Think Spring! SWAP discussion thread for Feb. 21 seed party

Froggy, when I send seeds in the Seedsavers program, I usually send 25 per bag, if I have a lot of them. If I have Limited quantity, I send anywhere from 3-5. You can bring seeds from any source you have available. The idea is to bring seeds, swap & share, and enjoy the camaraderie. Mamms are pretty good about "callusing" off after they are detached from "Mom." Don't forget to bring goodies for the prize table, anything you think of. Last year, there were pots, and planters, plants, anything. That was my 1st one and definitely not my last, unless the gas goes up to # 4.00/gallon. Here's a pix of me & my DH (Bob) on our scooter and the hook-behind contraption Bob made for me. We went to the Bloomsburg, Pa fair & a newpaper guy took our pix & put us in the paper.

Froggy - Judy's correct - re the seeds just depends on how many you have to share - using your own...using the remains of package seeds you have....it's all fine. We're not a finicky bunch. Walmart (in their craft/beading supplies dept) has the teeny zip lock bags that work well for seeds - they're the cheapest. Office depot has the plastic ones with the strip to write on as well as the mini brown paper ones....they sell them in pretty large boxes though.

Froggy- sure, I have plenty ofcolumbine seeds
Buttoneer- that is really cute!

BTW, "goodies" (plural) for the prize table aren't necessary... one item is fine! And I'll have a few extra things, so it's not necessary to bring a door prize item at all. :-)

Button, that picture always makes me smile! I love your grins, and that sign on back.. !

I should get one for the front saying "student driver."

Yeah!! Put it in back where he won't see it, or it looks like he didn't!

A paper note sort of sign taped to his back would work, too... the kind that said "kick me" when you were in 5th grade. ;-)

That would go over like a lead balloon with him. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

Fun discussion, but my hubby wouldn't see the humor either!

Well, back to the RU. Jill, how many are attending? I need ot know so I know how many packs of seeds to bring. Thanks.

I've been keeping a running list at the top of the (other) organization thread for the swap. It's still several weeks away, so I'm thinking we'll have some other folks signing on next month. Not everybody will want every seed... :-)

BTW, I just made up 100 packs of tomato seeds that I saved last summer... I've got other varieties in my stash, so PLMK if there's anything you're looking for (or even just a general type or color -- pink, black, cherry, etc.).

Freshly packed:

'Potato Top' (pink beefsteak)
'Wisconsin 55' (round red)
'Wild Cherry' (tiny, intense currant type)
'Black Russian' (mahogany beefsteak)
'Brandywine Yellow' (golden beefsteak)

Yummmm Tomatoes....did I mention that I was unaware of NOT throwing tomatoes in a make shift composting area????? Ummm yeah....grew some Romas by mistake...LOL

I pretty much don't grow Romas on purpose any more... have found other solid, meaty varieties that I like as well or better for sauce and that seem less subject to BER around here (blossom end rot).

Chantell, you definitely need a 'Wild Cherry' tomato plant or two to meander around your flower bed... best ever garden snacks!

MMmmm-Hmmm....love my cherry tomatoe (ok and I'm lazy & can just dump em' into the salad) - course nothing IMHO beats a beefsteak mator on a sandwich - even by itself...yum-meeee

Tomatoes - yummy! I'd love some Wisconsin 55, Black Russian and Wild Cherry-also if you have a big, red, meaty variety- Tomatoes are really the only vegetable I grow. And, thanks for the advice on bagging my seeds.

I'll try to bring my binder of tomato seeds, too... if you're looking for a big, meaty tomato, I have some seeds from 'Pruden's Purple' -- the biggest, heaviest tomato in my garden last summer.

Chantelle,

Last year--I had so many volunteer tomatoes coming up --I did not really know what was what--as I did use my compost where I planted my FIVE tomatoes.
Who knows WHAT seeds I had in the compost???? I buy tomatoes at my neighborhood veggie stand (sometimes) and, of course, discard bad ones from my own garden.

I think this coming year--I will just pull up any volunteers and throw them away. That will be hard to do.....as I like to share so much with people at work. I know I will have a slew of Sun Gold's volunteers!!!! My God! they fell to the ground if you just touched them! I tried picking them up--but many, many ended up "down there" underneath the "jungle" of the vines this tomato grew!!! Won't know which seedlings are what! That's why I'd rather just concentrate on the ones I will sow....

I have room for ONLY 4 (or 5) Tomatoes. Will do ONE Sun Gold--one Mortgage Lifter--
One or two Cherokee Purples (unless you can convince me to try one of the above two I asked about) and that leaves room for ONE new one--and one of mine will have to go.
Which one of the bigger tomatoes I have mentioned would do OK in a pot?

Jill,
How would you compare Pruden's Purple to Cherokee Purple? How about the Black Russian? What is that like? I could look it up--but thought it might be easier to just ask you. If I could try just ONE new one--which would you recommend?
I don't want another Cherry one. I had Sun Golds coming out of my ears from just two plants last year! Besides--they need, like--a 10' trellis if you know what I mean......

