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agirlsgirl

New members please read!:)

agirlsgirl
15 years ago

Hey all! If you are new and the seed exchange scares you,please post so we can convince you it really is safe waters!:)

Ok....GO!

Comments (40)

  • carroteggs
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm New! But I love the idea of exchanging seeds! I especially love unique looking veggies.... (hint hint) :)

  • agirlsgirl
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Woo Hoo carroteggs! I am betting by the end of the season you will be rolling in the veggies! People here really are kind and generous. I just know when I first came upon GW,it was very intimidating,but after doing a few trades I realized everything wasn't so clinical after all. If you are up front about your seeds,like where the seed hails from,seed count,chaff,ect....pretty much any info that can be provided,people than have a choice to trade with you,they know what they are getting ahead of time,so when their seeds arrive,there is nothing to surprise them!;)
    People make mistakes,and there are many understanding people here,that would never run a newbie through the wringer over a simple mistake. We all have been there at one point or another!;)How about we have a newbie check in? I would love to see how many new lurkers we have and what they think of what they have observed...or have you been around awhile and still not sure if you should jump in or not? If so post,let me know what you think! I hate to see people miss out on great opportunities! :)

  • rosepedal
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    BOO! hahhahahahha..... I am a easy trader... I love newbies I was one with angie last year.... :) Barb

  • jaycetiger
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have a question i posted a link called pls help daugters want to start a garden and when i go back to the form page for seed exchange it is not there why???

  • gardenmom2
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jaycetiger, it is there and so is the new one. Every time someone posts to one of the threads or posts, it goes to the top, so the oes with no responses slowly fall to the bottom and maybe the next page. Does that make sense. Most people here, though, know to check the first couple or 3 pages for posts. I saw both of your posts this morning, and posted on it.

    I am new, just started at the end of January. I just wanted to say to other newbies: 1. it is so fun and everyone is super nice and wll help you. 2. I have done several trades and now 3 round robins and they are a blast and easy to do, I am also working on a few more round robins.

    Pointers to newbies: WRITE everything down. Get a notebook or something. Keep a record of what you are offering for trade, who you send sasbe's too, what round robins you are in and the dates involved. Then you won't get confused or accidentally promise the same pack of seeds to three people. I did not do that, but almost did a couple times.

    Everyon here is super nice and will work with you. If you have small amounts of seeds to trade, that is ok too as long as you post that for thiscertain heirloom tomato, I only have 6-8. Others here helped me with the same things. They are great enablers, er uh, helpers. This site has become my favorite and the people here are fast becoming many great friends of mine. Thanks for helping this newby feel like she has been here forever.

    Nichol

  • barefoot_contessa
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm a newbie, and lovinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn' it! Hi Angie!

    Sometimes I think I ma TOO eager!
    LoL

    Carrie (who is going to pack seeds right this minute!)

  • agirlsgirl
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nichol! Thanks so much for posting,I am sure seeing it come from a fellow newbie will help settle some nerves! :)


    Carrie....HI!!!! :D Too Eager? Nahhhh.....your at a normal pace for most budding seed addicts! ;)


    Both of you will eventually set a pace for yourself. I hardly did any trading this year myself,after the swap seeds arrived yesterday and just the couple larger trades I did,I am full on seeds. I sneak in the Seed Exchange once in awhile and peek,sometimes I actually start to post,than I stop myself...lol..I have a couple trades coming up that are sort of pre-planned,other than that my trading is under control...for now...lol...!:D

  • littleonefb
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Angie, you didn't really say this, did you?

    I have a couple trades coming up that are sort of pre-planned,other than that my trading is under control...for now...lol...!:D

    You are joking aren't you?

    No way can you have your trading under control.

    Come on ladies, we have to "fix this new found problem that Angie has."

    Just you wait, girl, our pre-planned trade will have extras in it, just cause you said what you did.

    Fran, whose plotting what to add to Angie's "pre-planned trade" we have.

  • laughter
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm sort-of new.. I signed up awhile ago, but I just started using the Seed Exchange forum!
    LOL, I didn't know it existed until about a month ago! =)
    It's just been so much fun here! Getting rid of my extras, and finally (!) getting what I wanted. *hugs forum*

  • agirlsgirl
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Fran....lol......so I get punished with bonuses?....lol...well remember that can work both ways missy!;)


    laughter,great to see you are enjoying yourself! It really is a fun hobby and ever so rewarding! Any plans on what to do with all those new seeds? Think about ws'ing?;)

  • littleonefb
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Any plans on what to do with all those new seeds? Think about ws'ing?;)

    Would you believe my plans are to WS, early spring sow, all those seeds. Figure I'll end up with the usual number of containers of all different sizes. At least 800 containers.

