.97. EEK, I thought ok... I can buy regular clay pots and duplicate this look. (i'm a painting fool here). Well, I wasn't going to buy clay pots at Walmart, cause I know Lowes is cheaper on them.

So! The next night after work I go to Lowes. I'm looking at their biggest clay pots and they are 9.97. Good enough cut down from the 24.97 I'm thinking. So, I'm tooling around out there looking at different stuff and low and behold I run into this rack on wheels with TUSCANY looking pots. I look at the price on them, they are 19.97... but wait theirs a sign.. .CLEARANCE 3.99!

I couldn't believe my fortune. I bought as many as my car could hold, I was wishing I had Bessie my truck with me, but shes sick right now. I bought 2 HUGE pots, 2 BIG pots, and 5 smaller ones.

I'm so excited about my find. I didn't mean to get off the subject, but the moral of this story is:
If your gonna snatch alot of seeds, you have to start snatchin pots to put them in. ha!

Well PG, If I'm not working and can get to the Not in Florida,Florida Round-up, I'll personally take you Dumpster Diving. They ought to be throwing away winter hardy plants about that time and we can get you all you can haul.
Sidney

Oooh, my first Dumpster Diving! Sounds like fun!!!
:) Donna

Tickled fer ye Kathy .. and your gold-mine 'find' of wonderful pots !! ... And, right you are .. indeed !! ...

Hey .. sugarweed and PG ... ya heifers' is a cheatin' !! (hee) .. Ah heck, .. jes have fun anyway .. Jes be sure to make an xtree dive ... to count fer da rest of us !! .. ok ? ...

- Magpye

Afternoon all! My gardening class attending has had an unexpected payoff! I will have a part time job this Spring! A local landscaper is looking for folks to help put in annuals around the neighborhoods he manages. The pay won't be too great BUT.... he said I could get in on their industry discounts for plants and he said they use brand new mulch every time they change out flowers! OH - and they dead head! I am going to be Snatchin and grabbing everywhere! I am going to get paid to Snatch!!! LOL!!!! Hee hee, I can't wait!

I also met a fellow seed junkie last night and she invited me to her house to check out her digs. She has a thousand seedlings going right now Weez! Can't wait to see that.

Take care!

Nicole

Oh, my goodness, what fame and fortune lies ahead for us all!!! It pays to be cheap :)
Kathys999, only NINE pots? Wish I could have been with you, we would have loaded up the van, maybe if we bought them all they would give us that wheeled cart too?
Sugarweed, you take good care of her and show her how its done right LOL
NC, what a dream job, and a new friend to boot!

Forget the t-shirts, we all need embroidered patches to sew onto our bibbies!!!

8ft, just love the danish tin for the seed canisters. I have some of those to put to use...

PGirl, another tip I read here is to bring your digital camera, so you can ID the plants later. And always, when someone has given you permission to dead head their flower bed, take a few, then say, "my friend so-and-so, would just LOVE to have some too, do you mind?" They will usually respond with, take ALL you want, and then you do. They think it's great that we share with our friends...

Magpye, what no snow yet? WE got a little more here, you can come and snatch it... LOL! You crack me up. BTW, don't forget to order your moon calendar. Some friends and I are going in together for a dozen at wholesale, and I thought of you. No more planting in void of course or lunar eclipse for this onery gal. I make every seed I snatch count!

And if I can get to Walmart, I will be checking out the clearance in the garden center, WOW...

Yep, I'm taking my camera and I have a memory stick for lots or pictures.
:) Donna

Yep, we've gotta have photos for later identification. Kathy, that was a real find! Two years ago, we bought nine half whiskey barrels (the real ones) for $10 a piece. Now, I can't figure out what to put in all of them! Man, NC, our own deadheader who gets a discount! Wow! That's as good as knowing somebody with a swimming pool... all swimming, no skimming!

I had to go back to Seed Snatchin' 5 and pick up KimGaither. She posted a nice picture of her stash... maybe she'll be along pretty soon.

Have fun, Donna!
NC isn't it great to get paid to dead head?? I get paid to deadhead, too! We'll get you out of that office yet!
I worked in an office for 13 years- one day I saw an ad in the paper for a gardener. I had been thinking about it for a long time,so I took the job. I gave up much better money and benefits, but 3 years later I'm making more than I ever was and I have benefits again! I get to dead head, divide, prune, and plant all day, then take it all to the dump and start over. I usuallly have winters off, too, but this year I went back to my old office job for a couple of months.
;)

Well I missed the bus..because I was too busy snatching seed. I wish my pic wasn't so blurry. The clear container is a 10 gallon tote :-D he he he he

This message was edited Jan 28, 2005 8:03 PM

Kim, in order to get a clear photo, you have to hold still, and from the look of all those seeds, I don't think you can hold still!

