I'm heading to my stash tonight to see what I can send you. I was grateful newbie receiver and this swap hooked my friend so I am indebted to you.

I can't imagine the amount of work this must be for you. I could send tons of seeds from many of my perennials, but I'd like to help you keep down the work load. What is the easiest form for you receive seeds to lighten your load? I could package them in individual trade-sized baggies with plant names on the baggies. Maybe send each seed variety in a separate envelope so you don't have to search through/separate them. I'll start the collection/drying process anyway.

Martha

I will have seeds for pink hollyhocks, foxglove, japanese anemone, and huskers red penstemon later in the year. Probably other stuff too.

Seed donations come in all forms. Some are beautifully labled, some come with little tags about the plant and the grower, some come in paper bags stuffed full. It doesn't matter.

It's not work for me, it's a joy. I know my postal carrier and he knows I am not a drug dealer, but some packages really look like contraband. My cleaning people are always a little shocked when they first meet me, but they are used to it.

Do what ever labels suit you - from free form to beautiful little packages. The seeds don't know the difference. You will know if a pack is from my garden b/c you can't read the writing - they're little baggies that I scrawl a name on. Googling terms and learning the botanical names is how I learned.

And please, continue to post here and other sites. Remember, your common plant might end up being the cherished star somewhere else. AND, I have found that the extras that you didn't know you wanted can also end up being your favorites! Try everything or trade/give them away. As long as those seeds get planted (whenever), I don't care which route they take.

Keep an eye out for a pack with Seeds of Change seeds. They accidentally sent me double up, so everything I'm not using, plus that I have 2 or more packs of, I'm donating. :o) It feels nice to be able to give back since I got so much last year! :o)

I've been playing in the garden and in my seed box all weekend. I have neat little bundles of:

Swamp Milkweed
Magenta Dianthus
Golden Alexander
Coreopsis tinctoria
Joe Pye Weed
Rudbeckia "Rustic Colors"
Wild Blue Lupine
Cosmos (orange 15")
Calendula "Radio"
Golden Midget Watermelon
Blacktail Mountain Watermelon
Bozeman Watermelon
Fordhook Gem Melon
Liatris (Gayfeather)

Just wanted to give a hint of just a start of what might be in some of the newbie packs. Hopefully, others will chime in with their donations. I forget, Karen, if you try to take requests. That would certainly add to your job.

Well, I'm off to plan more seed harvesting. I'm begining to realize how much fun this is for you, Karen. It's more addictive than saving seeds for yourself!

Martha

I don't PROMISE seed requests, but if a note is included I try to find a specific seed. When there are tons of veggies, I offer a veggie pack with my choice of seed. The packs are put together and ready before the labels/stamps arrive. That way I can throw a pack together in minutes and get them posted on the same day.

If I have time, I will put together some drought tolerant and shade plants where requested, but I can't promise that. The good thing is you can trade away what you don't want on the exchange and then get something specific.

You're right Martha, it is fun and I post and encourage others to post so we can all join in the excitement.

I was able to thank lilblossom for a fun contribution. I received two more today and don't know who the donors are. There were lots of commercial packs and a ton of veggies that always go over well.

If you know who you are and wish to be recognized for your thoughtfulness, either post or email me so I can thank you on behalf of this years noobs.

I put together an envelope of seeds for you Bakemom!!! I'm going to put them in the mail tomorrow. My Garden club collected them from our gardens as a project and we had way more than we can give away at our yearly Green Fest! Thanks for continuing on with this great project for the Newbies!!!
Joann

cool! when we all band together no matter how small or large our roles are, the project is richer for it.

Could I add a request that people date their seeds with the year they are collected? I have a ton of seeds from exchanges from the last three years, but I don't know when they were collected and I don't want to recycle non-viable seeds. If I knew the years, I could send them on to someone else who might be able to use them.

I'll be sending some again Bakemom, but not till the end of the month!And I'll include your Malva Zeb with those.

I finally got to the postal service and sent out a box of seeds. I got in such a rush that I didn't put my name in them, but I don't need any thanks. I just hope the seeds get enjoyed.

Martha

Hi Karen,
I've spent most of the day collecting seed from my yard today. I will be sending a box in the next few weeks. I need to work on the coneflower seed and there are some ornamental peppers and Yvonne's salvia that's not ready yet. Thanks for taking my seed finding good homes for them. I can send you 7 kittens also if you want them.

jim_6b

The NE branded seeds are all 2010, The Ball seeds were 2009 and 10. But are packed so well I doubt you will have any issues.
And the paper packs I think all have the dates on them..But I got them winter and spring 2011.

I'll be putting a bunch of seeds in the mail to you this week.

KimKa

Just found this info on WS. How did I not know about this. I will be making a request when you start posting offers. Should I go ahead and send you the postage?

Folks, wait until I post. I don't keep meticulous records in the interest of keeping the project volume high and providing 24 hour turn around. It will start soon enough and likely go through the spring in a start stop fashion as more donations come in.

I definitely have seeds to send. I should be able to send them next week or so. Busy week this week at work! Are there seeds you don't want?

It's all good. You will find me very easygoing in the interest of volume. My seed motto is: try everything.