    Hey, that's down from the first few years of 1,000.

    What are your plans Angie?

    Oh, extra seeds work both ways? Sounds good to me.

    Fran

  • carroteggs
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What is a round robin?

  • carroteggs
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I found some seeds! The flower had died on one of marigolds, so I pulled it off and disected it. Well I carefully opened it and found seeds! Will they sprout? If yes, then I just got some more seeds to trade! This is exciting...I blame agirlsgirl ;)

  • littleonefb
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is exciting...I blame agirlsgirl ;)

    Sounds reasonable to me. YUP, It's all agirlsgirl's fault.

    See what you started Angie?

    I'm just innocent in all of this. LOL, YUP, i'm just an innocent enabler, what else can I say?

    Carroteggs, those are the seeds from a marigold. That's when you collect the seed heads.

    You sure will have sprouts from those seeds.

    Congrats on collecting those marigold seed pods and finding the seeds.

    Just ask away if you aren't sure where to find the seeds on a plant.
    Someone will pop in and give you the answers.

    OH, FORGOT, JUST BLAME AGIRSGIRL.

    Love ya, Angie.

    Fran

  • alwaysagarden
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Fran, Hi Angie!
    I'd just like to know how many seeds you ladies actually have?!!! Fran... winter sowing 1000 containers and this year down to 800?!!! Falling backwards in chair onto the floor... feet up in the air, mouth open, eyes poppin out...trying to ponder planting that many containers...#########################################

    Cindy...still in a daze

  • jaleeisa
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Weeeelll Cindy, for myself, I just boxed up over 300 trade packets for Fran's Round Robin swap... and I still have 2 rather good sized boxes with manila envelopes of sorted seeds. The two for MY veggies and MY plants/flowers that I'm sowing, seed starting and direct sowing are bulging. Then there are the ones for my theme gardens. Plus I've glanced over, but not really gone through the over 100 packets I receive in Patty's Round Robin swap. And I have four trades that should be coming in this next week as well as one that I'm working on now. My husband estimates that I have 2-3 thousand seed packets... and he doesn't know about the other order that came in a couple days ago... :)

    And I've only been with GW a year, started with nary a seed to my name. I love gardening and sharing my seeds. :) I'll be doing a newbie offer in the next few weeks. Just need to reorganize after putting together my contributions to those two Round Robin swaps.

    Carrot- Round Robins are in the Round Robin Forum and though they can seem complicated, they're really not. There are a couple of types- a true Round Robin- which the MNF(Make New Friend) group has going on this month- where a box is put together by one person, then it moves to the next person, they take some things out, put similar items in from their stash, then send it on to the next person in the rotation. The box finally ends up back with the original person and they keep the remaining goodies. You can take out as much or as little as you want, you just have to replace it with similar items in the amounts that you took out- i.e. if you take out 2 bulbs, 5 packets of seed, 1 hand lotion, 2 garden decorations, you put back in the same numbers as you took out. Doesn't have to be the same kind of bulbs, seeds, hand lotion or garden decorations, just the same numbers to keep the box as full as it began both for the next person in the rotation as well as eventually for the person who started the box.

    The other kind of a Round Robin swap. People sign up for these, then are paired for the swap. You will either exchange a box with the person sending to you, or you will send to one person while someone else sends to you.

    Both types are great ways to get wonderful goodies. We usually use flat rate boxes for these because you can stuff those full, up to 75 lbs and mail it for the same postage, doesn't matter what you put in it- seeds, bulbs, plant cuttings, stepping stones, garden decorations, plant food, stickers, you name it, I've seen it in a box :)

