Jan, That article looks and sounds so professional!!! Fantastic job!
Suzy
Spectacular 2007 Cottage Garden Seed Swap #4
Aww, you're all so nice :0)
I have to tell you, I did have another one published earlier this week, if you like hummingbirds...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/295/
thanks so much
jan
Excellent! I am definitely going to get one of those window feeders!
Suzy
Jan~ enjoyed reading your artice! The bread sounds delicious for a nice cold, snowy day like today.
Jan and Suzy~I sowed some of your Lauren grape poppies ( from the swap) this AM in the snow. You should have seen some of my neighbors, peeking out their windows...trying to figure out what I was up to. The rest, I will wintersow and make comparisons. Either way, I'm looking forward to their blooms in late Spring! ;0)
Jan, I read your hummingbird article this a.m. right after the cardamom article. So cool - my DD, the vegan cook, was nagging me to get some cardamom, which I did, then I got a mortar and pestle and there they have sat cuz I didn't know what to do with the cardamom. That bread seems worth checking out. And I get to make like an ancient apothecary, grinding my spices.....ahem! Are there other articles we don't know about yet?
i want to thank everyone who sent seeds for me. i got them yesterday, and am still dancing. and a very special thanks to suzy. merry christmas to everyone
jordan
Well, bud, as long as you asked...I have an article coming up the first week of January on on snowberry (not too exciting, but I was asked to do it), and one in February about growing mini cantaloupe in containers. then lots more to come...
JKJ-
Watch that knee with all that dancing!
maggie
Yes, ditto what maggie said LOL hope you're truly on the mend! you are more than welcome :0)
a very merry Christmas to you & yours, Kathy
jan
Yes, you're welcome!
Suzy
Illoquin (really, this question goes out to anyone who is very organized!), based on the way that you package your seeds and by the way that you handled this swap so -apparently- effortlessly, I imagine that you have a very organized seed storage arrangement. Please, please, please, can you show me a photo and/or give an explanation of the way that you store your seeds? I have found myself with *hundreds* of packets of seeds that I have accumulated over the past few years and I simply MUST come up with a better way of storing them. I keep outgrowing my little boxes and they now spill over into multiple boxes and bags. I cannot come up with the best way of organizing them but color and height (or culinary, annual, perennial, native, non-native????) may make the most sense. HELP!
LOL! I am looking around to see who you're talkin' to!
Oh, me?! Well, I need them by type, but then more importantly, by sowing time. For instance, primroses will wintersow beautifully, but the hot weather comes here right when they are getting put into the ground and they are unhappy about it. They stop growing then and there and won't resume until late summer-early fall. So I need to either germinate them at the end of July or in January inside, under lights. Also in January are those Dragon Wings begonias. But since primulas are perennials and Begonias are tender annuals, they actually have little in common except the sow date, see? So I file them together LOL under "January Sow".
All I have are some rubbermaid boot boxes -- like an extra wide plastic shoe box. The dividers are made from junk mail (cards announcing a new salon or rewstaurant that are 1/2 sheet of paper size, but made from shiny cardboard.) I just clip them with scissors to have a tab, like an index card file divider. Then I write the name of the section in a heavy black sharpie. Works great.
One boot box is perennials and one is cool summer annuals and another is hot season annuals. Because that is how I sow them -- hot annuals like Amaranthus and Zinnias do not get ever get sown early as far as I know, and yet annuals like Agrostemma, Clarkia, Bachelor Buttons and Calendula can get planted out as soon as they germinate and get some size on them.
I have a special little baby box for vines.
The dividers for perennials go A-Z, but on the annuals, I have them named -- Zinnias, Phlox, etc. With misc sections for "January","herbs" and also "little things" because I still don't know much about Bacopa and torenia, etc.
One thing that is a great help is to get some of those post it flags and flag the packs you know you absolutely MUST sow. Because you want them, because you don't want to forget them, or in the case of Delphinium, because the seed is only viable for a year.
