How about, along with the edible seeds clean out, we do some kind of donating of seeds...like Becky already said, I have so many seeds I could palnt for 5 years and be happy, but I love getting new seeds so I end up with more than I can use and more than I can trade....so ....in a clean out, I probably wouldnt want any seeds in return unless they were on my wish list, so I would want my seeds donated to a worthy cause...like an inner city community garden or a halfway house that wants to teach gardening or Scouts or whatever would be convenient to the person hosting that swap. I would donate my seeds here myself, only I havent been able to find any orginization around here to take them yet. Maybe one of you has someplace to bring them to :).

Does this sound like something we could do?? Donate in the name of the Incredible Edibles?

Donna, I liked your suggestion. Maybe instead of having a list of wants for a seed clean out swap, we could each turn in a list of not wants or don't want back.

After doing a little research on the net, it's harder to donate seeds than I thought. Organizations seem to want monitary donations for them to buy and distribute seeds or want commercial packs that haven't been open. I was getting a little frustrated, and then I started thinking (it's always dangerous when I think!) Maybe we could keep a cache of seeds for Incredible Edible regulars who run into personal dilemmas. Examples of these dilemmas would be: hurricanes, moving, lost job, evil squirrels (well, maybe not the evil squirrels, but I did have a farmer's cows get loose once and they trampled my broccoli & tomato plants! That would count as a loss.) What do people think of this idea?

Another route to go, which I have not pursued yet is: In the past I've done some soil contamination projects with community based organizations in my area. Quite a few of them had community gardens. I could approach them about offering the seeds. If people think this is a good idea, I'll approach them.

I think that sounds like a great idea! I'm sure most of us have seeds we can't use. I know I have a ton because I keep feeding my seed addiction! My garden can only hold so much :)

Offering the seeds to a community garden would be fantastic...also I count evil squirrels as a dillema for sure!!And keeping a cache for emergencies sounds great as well!

Just as a comment, squirrels are EVIL and can do loads of damage. Let me say this, I had a tornado (not a really bad one) sweep through my garden and it was fine, I had a 75 year old pine tree collapse on my garden and almost nothing happened to it, I had all types of bad weather, heat waves and droughts, and still, none of those things compared to what the squirrels and other creatures have destroyed in my garden in the past!
I really think they get their evil minds together and plan out destruction! (Like that Gieco commercial).
Oh, here was a real bad one for me! I live on a lake. This spring, I did more work than ever to create a spring harvest on veggies. I grew cabbage, broccoli, lettuces, beets, radish, carrots, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, chards, spinach, mesclun, beans , peas, turnips, celery, and little corn. This was the best start I had EVER had. I was so proud of myself.
So, Mother's Day comes. I get home from dinner, and my WHOLE garden is totally GONE! The canadian geese came in from the lake and ate the tops off EVERYTHING! I was so depressed. There was not one plant left (and this was right after that tornado and the tree falling on it and it was still ok).
I could not believe it. So much hard work and money down the drain! It was like my own mini natural disaster!
So yes, I can understand how animals can be considered as reason to help someone out after a garden loss.
I just wanted to share that story (oh, and last week, the darn squirrels ate my saffron bulbs!)
With all the technology out there, why can we still not find a cure for these darn animals who eat our gardens!
Sorry to vent!
ANyway, time is going so fast! Pretty soon it will be time for the December swap which I am hosting (hopefully I will do ok). I cannot wait!
Christy

"Getting acquainted" would be a real good one to add into the November swap, if at all possible. The sooner folks get acquainted, the better. :)

Besides, it's a harvest tradition in many places to make new friends at harvest or Thanksgiving festivals and feasts, so this fits that tradition. Swapping, or giving away, personal heirloom seeds to neighbors and friends is another harvest festival tradition, one that many folks have forgotten about.:)

Keeping a seed stash for gardeners who suffer a disaster is a nice idea. But who has the space to keep the seed stash? For proper seed storage conditions they would have to be kept in a fridge or in a constantly cool/dark space like a cellar or basement. And of course, they would need to be in an airtight container to keep moisture out.

About donating excess seeds to the needy: That idea fits in perfectly with Christmas which is the season for giving-- including giving to charity!! Accordingly, Dec. is when the Salvation Army solicits donations. :)

Anyone who has seeds to donate, please email me about it. I live at poverty level due to chronic disabling conditions and may need your seeds for my garden, to replace crops that didn't set seed for me this year. Some crops didn't set seed because they were sterile hybrids. Others failed because of gardener error, or whims of nature like bee shortages and fungal blights. I will gratefully accept whatever I can use.