Hi bakemon,
Please tell me more about this Newbie Seed Project 2011-12
I am from Canada thank you.

Shanta

My initial post sums it up pretty well. If you have specific questions, please post. Unfortunately, I ship to USA only as I don't have time to stand in line and fiddle with customs with the volume I do. Some Canadians have their packs sent to their US mailing site. I have no problem with that.

Hi Shanta, ideas: I see that you live in Canada and want seeds.

There are several Canadians in this forum but they may not see your post above. You could start a new thread, "Calling all Canadians" or some such to find them and ask if they have any seed that they could send you for ws ing.

Trudi mails to Canada. You send her a small check for postage since you will not be able to send US stamps:
"Non US residents may receive seeds by sending a check for $2.00 USD (US Dollars) with an addressed envelope and the printout of this webpage." I can't get the link to work. Search for "non us" without the quotes on http://www.wintersown.org

In the Canadian Winter Sowing forum there's a thread with 2009 butterfly weed seeds that might still be available. The Exchanges area at the bottom is inactive, still you could try posting WANTED: wsing seeds for SASBE. I would look at the trade lists of previous posters in the exchange section. Some might even say "seed for SASBE" on their trade page. And/or e-mail previous posters with big trade lists, tell them that you are a newbie looking for seeds for ws ing and ask if they have any seeds available for SASBE. Other Canadians might know what are exactly the right seeds for your area.

After you get your seeds, please be sure to come back and hang out with us! This is the nicest forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Canadian Wintersowing Forum

This may be a stupid question - but if I wanted to donate seeds - how many seeds should I send? For instance I still have a 2 or 3 White Swan Echinacea seed heads that will be ready for harvest soon. Is that enough seeds to donate?

I'm trying to figure out what i have in my "stash" that would add some variety to the seed packs. I have a paper lunch bag full of rose campion seeds - but I'm sure you get plenty of donations for those seeds.

Send whatever you want in any quantity you want. This is a huge project with all kinds of donations. Remember what is common to you might be rare to someone else. So just do what you want - the project sorts itself out.

Thanks to kimka and other generous donors, I will be able to start offerings in the next week or two. I usually start out with a discreet number of packs ....guaranteed to contain at least 15 packs of seed.

Look for the posts to respond and post your request. The posts go to my email. Do not email requests to me directly. I keep track through the posts.

This projects starts and stops through the spring, so if you miss an offering...stay vigilant...more will come.

I'm wondering about how many veggie seeds I should put into each lil packet. Personally I would be happy with just a few veggie seeds rather than the 25ish that is common for flowers. I received 5 seeds of several types of tomatoes this spring and was tickled with them.
Since this is really my first year to collect seeds for trading I dont have tons to share but so many people were wonderful to share with me earlier this year...just want to do my part :)

I always put too many seeds in for a variety of reasons. First, things happen to seeds and young plants - it's nice to have a reserve as plan b. Second, some people continue to sow in spring or fall depending on the plant. Some people grow a ton of plants for giveaways. Finally, the noob can always trade off extras for particular varieties that were not in the pack.

My seeds went out in the mail! I had lots of white coneflower, Joe Pye weed and marigold. I'm happy to have a place to send these.

I finally got my act together and will be sending seeds this week.
So far I have
Rose of Sharon
Chives
Sugar Pumpkins
Rose Campion
Pincushion Flower
Hardy Hibiscus
Morning Glory
and I will probably have some petunias to add if I can remember to get some baggies at the store tomorrow.

Hi Bakemom/Karen! I just sent out a package of seeds for the Newbie Seed Project. One of my goals for 2011 was to be able to participate in this project-this is totally worthwhile!
I got a dc#, if needed, and the seeds should be there Monday.
Might have some more after my wintersowing is done. Many thanks for doing this, Karen.
Shirley!

Thanks for the reply Karen. I'll do the best I can with the limited # of seeds I have this year.
Thanks for all you do to encourage everyone :)

Hi Bakemom. I haven't participated in your project before (lost almost all my seeds in a house fire), but I have some pink crepe myrtle seed I could send if you are interested.

All seeds are welcome and anyone can request a newbie pack. I will start next week and have already assembled a nice first offer. The donations are really excellent!

Everyone should be proud.

Karen, what a GREAT idea to do this! I will send you a few things over the next month or so -- but if you do this every year, I will have lots more next winter. I'm always looking for homes for my extras, just got rid of a bunch via a gardening alias at my work.

Thanks!

Cheryl

Thanks Holly, seeds arrived today. Nice job! Folks. this is going to be a huge year!

Karen,
Is there anything else we old-timers can do to help you? Do you need baggies or envelopes or address labels? You spoil us all by doing this. Thank-you, again.

Martha

Thanks for the offer. I have everything I need and it costs me very little to do this. It's a great joy to have this opportunity to serve.

Thank you all, especially Bakemom! I received my newbie seed pack yesterday, it's wonderful! The freeze we had last week had really given me the blues, but this was a great "pick me up".

Hi Karen. I mushed out in 10-12 inches of snow today to mail you a big bubble envie full of seed for your project. Gotta love husbands with big ol 4 wheel drive trucks just waiting for a chance to drive you around.(We don't get much snow here in the Pacific North West).