So, how do you learn about al the diffeent kinds of plants, and their idiosyncrasies? That is the hardest part of gardening, isn't it? I learned that Dahlias grow really, really fast once they germinate in the dahlia forum. I remembered it, and sowed my dahlias a little later than I normally would have. They all died when the temperatures dipped to that 1 week Easter freeze of 2007 and I had to start all over. If you got Dahlia seed from me, you will see it says "do not wintersow" -- that's why; because I lost all mine when I ws'd them :)
So, you learn by killing. And then doing an autopsy. I'll get a photo of my seed boxes soon and post it. Ilike seed boxes that fit on my lap, which is why they are not all in one box. It would be too big to hold on my lap.
Suzy
I LOVE YOU, SUZY! That is such a big help to me! I'm going to go hunting for storage containers just as soon as I finish my Cuppa Cha ...
Thanks!
Here's a pic of one...this is tender annuals and biennials. I will move the biennials to the cool season annuals. Sunflowers are in there because they like the heat, but they can take several degrees of freeze without missing a beat, at least when they are tenny tiny seedlings.
That giant blue coffee can in the background is my new file system for the piggy swap -- the 1# metal coffee cans weren't big enough! LOL!
Suzy
I came across photos of storing seeds when I was reading up on wintersowing. I store my seeds in cigar boxes I got years ago from someone who was a cigar smoker. They work great, dark and dry :))))) but for huge storage needs, they probably would not be too practical.
http://wintersown.org/wseo1/Seed_Storage_Gallery.html
HOOOORRRRAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! I just popped into Linens 'n Things and found one of these, which I promptly purchased (for a better price than quoted on this website). It's got three separate storage boxes which snap together, with dividers included. Perfect for fitting on one's lap or carrying from room to room. lol
I'd never seen this product line before, so I felt like I had struck gold. Thanks for the ideas, Suzy!
http://www.snapware.com//product_buy.asp?dept%5Fid=2001
Hey Cool!
I can't figger out which one you got, though. (Not that it makes any difference, they all look pretty good.)
Suzy
The fourth one from the top, 3-Layer Ornament Box.
Now, I just need to decide how I want to separate / organize all of my loot!
Thanks again to all of you for your phenomenal seeds -- Christmas really did come early for me.
grampapa, just catching up here and read your Cardamom and Hummingbird articles. I love the way you shape information into a "walk through a park", in that you hooked me as a reader so well that each useful tidbit was like a carrot dangling over my nose to go see what's next:) Very well written - thank you.
I have to say that organization is my Waterloo, so Suzy's and Wrightie's comments were especially useful. Well, I try to organize seeds by the germination method I'm most likely to use, but an inspiration to actually do it is always welcome.
Maybe I should choose a different method of going from A to B than following a "willow-o-the-wisp" carrot stick? At least Grampapa's carrot stick knows where it's going - lol
Loved the photos of hummers and hummer-chicks, Budbloom - just the thing for being marooned in a gray, dank, drizzly day. Doesn't seem like that long ago hummers were conniptioning over the Siberian catmint (cats won't allow us to grow any other kind).
Karen
I like that sow by X date organization- I found misplaced seeds late last spring- way too late for starting in Florida. I better get organizing.
Anyone have any input on WS in Florida? We're a might short on the snow thing.
Maggie
maggie, maybe we could organize a one-way snow exchange lol
LOL! Good idea, Gram! With postage costs rising and the price of gas, I wonder what it would cost? If we got sunshine back in exchange, I would be willing to pay, BIG TIME!LOL!
I just found a pack of seeds I had put a Post It flag on. They were Nemesia, and had a note (written by me) that they need to be started early. That was one of the ones I was talking about above, when I mentioned bacopa and Torenia. I had missed my window last year on the Nemesia, and kicked myself because I had soooo many seeds of things I had never sown before, heck, things I had never heard of before! Well, you were all in the swap, you know how many new things there are every year!