    Round Robins are a lot of fun :) When it's just seeds that are being swapped, like in Patty and Fran's RR's, you can mail those in a large bubble mailer. Mine for Fran's swap needed a box because I have them sorted into smaller baggies for her. So, I'm sending in the seeds I'm sharing as well as some hostess gifts for her because she's going to have TONS of seeds that she's going to be sorting into what was sent it to whom. This is another type of Round Robin. Everyone gathers what they have to share- in this case, things listed on someone's wants list, to the host/ess and they sort, repackage and mail back to the individuals that signed up for the swap. In Fran's swap, we'll be getting back only things that were specifically sent in for each person- with perhaps a few extras that Fran will see if they are on someone's list. In Patty's swap, we were getting back the same number of packets we sent in, plus a couple of extras. Sounds like there's not much difference between the two, but there is. In Patty's swap, if I sent in 300 packets, I would be getting about 302 packets back. In Fran's swap, I may send in 300, but get 50 back because that's what was sent in specifically for me. Both were based on what was on my wants list. With both, regardless of how many I was getting back, I was still winning because the seeds I got where specific wants that I had, not random seeds that I may or may not plant. Though seeds like that are wonderful for re-trading :)

    LOL, that got a little long. I just wanted to give our newer members who've not found the RR forum an idea of what we do there. Don't let it intimidate you! MNF accepts anyone to join theirs, some of the other groups have criteria that needs to be met to join. But regardless, there are always members that will help guide you though your first RR. I'm part of the MNF group and am always happy to help guide newbies. I have one that I'm hosting in April with the theme "April's Fools", and speaking of that, I need to get busy planning it! What the minimum requirements for the boxes will be, games, prizes, etc.

    If you have more questions about RR's, don't hesitate to ask!

    Kathy

  • playintheyard
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow I was just thinking the same thing!! Only 800 this year?!?! You ladies are awesome. I could never keep it all straight. Can't wait to see your gardens & plants this spring Fran! Can you fill a nursery??

    Annette

  • Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Figure I'll end up with the usual number of containers of all different sizes. At least 800 containers.

    {{gwi:11047}}

  • littleonefb
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    HELLO

    Sue, do you need some cold water splash to get up?

    Cindy, are you OK?

    Annette, no I can't fill a nursery, but I sure do fill my beds and several others. Remember you will see this in the spring at the swap.

    So let me explain about those 1000 containers and now down to about 800 or so containers.

    First of all I don't use the water/milk jugs at all. I hate those things and when I have used them in the past, just a few, I got very poor to zero germination in them.

    My containers consist of margarine tubs, cottage cheese tubs, salad tubs, disposable aluminum containers, plastic containers that tomatoes, berries come in, mushroom containers, and styrofoam cups and the plastic containers that salad greens come in.

    They are all a minimum of 3-4 inches deep. I cover them with either the clear plastic cover that are attacked to them, put them in store brand zippy bags with slits for drainage and air, or cover them with glad press and seal, put slits in that and hold them on with cheapo wooden clothes pins.

    tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, sunflowers, datura, all get their own individual 12-16 oz styrofoam cup, one seed in each of them.

    Everything gets reused from year to year. and all my left over seedlings go into small styrofoam cups for my annual plant swap. The cups that leave with my seedlings in them at the swap, return the following year filled with seedlings for that years swap.

    So you see that small containers add up to a lot of containers, but they are much easier for me to move and handle since I have permanent weak tendons and both arms and can't lift a lot of weight.
    I also have a no good spine, that has been visited by a spine surgeon twice in the past 2 years and is heading for a 3rd visit by said spine surgeon this June as well. It's getting to be a bad habit with my spine and this surgeon. The spine may like the visits in the OR with the spine surgeon, but the owner of the back is not pleased about it and the gardens are just as displeased.

    Adding to the info on the kind of containers I use is this.

    Most of the containers are shared with my best friend of over 40 years. Instead of each of us WS in our own home, since we live only about 10-15 minutes apart, everything is stored here for WS. Soil, seeds, containers and I have the large fenced in back yard to help keep the "friendly critters" away, otherwise known as ground hogs, chipmunks and rabbits from getting the seedlings as they start to germinate.

    I am also home during the day, I work from home and she is a nurse working odd hour shifts, so I can keep things watered as the seedlings sprout and start to need water.

    I also WS some seeds for an elderly neighbor and her sister-in-law. Which means about 50 containers done are just for them.

    And I'm sowing seeds specifically for another WS who is coming to the swap and she is sowing seeds for me.
    Hello Lisa.

    In the past 5 years of WS my friend and I have tried various ways to lower the container numbers, make it easier to split up containers and came up with the following idea that really has made things easier to divide up, but not really lower numbers.

    Instead of sowing seeds in big containers and then dividing them, we are using smaller ones. a container for each of us of the seeds we want and then 1 extra container of them just to be safe.

    Come time to divide the seedlings, we all have our own container to take. The extra one is divided if needed or if not needed, split up for the swap.

