2013 SEED SWAP

S'ok Nick; you have the asterisk, 'nuff said
*inserts the 'taps-nose-knowingly' smiley*

 

I think I managed to put an star after my name, but I am using taptalk on my phone.... and it ain't really playing!

 

Rest of the list became set to Blue, so I've removed that bit.

Simbad
Rusty Roots
Longk
Penny in Ontario
Madahhlia
Evil Len
Ariadae
Pootle
James Swan
Pamsdish *
Bilbo
Robajobs
Chillimad *
Liliana
Mum *
Poolcue
Loofah
KevinH
Peorthine
Dan the Man
Snowbaby
Hsuh *
Kristen *
OxfordNick *
Sumbody *
Fern4*
joolz *
JWK *

 

Simbad
Rusty Roots
Longk
Penny in Ontario
Madahhlia
Evil Len
Ariadae*
Pootle
James Swan
Pamsdish *
Bilbo
Robajobs
Chillimad *
Liliana

Mum *
Poolcue
Loofah
KevinH
Peorthine
Dan the Man
Snowbaby
Hsuh *
Kristen *
OxfordNick *
Sumbody *
Fern4
*joolz
*JWK *

 

Simbad
Rusty Roots
Longk
Penny in Ontario
Madahhlia
Evil Len
Ariadae*
Pootle
James Swan
Pamsdish *
Bilbo
Robajobs
Chillimad *
Liliana
Mum *
Poolcue
Loofah
KevinH
Peorthine
Dan the Man
Snowbaby
Hsuh *
Kristen *
OxfordNick *
Sumbody *
Fern4*
joolz*
JWK *

Just tidied the list up a bit!

 

I've re-read the rules and terms and I'm curious about which seeds the people at the top of the list choose from ? Also, when the parcel reaches someone, they may not even find anything that they need but they still have to go through the receiving & sending process . Then there's the risk of the parcel being damaged or lost ......

I've given it a bit of thought and come up with a different way of doing this and would like to see how all of you feel. I propose:

1) Everyone send their seeds to one person, for example me HsuH, I sort them out and compile an inventory then email to everyone on the list.

2) On receiving the inventory, each person decides what seeds they want and emails back to me (A deadline can be set for ordering)

3) When the deadline is up, I start to sort the seeds accordingly. If demand for certain seeds exceed the quantity, the allocation will be based on the name list from top down.

4) If you wish, I could weigh your order for you, then you send a stamped addressed envelope, or you can simply enclose a SAE when you send in your seeds at the very beginning.

The benefits of this process are : no risk of the whole parcel being lost; everyone has access to the same seed list (avoiding the situation like missing out on seeds one really wants but which were put in later by people further down the list); and maybe some savings on postage.

I don't know if pamsdish or anyone else would like to take up the sorting and inventory duty and keeping everyone informed. If not, I'm happy to give it a go. pamsdish will still retain control of setting out some rules and deciding timetables for sending, ordering seeds etc .

Maybe we can give it a try for this year to see how it compare with the existing system? Of course you may have already tried this approach in previous years and found it causes other problems. If so, forgive me, I'm new(ish) here!!

 

Your proposal has a lot of merit and is worthy of a pow wow as far as I'm concerned HsuH
Jenny

 

I agree with the logic, but the fun of a seed swap done this way is the surprise! Which is something I like.
I would however go with the group decision.

 

JMO but part of the fun to me is getting a seed parcel and not knowing what's in it. I think most people will find something they like in there. Also people already send seeds to Pam to start off the parcel so that people at the top of the list have plenty to choose from. The other thing is that the aim is for the parcel to do more than one round with people adding seeds all the time. This is just my understanding from reading the threads on this. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

This was tried 2/3 years ago aka Seed Bank, seemed to fail miserably as I recall, last post Jan 2010 to be exact.
I will be posting a request nearer the time for unwanted seeds, and we get some very generous contributions, from members who do not wish to be involved in parcel.
I have the parcel that was sent back to me by Madahhlia that was gathered together by her, I also have some contributions sent to me which were to be added, which is why I am somewhere near the middle, to give it the once over and add any extras, they are all in a box in my fridge so most would still be viable, which is a risk taken with all seeds??
But if you think it`s worth a try let`s see what others think.

 

If it failed miserably, what's the point in doing it again? JMO.

 

If there is a specific packet of seed people can take "just a few". Some commercial seed packets have masses of seeds in them, and self-collected envelopes of seeds definitely has loads

People add spares in as the parcel goes round, so it probably has as many packets when it gets to the final person as when it started.

Don't under-estimate how small / fiddly many of the seeds are. It was a significant job for me to help myself to "some" of the ones I wanted. You need seed-envelopes (that don't spill their contents), marker pens, time to write on the envelopes ... etc You'd need to copy the instructions from the original packet - many of the self-collected ones had advice written on that the sender foudn worked best for them ...

I proposed "send the seeds to a central person, with an SAE" last year. I'm glad it wasn't adopted as there were hundred of packets of seed in the parcel. Here's what last year's looked like when it got to me (there are a lot more packets of seeds than is obvious in the photo):
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/2012-seed-swap.43982/page-4#post-604548

We did the central-thing with the Exotic seed swap a couple of years ago with JWK managed. But there were only half a dozen people in that group and a modest number of seed packets, plus a really need to split-packets-and-share-out as very few seeds ... I don't think it would work for the main package.

 

I'm in

Simbad
Rusty Roots
Longk
Penny in Ontario
Madahhlia
Evil Len
Ariadae*
Pootle
James Swan
Pamsdish *
Bilbo *
Robajobs
Chillimad *
Liliana
Mum *
Poolcue
Loofah
KevinH
Peorthine
Dan the Man
Snowbaby
Hsuh *
Kristen *
OxfordNick *
Sumbody *
Fern4*
joolz*
JWK *

 

After reading the above responses to my proposal, especially pamsdish and Kristen's, I now understand how the parcel is put together to start the rounds and have learned about the previous history and experiences, plus hearing about people's wish for a sense of surprise (which I hadn't even thought of), I'd like to drop my proposal completely. As Fern4 said there is really no point in trying out again what has failed before.

Thank you all for bearing with me and giving my proposal your thoughts.

 

I actually liked your proposal, HsuH, it had its merits and was logically thought out

I've only participated in one (last years) and, I do have to say, Kristen's post was "illuminating": it would never have occurred to me to take a "bit" of seed from one packet - although it does make sense!

I do appreciate the amount of organisation it takes on Pam's behalf, not to mention any anxiety caused if it (appears) to go wrong. But, I'm also thinking, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Yet, also caught in the dilemma of: why not progress to something more innovative?

Overall, I do agree with chillimad in that, it is the element of surprise which is most captivating. Should the seed package arrive and there is nothing in there that takes your fancy, the beauty of it is, you merely post it on! Who would know if you took something/replenished something? Who's to know if you even gave back what you took?

These things work on trust, integrity and co-operation with like-minded-souls. Make it too formalised and it loses it's motivation (isn't life just a wee bit too 'regimented' already? Isn't gardening all about a lack of regulations?)

Just my knee-jerk, random thoughts; no hidden agenda and definitely no offense intended