Now, how do I know Nemesia needs to be started really early? I don't know! I don't remember and it's not in Plant Files. Annoying, because if I had a source, I might glean other sowing information. I *think* Nemesia is a cool season annual (perennial in Z9-10) because Stokes lists it as a "Pansy Pal" along with:
Erysimum (Wallflower, but must be a new kind because Wallflower is a biennial) Stokes calls it, "the bedding plant of the future" and "sweet smelling"
Diascia
Dianthus (the bedders like Ideal and Select, but maybe Sweet William, too)
Lobelia
and of course Pansy and Nemesia.
Margaran, I think all you have to do is some protected sowing to keep the animals and hard driving rain off the seeds and subsequent seedlings, and you'll be all set. They say to start the week before Christmas if you have time, but it needs to be after the solstice of Dec 21 so the day length is getting longer and longer. Otherwise the seedlings won't be as robust when they emerge. Other than that, I have no idea. In Melbourne where my friend lives, it was sunny and 70 degrees all this past week, while we in Indiana haven't seen the sun in a week! (so maybe that thing about daylight time lengthening isn't true in Florida)
As an aside, I don't see how anybody has time to sow seeds until after Christmas; even if I had time to sow, it all makes such a mess and I don't have time to clean twice LOL!
Suzy
.
I w/s'd nemesia last year. I had some seed I had bought 3 or 4 years ago (sheepish grin). It started blooming in the container. While it didn't exactly flourish, it did pretty much bloom all season, right up thru Sept.
Gram,
That's interesting. Do Pansies quit there, or keep going? I am wondering how much your climate is like ours.
I was going to take a snowy day in January -- somewhere around the 21st, and sow my Torenia, Nemesia, and a couple other things, and germinate them inside the house in their milk jugs. THEN as soon as they germinate (within hours) I was going to throw the jugs outside in the snow to fend for themselves. I did this last year in February with Bachelor Buttons and it worked like a charm. The ones that I truly wintersowed (put outside in their jugs as soon as I sowed them) were a lot slower to germinate, slower to get their second pair of leaves, and slower to come into bloom.
Jest trying to build a better mousetrap....
Suzy
Would you believe I've never had pansies? I have violas that bloom straight thru. I've even seen them blooming in January under the snow.
You've NEVER had Pansies? NEVER?? LOL! Ya gotta have pansies...if you get the right kind, which nowadays is about all of them, they grow through the winter and if you have 2 weeks above freezing will bloom in winter. You start them in late July-early August so they bloom all fall, through winter all through spring to summer. If you interplant them with the petunais that are really big like the Waves, then you have a full garden 12 months of the year. Okay, not blooing in Dec, but green. Or just buy them -- it's faster. LOL!
Suzy
I have a new idea for a quasi coop/swap sort of deal for a Cottage Garden Secret Christmas.
It will cost $11.00 or maybe $12.00 a person and would be limited to 15 people. Let's say $12.00 because there is a lot that can be done with that extra dollar x 15 people!
I was going to have people go through the Stokes seed catalog or website and pick out 2 or 3 varieties flower/ornamental seeds they'd like to have if they didn't have to pay the per pack price and the $6.50 minimum shipping and handling. Give me the verbal description and the order number. It can be anything from a certain kind or color of Petunia to Electric Blue Penstemon to Bellis English Daisy Habanera Red with White Tips. Even something really, really expensive like the Trailing Ivy Geraniums would be possible, I think, as long as people would be happy with a few seeds. The things we don't want are the gigantic things like Hibiscus where 50 or 100 plants would take up an acre. Or mixed Marigolds or Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' or other things that show up in our very own swap. LOL!
Everybody does this and dmails me with what they would order and I tally them all up and see where we are on money. I already know we can't afford to get all of your choices, and it will be whittled down, but I am expecting some people to actually want the same things, so I believe it will all work out.
I would be ordering the next size up for the single package, or even the one up from that if it's cheap enough. If there is money left over, I would add something(s) splittable, and then place the order with Stokes. I am spending ALL the money on seeds, and only reserving $1.13 back for postage which should be plenty, maybe with some discussion the 75c delivery confirmation would be a good idea.