I really love the Ch. Prpl. Felt Ho-Hum about the Mortgage lifter.....Not a good producer (at least for me). Seems to have it's season--and then that's it for producing more Tomatoes as the season progresses.

I DO have a small amount of seeds of all three of these (self-gathered) if anyone would like to have a few. Of course--Jill will have plenty of these also--as I got two of them from her.
The Sun Golds I got at a stand at the Timmonium Labor Day week-long Festival. There were about 6 seeds glued to a wood marker (like a Popsicle stick) from some environmental agency. That is where I got them! I think I even shared 3 of the six seeds with someone......by mail.

Gita

I only saved seeds from a few varieties last year. :-)

Pruden's Purple is a pink tomato; Cherokee Purple is black (go figure). Black Russian seems very similar in flavor (to me) to Cherokee Purple, maybe sweeter, and it's been very productive for me (better than CP in my garden).

I think 'Wis 55', 'Potato Top', 'Black Russian', and 'Brandywine Yellow' are currently my favorite red, pink, black, and gold tomatoes, respectively. But there are so many to try! LOL

As for pot culture... with a big enough pot, you can grow any tomato. Wisconsin 55 is supposed to be "semi determinate," with perhaps a slightly more compact habit... still gets pretty big! There are also dwarf and patio varieties.

We grow ours in 5-gallon buckets but the DH doesn't want to grow as many this year as he did last year. We keep getting the Virus (its in the ground; that's why we grow them in buckets) and the tomatoes are great but the plants don't last the summer.

It's too too quiet here. We need some more posts.

It's quiet,... too quiet.
I read an essay about that once. More like an article by a movie fan.

LOL... I've been packing orders for the pepper seed co-op!

If anybody is interested in paprika or sweet frying peppers, please let me know... I've got a few packs from (commercial) seeds another DGer shared with me. I've got some hot peppers from my garden last year also, plus 'Aji Dulce' (like a habanero but with little or no heat).

No thanks, Jill. I have acid reflux. (burp) Oh, excuse me!

I have lots of Black Eyed Susan seed heads if anyon is interested. I have a huge BES plant in the middle of my tomato patch.

I'll bet it's very pretty against the foliage and fruit of your tomatoes! I get enough little volunteer BES's around my plants, so I'm good, but it's a plant that does really well around here.

I forgot to add, I have Brown-eyed Susan seeds. Actually, it's the flower heads but you can get a lot of seeds out of them. Love the plants. Smaller flowers but a lot more of them, the plants get about 3-4 feet tall, very pretty & bushy, self-seeds.

I'm going to bring along my seed book. That way people can look up seeds that they don't recognize to help decide what they want. Most of my seed are from 07 as I didn't collect many this year but I am getting organized this afternoon
I'm bringing MG seeds and before you all say you aren't interested you should look at this.

Those pink MG are a split petal. They were the surprise of my garden. I'm not much for pink MG I like the blues, greys and purples much better. But these little guys just bloomed their hearts out, tons of pretty little blooms.

Another big surprise is how pretty they were as they opened. The effect comes from the fact that they are a split petal.

Just one more.

Great photos, Holly! I think I've got some seeds for that split-petaled pink... I'm looking forward to trying a bunch of "fancy" MGs this year, but I'll have to be ruthless and yank up all the volunteer MGs in that bed. I love morning glories!

Here are the brown-eyed susans

Hey Jill, put me on the list to come. I've misplaced my seeds so I may just have to come for the fun and conversation if they don't turn up. Do you have any seeds for those ornamental little round purple peppers? I thought they were so cute!

Hooray! I was hoping you'd find this thread, Miata. Was going to send you Dmail this week if you hadn't! Misplaced your seeds? oh, no! Maybe we can schedule a lunch or Thursday get-together sometime soon (I'm at loose ends anyway since Jim is flying halfway around the world and will be gone several weeks), and you can go through "da stash."

I hope Rick decides to join us -- he's always a lot of fun!

Does anyone have Ornamental Grass seeds? I'm interested in 2 different kinds both a Black Ornamental and a Pampas Grass.

I'll be starting some "fiber optic grass" seeds; depending on how they do I might have extras (but I think it's more of a tender plant). I should also have seeds for "Northern Sea Oats" in my stash somewhere if that floats your boat.

Critter, I'll be free this thursday before class. Some coffee and "stash" browsing would be nice. Maybe help get me out of my winter ho hums :)

Holly, I've got plenty of Purple Millet seeds I can bring you. Is that considered a grass? I still know where the few seeds I mangaged to collect last fall are, but it's all my others I have lost.

Miata, you're on! I'll see you Thursday.

*crossing fingers* that your stash shows up... I know how frustrating it is to misplace something like that! Oh, and yes, I have seeds for the dwarf 'Pretty Purple Pepper' as well as for 'Black Pearl'.

I'll be "accepting" purple milet seeds. But I might see if mine start up OK before the swap.
The only black grass I have is green leaved, black headed Miscanthus, a thug.