Seed Exchanging

[cubcadet]

Hey,
I was just wondering if there is any interest in seed sharing. I have been trying to do this with folks here and have not found much passion for this. Most threads just seem to dry up.

[fizzle7033]

I'm up for it!

[rockymtngirl]

Hi! We do have a thread going for heirloom seeds...

Are you all interested in that at all? My hope is that if I get heirlooms going then I can save seeds going forward..

[cubcadet]

Hey fizzle7033,
I`ve got some heirloom tomato seed tht you may like. Roma Paste, Soldaki, Tyboroski, the last 2 being Polish heirloom, some kind of dill I got from a local man, very strong dill/ caraway taste, even some wild rose seed that produces excellent hips. I have more. They`re buried in the freezer. Do you have any to swap? Thanks

Hey rockymtngirl,
Same goes for you, as stated above. In the last 4 years on this forum, I have been basically unsuccessful at getting folk to respond to my offerings. It`s kind of disappointing. I do not like supporting people like Seeds of Change. Much rather do it with real folk. I think this subject needs a dedicated page, or else some other way to attract responders. Maybe an email type order form to be sent out on request.

[rockymtngirl]

Hi cub - I would be willing to put together a request form - although I haven't had success posting that type of format directly into the forum - I've actually sent some to some members' email addresses (this was a spreadsheet for our anticipated heirloom order)

Or we could just start a seed barter thread, something like:

Have extra melon seeds and need carrots and peas.

We want it to be easy and also for everyone to know where to go to offer or request a trade.

Watcha think?

[cubcadet]

I think that the old saying, Location, Location, Location is key. I don`t think that, judging from past experiences, on this forum anyway, it wouldn`t work that well. There was someone from this forum who started a Yahoo group supposedly dedicated to seed exchanging back around 2003. I don`t think it ever got off the ground. The way I see it, there has to be a monitor for a Yahoo group. I think you`ve got to have a kind of high level of commitment to do that sort of thing. I know I don`t have that high a desire to run a Yahoo group. I belong to a few Yahoo groups like Freecycle. They have a high volume of emails going to many people. But, there are monitors who oversee the things that go out on it. I think anything you try will be largely ignored for a long time before the serious seed saving gardeners catch on to your existance. I sent out some seed to people on this forum and that was back in the fall, and haven`t heard back from them yet. You sort of get tired trying to contact them. I, personally, buy seed every year from various seed houses, and would like to exchange seed from others from around the world. I trade stuff with people near me, and always try to look in their backyards to see what they have growing, even if it`s not edible. That`s the way I am. I know what`s in everyone`s back yard within a 50 mile radius.

[GoodDaughter]

Quote "I know what`s in everyone`s back yard within a 50 mile radius"

I had to laugh at that, because while I might not know what's in everyone's yards, I DO know where certain plants are growing, and especially the ones you can safely get at. For example, I know where there are clumps of timber bamboo on a roadside easement beside an abandoned apartment complex. I know where most of the native persimmons are within a few miles that you can get to to harvest the fruit without trespassing; where you can dig seedlings of blackberries and dogwoods and Mexican plums on state easements. Places to gather burr and overcup oak acorns, black walnuts and shagbark hickories when they fall. Stealing from the state? Boo hoo hoo. I'm a taxpayer and I'm helping to pay for those easements. Besides, many years ago I did the local police an accidental favor when gathering burr oak acorns. I found the partial skeletal remains of a human hand, probably male. When they asked me what I was doing that deep in the woods on the river frontage, I showed them my sack of acorns. Never did know what came of that hand.

[cubcadet]

Holey cats,
A hand you say! That`s so morbid. To think where it came from, and if the former owner is still alive! Maybe it got chopped off in a car wreck and got flung a half mile.
Back where I grew up in NJ, I knew the best hickory tree in the county. It would be a challenge to get there in time to pick up all the nuts I could before the squirrels got them all. Trouble was, the tree hung over away from the owner`s property over the pavement of a gas station, right near an old garbage dumpster. You had to get them nuts before a hard rain contaminated them or car traffic smashed them.

[GoodDaughter]

I imagine the rest of the body that went to the hand had been distributed here and there. Or pulled apart after decomposition by feral hogs, coyotes, and whatever else. Never did find out for sure, though.

[cubcadet]

Not a good topic on a gardening thread, I think. Merry Christmas.

[GoodDaughter]

Then don't read it.

Merry Christmas to you, too.