When they come, I would split all the packs 15 ways and mail them out to you. I will use my own envies (the small ones from the CG Swap LOL) and the whole thing couldbe paid for with Paypal or by sending me a check using just a regular envie. I would need people to be sort of agreeable in their general nature and have generally sunny dispositions, because if you get 1,400 seeds in a $9.00/ pack, I am not counting out 93.33 seeds for each person! It will be close, very close, and I do have a scale if it would work for this kind of operation. Not sure. The one thing I will promise you is that I will take pot luck on the seed packsike everybody else, and not pad one with a few extra seeds for myself.
If you only have a blue & pink garden, then you might not be happy with this swap because any one of the 15 people might order brown and orange or something. If $12.00 sounds like a whole lot of money, you also might not be happy. BUT for somebody who would like to get a nice little Christmas package for themselves, a Stocking Stuffer if you will, it would be sort of fun, and Stokes carries a lot of single colors of annuals and perennials, so it is stuff you can't pick up just anywhere.
I am a little hesitant to suggest it, but if you want to order F1 hybrids, you would really be getting your money's worth, BUT the resultant seeds those plants throw wouldn't be as good as other ones (for swapping next year). I guess you just have to think about it.
I'm going to give everybody who still has this thread on 'watch status' a heads up and an extra few days to look at their catalog or their website or even order a catalog before starting anew thread for it :)) That's because I LOVE YOU!
Ho ho ho!
Suzy
This message was edited Dec 10, 2007 1:27 AM
This message was edited Dec 10, 2007 2:01 AM
Count Me in!!!! And I can't believe your still wanting to organize something else Suzy!! You've been bit!
I always look at seed catalogs and think ...gee for just a little more I could have so many more seeds.. and then the thought of what in the world would I do with them all!! I love the idea and I'm open to whatever you get for yourself to split.. I think we are pretty like minded seed wise :).. But count me in!
Susan
I'm in! But ... any idea on a deadline? I just skimmed the thread looking for a deadline-ish. Didn't see it. Pre/Post Christmas?
smooch smooch
Suzy, you Enabler, you - lol. I was just trying to drum up co-buyers from Stokes. I know you were thinking of 2 or 3 items from each of us, but just in case my wishes concur with anyone else's - here they are. I hope for agreement on color, but have asterisked the ones I don't mind as mixture.
*Browallia #714 Silver Bells (white) p88
*Carnation (Minispice) #767B white or 767C peppermint p88
*Dianthus #P1818 Dynasty Mix p64
*Geranium (Trailing Ivy) Summer Showers #948Q Burgundy
Impatiens #1855F Fanciful White p69
Portulaca Sundial #1239F white or #1239J peppermint p80
*Primula #1253A Orion Blue p96 (any hardy primrose fine if not this one)
Viola Penny Purple Picotee #1742J p75 If I can only have one, this is it. The smaller flowers of violas seem to make clouds of flowers for me, and the subtlety of this one's contrasts makes the cloud all the more luminous
Might vegies be included? Buying most members of the cabbage family in bulk is great because seed viability averages around 5 years. I especially love the Asian greens and any kind of mesclun, and I think we'll do better than Pinetree's prices.
Asian vegies - any kind p16 -
Any kind of "choi" like Joi Choi #422T
Komatsuna #411C
Mitsuba #411A
Mizuna 422Q (variation on parsley)
Mild Mesclun 185M p34 (Is 4th item in bulk box at bottom of page)
Am not limited to the above
Excellent idea - thank you
Karen
Edited to delete Sweet Pea, because http://www.valueseeds.com/index.html has Sweet Pea Fragrantissima at 35 seeds for 99 cents - This website is said to be an outlet for Thompson & Morgan Seeds, and I have had pretty good germination with its seeds - very economical source of kitchen garden vegies, too.