    Instead of sowing seeds in one container and dividing up some of the perennials like columbine and dianthus. We do this.

    Take a margarine tub or cottage cheese tub and put about 15 -25 seeds right in the center of the container, press the seeds down, slip into a baggie and out the door they go.

    Come time to plant out, it is one plant. more seedlings but close together and it's a bigger plant to start off with.

    A friend of ours who has a farm in town, told us that's how they start those kinds of seeds for a plant to sell. Has worked beautifully.

    All the containers go directly out the back door, down the stairs and on the ground in the fenced in yard.

    Start sowing in mid February with the perennials, get biennials out in March if sowing any and the annuals get out starting mid April and everthing is done before May 1st.

    There's usually about 150 containers out before April, and then the rest go out after that.

    every container is counted as 1 container.

    Hope everyone is up of the ground and floor now.

    will post some pics of the containers later.

    Fran

  • littleonefb
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    BEFORE THE SNOW HIT LAST YEAR

    {{gwi:27652}}
    {{gwi:27653}}
    {{gwi:27654}}

    IN THE SNOW
    {{gwi:27655}}
    {{gwi:27656}}
    {{gwi:27657}}

    BURIED IN THE SNOW, SLEEPING SOUNDLY FOR NOW

    {{gwi:27658}}

    {{gwi:27659}}

    LAST ONES OUT LAST WEEK, TILL APRIL. HAD TO CLIMB THROUGH 2 FEET OF SNOW TO GET THESE LAST ONES OUT.

    {{gwi:27660}}

  • carroteggs
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Neat Pictures! I wish we got snow down here...Just hurricanes and heat waves I'm afraid :( I miss building snowmen when we would visit Grandma's in NC :) Mmmm, now you got me thinking about fresh blackberries and vanilla ice cream.

  • Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great pics Fran!

    Mmmm, now you got me thinking about fresh blackberries and vanilla ice cream.
    Now you've got me thinking about making a blackberry pie (yes I fought the chiggers and briers and picked wild ones and froze them), and having it ala mode...one of my most favorite things in the whole world.

    Sue...

  • alwaysagarden
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Fran,
    I love your ideas with the butter tubs, cottage cheese tubs, etc, as well as the tomato,berry,mushroom, etc. containers. You have me worried because the 25 I have done (I know that's kind of a tiny amount) are in plastic milk jugs and a few 2 liter plastic pop bottles. You said you don't like the plastic milk jugs because your germination was real low. My first year w.sowing so I sure hope I get some kind of germination. I'm going to get more creative a pull out the plastic tub containers I have saved start filling them up with soil and seeds and then place them in zip lock baggies. I don't think I will make it to 800 this year, but I may hit 100! : ) Large Styrofoam cups, hmmm... will be checking my Dollar store.
    Pictures you posted really help... 2 feet of snow, Fran you are one tough lady! Thanks for the ideas. Will be waiting for your next post of containers.

    Kathy,
    I just don't know how you keep that many seeds organized! I have 2 small boxes and that's enough for me. : )

    Carroteggs and Sue,
    Now you both got me thinking about fresh berries period! Yum.

    Cindy : )

  • carroteggs
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    alwasyagarden,
    You can also use empty film containers to start your seeds...I like the clear ones because they hold in the moisture and you can see if it's sprouted yet. I have a little basil that's sprouting and 4 others that I just started. You can get them at any photo lab and ask them to hold them for you instead of trashing them. I also use the dark ones to store my leftover seeds, otherwise they end up dumping out of the packet onto the floor.

    That reminds me, I need to go get more...I want to try out my marigold seeds.

  • tricia73
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi,

    I'm a "newbie". I live in New England in a 2nd floor apartment with a windowed back porch. With the economy as bad as it is and the lack of available work in the area I was hoping to start a garden to sort of offset our food costs for a few months.

    I didn't plan ahead for loosing my job and money is wicked tight (as I'm sure it is for many people) so all I really have for supplies is what containers I have from last year (just a few terracotta pots) and year old used potting soil.

    My mint got some kind of a bug infestation last year too so I'm afraid to use the soil this year. My Mom told me to use a little dish soap in water and spray the plants to suffocate the bugs but I guess I used a little too much because the plants browned and most of them died. So I just didn't water what was left anymore to kill them off hoping that would get rid of the buggies. Does anyone know if that soil is still usable or should I just throw it out entirely (like in a trash bag or just outside)? I mean do the bugs hibernate in the winter and wake up in the spring so throwing the soil outside may just re-infest nearby gardens?