ROFL!!! ha ha haaaaa

Thar ya beez Kim !!! ...
Po' Mama Weezin's .. got one humongus chore dontcha? ... Keepin' up wit'all of us, and fetchin' us back and tryin' to keep us on track too !! .. Especially when we lose track o'da bus ....

Them'ar road signs sure do lend some mitey fine aid tho' ...
I keep missin' 'the signs' myself tho' ..
(but then, haint never paid too much 'tention to 'em anyways!) .. hee

- Magpye

Been wanting to post this for a while now but didnt want to bring everybody down.
This is a VERY SAD tale so everyone get out their hankies!!

I have worked at plant/seed snatching HEAVEN for eight long years. This is a huge resort with extensive grounds and beautiful gardens. There is ALWAYS something blooming/growing here year 'round.

Sounds great huh?

The catch??
We cannot have/take any plant material- whatsoever!!!! It is forbidden- and there are cams all over property.

:(


Edited to say that I have been given 2 dying plants- a sanseveria and a croton- but this was by a nice lady who worked for the Co. that takes care of our indoor plants. AND.... I had to get 'permission' from loss prevention and its a real hassle too.

This message was edited Jan 28, 2005 8:42 PM

Thats just downright rude of them! Can you fake a fall into a grouping and grab what ya can, sneaking stuff in the pockets before you get up?

Hi, My name is luckpup and I'm a cleptobotanic, seedoholic, and plant plucker and I need help. My whole family thinks I'm nuts. Somebody please stop the pain.

Hi Kim and Luckpup, get your bibbies on and join the crew.

I am in need of a good out of season snatchin. But just to liven things up here, how about a surprise package of gourd seeds???... for the best seed snatchin tale. Even tales previously told on threads 1-5 will count, but you gotta repost it here. I will judge and send a heaping of snatched gourd seeds, already dried and packaged, to the winner. And we will all have a good ROTFLOBO time reading all the stories.

Who's first?

I'll go for it. Here's my all time biggie.
I noticed summer before last that a house at the end our street got a big beautiful Brug in front of it. Right in the middle of the front yard. Covet, Covet. Well it came back last summer, even bigger and more beautiful. Covet, Covet, Covet. Suddenly I noticed, in about July, that it hadn't been watered and the yard hadn't been mowed lately. Now I don't know if ya'll know anything about July heat in the Dallas area, but it's fierce. So the poor thing was loosing ground fast. It was starting to fry. I'm thinking, well they must be on vacation and nobody's looking after it. I'm also thinking that if the limbs were cut off then the roots would still be ok as long as sombody watered it within the next two or three weeks, but that if they weren't cut off soon it was gona be to late for the top. So being the plant savior that I am, I decided that it was my duty to take care of the problem. You see it's my theory that plants don't really belong to anyone. They are Gods gift to all of us and we should take care of them. Anyways, one night I got my sister to do the driving and told her where to park and turn off the lights after she droped me and my loppers off at the corner. And wouldn't you know it every car in the neighborhood drove by just then. I tried to act casual like I belonged there, doing yard work. Finally it was getting to be to long , so I went for it. Loppers flying I cut about five big limbs off at the ground, ran accross the yard, into the car and said GO! in about 45 seconds. I took them home and rooted them and planted them in my Back yard. The people showed back up in a couple of weeks and started watering the stumps. And it came back looking real good. Not in time for blooms for the year, but still it grew nicely.
Then..............
In early November the people moved away. And the house was empty with a For Sale sign in front. Well it started getting pretty cold in mid Dec. with a couple of light frosts. The NEW limbs got frost bite on the tips and still nobody bought the house. I says to myself.....Self if it weren't for you those limbs wouldn't even be there freezing and you should do something about those poor babies dying in the cold. So this time I got my son to drive the get away car. He keeps saying......Mother, your gona get cought and spend Christmas in jail. Your not answering me. Did you here me?Jail! Mother!? Jail! Stop here I said and I grabed my trusty cutters, that I had in the car, and out I jump. Less than 45 seconds later I'm in the car saying "Drive". Now I have me six more cuttings of the same plant. Now I just gotta figure out what I'm gona do with so many cuttings of the same plant.