This message was edited Dec 10, 2007 9:38 AM
SGL -- LOL! Did I mention I was a Brownie Leader for years and years? I like buying things and dividing them up :))
Wrightie -- I'm thinking on the deadline. As I look at it, there is no way I can actually get these divided and out to you before Christmas, which was my original thought. And wouldn't that have been so cool? sigh. SO I was giving people 2 or 3 days to take a look and do what Karen did below -- maybe name some things they're thinking of, chat about it, that way you can decide if it's worth the money and all.... Then I'd probably start a new thread, and give you a couple more days to make some final selections. That would bring us to Friday. Is that too soon?
LOL! Blue, You look like you are ready to go!
I will definitely split the *Geranium (Trailing Ivy) Summer Showers #948Q Burgundy. I have seen the burgundy or darker pink geraniums in person and I love them! I will gladly take 2/3 of the 20 (13, so you'd get the full 7, to make the deal sweeter) That is if no one else pipes up, and the order goes to the next size up, which might happen because htose seeds are so darn expensive!
And I thought the Viola Penny Purple Picotee was gorgeous, too.
Regarding the veggies -- I'm not sure. If it were regular cabbage, the kind the butterfly caterpillars eat, I would be all for it LOL! You put it out there, and I'm happy to pack it up for you, as long as it is between 2 or 3 people -- the 15 packs per variety is what is making me drag my feet a little.
So I am counting 3 people here, and I have one dmail, so that's 4 plus me is 5. 5 of 15.
Suzy
This message was edited Dec 10, 2007 12:02 PM
I should be able to pull that off! Thanks -- btw, you're a crazy woman for even considering such a feat just before Christmas!!!
LOL! Yes, I know.
I look at it this way -- on a round robin swap you get everybody's leftovers -- Rudbeckia fulgida, Hollyhocks, Four O'Clocks and have to pay $4.95 plus 75c del confirmation to get rid of it to the next person. If you're lucky, you get 5 packs of seeds you maybe sorta wanted.
For 2x that money, you can get cool, named things and a lot of seed that you know will germinate and come true.
My kids will both be home after Christmas and I think I can con them into doing some dividing with me as we chat about the things they're doing at school that I don't want to hear about. LOL!
Maybe a President's Day delievery would be more likey, tho.
Here's the link www.stokeseeds.com
Suzy
This message was edited Dec 10, 2007 1:07 PM
I like your style.
okay -- here's the new thread.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/796522/
Karen, can you repost your list?
Suzy
Hi, all. Just resurrecting this old thread to catch some of you from the swap who might still have it bookmarked. I wrote this article and promised to let people know when it was going to run and today's the day.
'A Tale of Some Traveling Seeds'
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/725/#discuss
hope you like it
~ jan
Hello everyone,
My name is Ben and I live in Tucson. My "home" as it were is over at the SW Gardening forum. I love to read all the articles people write here at DG and I loved Jan's article.
I am focusing the majority of my efforts on cottage gardening this year and so I of course am intrigued about this seed swap.
I would like to take part but the problem is, I don't have a lot to offer at this moment. I am still at the gathering seeds to get started stage.
I am having a go at kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate seeds. Right now I have a tray in the freezer that has been in there for almost a month. I will be taking it out this weekend I think. I hope I left them in there long enough. I really want to grow this plant. I mention this because I can buy some more of these seeds so I can take part in the swap. I also have a dozen or so hyacinth bean vine seeds.
I thank you all in advance.
All the best
Ben
Heya, Ben! We're actually still discussing a seed swap that took place in the fall -- we're now in the process of sowing and growing the seeds from the swap! However, if you trundle on over to the Seed Trading forum, you'll find plenty of folks interested in trading seeds. Take a look at the Trading Primer (link is at the top of the forum page) for some good "getting started" information. You may also come across offers of seed for postage, or "seeds for SASBE"... Check out my recent article, "What is a SASBE? Learn All About Getting Seeds for Postage" to learn more about responding to those offers. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/629/