    I have no seeds left over so none as yet to start this year and only found this website a few days ago (my boyfriend is cheaping out on me and doesn't want to spend the extra money to buy a bunch of seeds but seems to be okay with paying for postage for free seeds). I have contacted a few people on the Seed Exchange forum who posted free seeds for postage so I hope to hear from them soon. I guess I'll be getting a late start but am hoping that because it's New England that maybe that isn't so bad after all? It's still snowing every few days here so the porch is still really cold.

    I saw where Fran was talking about containers and it never occurred to me to use butter tubs etc. I have been saving and hording 2 liter bottles all winter to cut in half and use. I also hadn't thought of the zip lock bags either. Is that only for the winter or to create a greenhouse effect for speeding germination? Will it work for an indoor garden (there is a shelf that runs the entire perimeter of my porch right at the bottom of the window level and the windows are immediately next to each other waist high all the way around)? (My porch gets full and direct sunlight from dawn till about noon and is in the shade in the afternoon.) Should I not use the 2 liter bottles at all or would they work better if I just cut a hole in the side and wrapped saran wrap around the bottle and cut little slits in it instead of cutting the bottles in half and just plopping them on the shelf?

    I am primarily focusing my "wish list" on herbs and a few tomatoes and hanging strawberries. But I realize that some of the free for postage seed offerings are sender's choice so I plan to offer whatever I don't use free for postage so someone else who wants them can use them. Unfortunately with the limited space I have I doubt I'll be able to get involved much with the round robins you described. I simply don't have the space for that many containers.

    I must seem so confused. I guess I kind of am. I'm beginning to worry that maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew. I've never had much of a green thumb, that was my Mom's gift. I'm good with roses and that's about it. Just no space to grow them here. Gosh I've babbled on and on. Thanks for "listening".

    Tricia

  • playintheyard
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Fran,
    I'm surprised u had lousy germ. w/ the larger jugs. Why do you only put the seeds in the center of the margarine tubs? How many plants can u get out of that? One more ? for u hoe does the press & seal hold up to weight of snow?

    Great pics. I can just picture u trudging thru 2' of snow lol.That's one of the things my kids are good for well sort of lol.

    Annette

  • jaleeisa
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tricia, I've actually continued growing mints and some herbs in the freezer baggies. Just turned down the top a little so it couldn't close back up. As long as something is deep enough for a good root structure for whatever you're wanting to grow, it can be grown in it. Tomatoes don't care if they're in the ground, in a fancy pot or a 5 gallon icing bucket! Anything that's deep enough and you can put holes into for good drainage can be used to grow in. Anything that you can cover with something clear to create a 'greenhouse' effect can be used for seed starting. Everyone has their own preferences on containers. I use just about anything that comes to hand. As long as you can provide the needed soil, sun, temps and drainage/watering, things will grow any where.

    Another thing you might consider is sprouts for salads/stirfries, etc in plastic drinking cups covered with plastic wrap.

    I have a large amount of veggie seed and some herbs that I'm not going to be planting this year and would be happy to do a BEAP (Bubble envelope and postage) for you. Email me and we'll see what you want and what I have to share.

    Cindy... someone said I was organized? *looking around* Okay, well, I am rather OCD, but these are just manila envelopes with the type of plant/veggie/flower written on the outside with a sharpie, then stood up in a handy box. Things that need stratification have their own box and are kept in a drawer in my fridge, sorted into freezer bags listing what's what. Everything else is in my computer room, which is kept (much!) cooler than the rest of the house in warmer weather or in the winter when we have the heater going. After a couple of large RR swaps, I'm in the process of cataloging everything again to be able to update my sadly out of date trade lists... not to mention to have a handy reference of what I still have. It's really not that hard. But like I said, I am OCD, and given that, it's just easier on me to have everything to where I can lay hands on something quickly.

    Kathy~ Off to start some marigolds indoors cause in a few weeks (right about 4.5!!)I'll be able to plant hardier stuff out!!

  • tricia73
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Jaleesia/Kathy,

    I just sent you an email containing my wish list. I'm not picky. If you find that you have something that I could use and want to help I would be greatful but I "expect" nothing from anyone.

    I found a short stack of disposable plastic picnic cups in the back of a cabinet this morning so have about a dozen more small containers than I thought! I'm also going through my Glad tupperware containers for those things missing lids or that I just don't use anymore and pulling them out to use too.