PerennialGirl, you sound somewhat deprived dear. You've led a sheltered life. Come to Illinois. I'll open up a whole new world for you and show you the ropes. Together we can explore the bowels of some of the most coveted dumpsters that I've staked claims to. You have no idea what you've been missing.

luckpup, the first step to healing is admitting you have a problem. You have done a fine job of stepping up to the plate and accepting responsibility for you actions. There there luckpup, you're amongst fellow sufferers. We feel your pain.

Whiskey barrels??? Hmmm, line a few of them and grow lotus or water lilies.

Poor poor poor berrygirl. Videocams huh? What kind are they exactly? Can you "forget" something at work and sorta go back after dark and take the scenic route to your office? Most video cams do not work well in low levels of illumination. They'd need to have special cameras for that. If they do happen to have a video cam asortment, I'm thinking kathys999's suggestion to "fake a fall into a grouping and grab what ya can, sneaking stuff in the pockets before you get up" is an extremely viable option. On the other hand, I've seen videos of gypsies rushing retail establishments. They seem to be very well organized. I'm thinking that if we get enough of us together, we could study video footage of successful heists. You could plot out your plan of attack and we could all create a diversion so you could go and do your thing. 8ft, you'll be needed to wear that purty thing I'm sure. Wear hose and don't shave. We'll need someone to go in first to flush out actual security personnel on the premises. Probably a one time shot deal as they'd be on to us in the future. Naturally, we'll all want our cut.

almost missed it.. kathys999 nicely done !!! btw, are you anywhere near Mansfield just east of Springfield? I just found out rareseed.com has a big shindig in April and have almost decided to go. 8-9 hrs from me.

Everyone should reread kathys pot-luck story. The only problem I see .... no TRUCK!! Even a wannabe like the S10 I've been driving for a couple of years. And make sure there's always some bungie cords or a couple length of ropes in the bed to tie things down in case you're in a hurry or hit a bumber crop.... whether it's a clearance sale of 20g pots, a curb lined with bags of leaves in the Benz neighborhood, or a whole stack of windows from someone's remodeling ( finally built a coldframe last year after grabbing a couple of windows before the guy came driving down the driveway with a dog), or some nice rocks spotted at a new construction site..

Kim!! good haul and welcome back. (nyaaa, nyaaa I missed the last 2 turns :) )

berrygirl thats sad indeed I would've caved in eventually just to get away with it. (or 'not') I was kind of expecting to find a pink slip on my desk after a recent midnight raid of the various Chinese evergreens at the corp office.

luckpup - welcome aboard. If what you have to describe what you feel as pain - people also call it a 'hunger pain' when you need to eat SO start snatchin'. I like to refer to it as an itch and you know you have to scratch it and you'll be better for it.

ooooh - If you've ever had a cast on an arm or leg then you know about that bad itch after a couple of weeks that you can't get to. That's kind of like berrygirl's predicament!!

Luckpup.. good story, I sat here this morning with my coffee reading it and seeing this in my mind, thanks for the laugh.

Haa haa! Y'all are just killing me! I am so glad to be in good company!! Got to get back downstairs before my youngin tears the place up though. He already locked me out of the house once this morning!! Little bit nippy out there when it's 20 degrees and you have on a short sleeve shirt, thin pants and NO SHOES! Bad baby!!!! I was going out to water my pots and he caught me! I am going to make him go out and pull onions as punishment! LOL!!

Nicole

What does a seedaholic, flower cutting, compulsive seed picking, dirt digging person do when her garden looks like this today, with the wheel barrel still outside? Who doesn't have a greenhouse...

She finds herself sitting in the middle of the floor playing with her seeds. Then she uses her tupperware cake holders to make little greenhouses :-/ I wonder who this person could be?...hmmmmm

This message was edited Jan 29, 2005 10:01 AM

NC, my 3 1/2 yr old seems to think turning the little thingy on the doorknob is how you open it, so he is ocnstatnly locking me out. I keep an extra key in the entryway now!
Way to go luckpup, you are in the right self-help group. I wonder who will step up to the plate next with theri story. I know equilibrium has some good tales to tell...
Of course, when I say self-help, I mean we "help ourselves" to whatever is calling our name LOL
I so enjoy hearing all the stories. Let's all spill some coffee on our keyboards, or choke up and run to the bathroom... meanwhile, have a great weekend.

Tamara

Oh, Kim I posted over you, so glad I came back to see if I missed anything, YOU GO GIRL!