    Thanks for all the wonderful hints and tips.

    Did anyone know if the soil from the bug infested mints I mentioned from last year is still usable? Or if it isn't; how best to dispose of it so it doesn't affect someone else's garden? They were itty bitty little bright green buggies. I have no idea what they were. Just that they were a pain and spread fast.

    Thanks,
    Tricia

  • littleonefb
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cindy,

    I wouldn't worry about using the gallon jugs. It seems to me that most people do use them and with great success.

    That was my personal experience only. Even if I had excellent germination with them, I wouldn't use them because of the weight of them when filled with soil.

    I have permanently injured tendons in both of my arms and I can't lift the weight of the jugs full of soil if they are on the ground.
    I also have spine problems, 2 spine surgeries and facing another one this June. I can't lift that kind of weight with my spine either.

    My WS partner feels the same way about them even though she can lift them without a problem.

    We both find them a real pain to get drainage holes in, cut, fill with soil, sow and close up again.

    The smaller containers are easy to get drainage holes in, easy to fill, easy to cover with their own covers if they have them. If not then we use store brand zippie bags, cut slits in the top and bottom and slip the containers in them, zip them up and out they go.

    It's ease and convenience for us and our preference to use.

    They do require a more careful eye when the temps warm up as they can dry out more quickly. But, I'm home as I work from home, and can water them as needed any time of the day.

    As a rule of thumb, I will use a container if it at least 3 -4 inches deep and I can easily get drainage holes in it by using a steak knife to stab, twist, turn and get the holes, or use my finger to make the hole.

    A good place to find containers, beside the recycle centers, (don't have any available to me.) is to post on your local freecycle site. I know people that have gotten hundreds of containers and gallon jugs and tonic bottles that way.

    Only problem in getting tonic bottles would be if you live in a state that has a bottle return. Then you usually don't find any tonic bottles available, as people return them for the deposit money. In my state we have bottle and can return and you rarely see bottles around.

    Most, if not all of my containers are going on their 6th year being used for WS.

    TRICIA,

    I would use fresh soil, not the one with the bugs in it. They could be ones that will survive the winter, or lay eggs in the soil and when it warms up, presto bugs in the soil.

    I use only miracle grow potting mix for all my wintersowing. success rate has been near 100%, except for my first year, when my 1st 50 containers went out in the cheapest top soil I could find.
    All I got was solid bricks, water wouldn't soak into the soil and nothing germinated in those containers.
    Lesson learned real quick. Especially after those where done, the only soil I could find was the miracle grow and the remaining 900 or so containers all germinated.

    Those tupperware containers could be hard to get drainage holes in to without using something like a soldering iron.

    you can check out the dollar stores for styrofoam cups, that's where I usually get mine to use for potting up the extras for my swap. I usually can find packages of them for $1.00 with 75 of the 8 oz size in a bag and 50 of the 12 inch size.

    Also, if you have a walgreen near you, they are running a sale with a coupon this week and the seeds are 5/$1.00. They do have some herbs and tomatoes in the assortment along with some other veggies and flowers.

    Also, Kmart sells all burpee and martha stuart seed packages for 40% off all the time. That makes the $1.99 seed packets $1.10 and the $1.79 packets $1.07.

    ANNETTE,

    Oh, no, I didn't do the climbing in the snow. At the moment and will be until I have my spine surgery in June, I am walking with a cane and can't lift my legs to climb through the snow.

    My best friend, with a brace on her knee with a torn meniscus, got in there with the containers. And she had a tough time doing it herself.

    Until 2006, when I started having spine trouble, we both where climbing in the snow and having a ball doing it. Even had a couple of "friendly" snow ball fights in between putting the containers out.

    The reason for putting the seeds right in the center of the container is to keep them close together so that each seed, when it germinates, is close to the next ones and it forms a nice mound of seedlings to make a plant.

    Each container is one plant.

    This is how nurseries start dianthus and columbine plants. When you buy one at the nursery, it is usually a good size plant and that's because there are at least 15-25 seedlings in the pot all sown real close together.

    It makes it so much easier to plant when you don't have to split up the container into sections to either plant or give away, especially when they are perennials and won't usually bloom until the second year.

    If I don't get a chance to get them planted out in the spring or the fall, like last year, then I just take the plant out of the container and put it into a larger one and leave it along the inside of the fence in the backyard. It will winter over fine, and surprise you with it's blooms the following year.

    I've done that several times over the past years and they eventually get into the ground.

    Fran

  • chickenseed
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    IM a newbie and someone sent me an envelope of seeds ! WOW it was like Christmas ! I am so excited and getting my wintersown out this weekend. I don't know how to go into this person's account and write a note of thanks ?

  • Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi chickenseed! Welcome to Garden Web and the wonderful obsession of hobby gardening!

    IM a newbie and someone sent me an envelope of seeds ! WOW it was like Christmas ! I am so excited and getting my wintersown out this weekend. I don't know how to go into this person's account and write a note of thanks ?
    Aren't those 'like Christmas' envelopes such fun?
    You don't go into another member's account like maybe other places, but instead post at The Rate and review Forum

    The instructions at at the top of the page, but it doesn't say which of the 3 search boxes on the page to use. To search to see if there is already an existing review thread for the member, use the searchbox found just below the list of threads there on page one.

    Here is a link to a post with a little more explanation of the instructions covering such things as if there happens to be more than one existing thread. Special Instructions for the Forum

    There are additional instructional threads there too on page one.

    Or if it isn't; how best to dispose of it so it doesn't affect someone else's garden? They were itty bitty little bright green buggies. I have no idea what they were. Just that they were a pain and spread fast.
    Tricia,
    If it were me, I would just dispose of the soil outside somewhere in sort of an out of the way place. Chances are whatever bugs 'might' still be in it, would be minimal, or hopefully killed off by other natural predators, or even temperatures.

    Sue

  • wispfox
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm scared! :)

    Mostly because I don't yet know what I have, having moved into a place with an established garden and the former owners not yet having given us the tour. (there's also a koi pond, which we're a little unsure if we want to keep. They're frozen right now! Kind of crazy)

    So right now, I'm just trying to get myself a handle on houseplants (some local friends have been giving me a few cuttings, yay!). There's a _lot_ of light in this house (very much yay, for us and for plants); the former owners had plants everywhere. :)

    So I can't trade, and I don't have time to watch the forums for postings from people who would give seeds for postage or similar.

    Also, we're still unpacking! And I don't have many pots/planters/stands yet. :)

    Yeah. Nervous. Hi! :)

  • tikipod
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi, I'm semi-new and a semi-lurker. I've been going through my seeds to see what I have to share but I keep getting lost in the seed box.

  • barbs21
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi, I'm a newby to Tennessee... I was a member on here in Indiana a couple years ago. Loved it!!! Hubby made me stop cause the house was full of plants and had 6 different flower beds outside. Now I have NO flowers for our new house in Luttrell, Tn. We've got 6 acres here so I'm not worried about having too many flowers outside ;-). I'm starting out with No seeds and No plants to swap with. But if its like it was in Indiana, I'm sure that will change quickly ;-). When is the East Tennessee seed plant swap. Love going to those.
    God Bless
    Barb

  • pdsavage
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Im new and learning the ropes,this has been fun so far.It can be a little intimidating looking at at all the list of plants seeds and flowers of all the regulars.Then I look at my own wimpy list and feel I dont measure up to these great gardeners.So far I havent run into any clics nor do I so far feel left out...
    It makes for a fun day when my trade comes in the mail....

  • cindypps
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just joined today and can't for the life of me figure out how to create a list of seeds that I want and seeds that I have for trade. I've been reading for an hour and trying different thinks with no luck. Help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

  • karyn1
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cindy hopefully Sue (chemocurl) will see this post and come to the rescue. You might want to start a new thread with a title asking "how to post a trade list". Welcome to GW.

  • nolak
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Help me please. I have read and read and still don't know where to go to find out how to get Applause tomato seeds. I have just started gardening again after a 25 year break due to living on the side of a mountain in the shade. Also, I am trying a lasagna garden and have been taken over by fire ants. Where to go???

  • FriendofFlowers
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm excited and can't wait for my first trade. I spent alot of time putting my seed list in.

  • carolinagirl77
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi, I'm new to the forum and am just starting out reading about seed exchanges. Thank you so much for adding the post with the special instructions for seed exchanges! With the link not working that was really helpful. I'm still poking my way around and learning and trying to figure out how to update my member page. I love seeds, though I'm new to seed collecting and I don't feel like I have too much to offer this year. I'm hoping to learn more to be able to share more next year! Right now I mostly have partially used commercial packs from last year. :-)

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