I also donate any seeds I can't personally use to a local church that serves poor immigrants, & to a great charity called Need4Seed (more info on that below). You can also email me for the Need4Seed address, to mail seed donations directly to them. :)

Need4Seed is a small charity org., just getting started. Their mission is to supply food and herb seeds to gardeners who have economic barriers to purchasing seeds. Such as being unemployed, retired, single parent, disabled, etc. They have assisted dozens of low-income families already. :)

Need4Seed will accept *any and all* garden seed donations. They will take partial seedpacks, opened seedpacks, seeds with some chaff mixed in, even seeds that are a year or 2 old if they have been well stored.

They especially seek edibles (veggies, fruits, berries, nuts, grains, and culinary or medicinal herbs). Flower seeds are accepted too because flowers attract valuable pollinators and beneficial insects (bug-eating bugs) to a garden! And of course marigolds repel numerous pests, so those are valuable in a veggie garden.

I really like the idea of starting a sister "incredible heirlooms" group too. But that doesn't mean we can't do some heirloom swapping in this group as well. :)

I suggest we add an heirloom seed swap to the WS swap for January, and make the Jan. swap a dual purpose swap: heirlooms and WS seeds. I'm sure there are heirlooms that can be Wintersown.

Besides- a lot of gardeners plan what to grow, and then do some heirloom seed buying in January. So Jan. is a good time to share the leftovers we won't be needing. :)

About protecting gardens from animals:

A dog or 2 in the garden can scare geese and other pest birds away, if they are big and active enough. A large dog worked great for my Grandma to keep unwanted birds of all kinds, including people's stray ducks and geese, out of her veggie patch during the Great Depression. :)

Squirrels and ground squirrels (aka gophers) were a huge problem for me when I lived in CA. I think the rodents ate about 1/4 of what I grew, despite all my countermeasures.

I used wire cages to cover the roots of valuable plants and bulbs, (buried the bulbs or rosebush roots encased in a wire box). That helped some.

So did my pet terrier who liked to chase them. They avoided eating anything that was in the side of the yard that my dog spent his day in. I also discovered that if I put some dog hair clippings into a gopher tunnel, it would cause them to abandon that tunnel. But they'd build a new tunnel elsewhere, eventually.

I experimented with rodent traps, but I didn't catch many rodents because the traps smelled too much like me. The best rodent trapper was an owl who lived in the area. I didn't do anything to attract the owl. He showed up on his own. But I did help him stay there.

When the local landowner wanted to remove the dead tree our local owl slept in, I got very vocal about it! I mentioned that if they tried to remove the tree I'd call the local news channel. Ultimately, the landowner left the dead tree and its resident owl alone. :)

I might have been able to reduce plant losses further if I'd been willing to resort to rodent poison, but I just didn't want to mess with toxic stuff. The poison might accidentally get eaten by my dog.

I'm so glad you mentioned Need 4 Seed. I had donated to them in the spring but had forgotten about them. They only collect seeds for edibles. I know Marbles_n_the_Garden has been active with Need 4 Seed on the Seed Exchange page. The last I saw, which was a few weeks ago, she was collecting seeds for Hurricane Ike victims.

I know a couple people have expressed interest in an Incredible Heirlooms. There is a swap topic for heirlooms that will happen in the future. Until Incredible Heirlooms gets rolling, it's ok to gently tell your partner you only interested in heirlooms. I don't think anyone has a problem with that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed for Hurricane Ike Victims

Actually, booberry- Need4Seed has changed their policy. They recently started accepting flower seed donations as well. Especially if the flower in question is known to be beneficial as a companion plant in a veggie garden!

But helping Hurricane Ike victims with seed donations is very cool too. :)

Becky, if you would like to Host a large seed trade on the side of one of our swaps, that's fine with me. :) I like the big trades, you never really know for sure what awesome stuff you're going to receive. :)

Also think the Idea for anything but seeds is a good one too. :) Maybe we could do this right before spring when everyone is getting their gardens in order for Seed starting/Spring planting. :)

I don't think anyone would have a problem with sending heirloom seeds. :) I've ordered some before, just didn't realize that it would be ok to take some out for myself. LOL So I missed out on some goodies. hehehe

Also think that donating to those who've had some kind of natural disaster in the garden would be great too, would have been great a month or so ago when I lost my entire fall plantings to root rot from all the rain from the Hurricane. LOL I don't know too much about donating them to the other places mentioned, but I will take a look at those links and see what they are all about. :)

Hey everyone, I'm working on getting a new calendar thread posted. Even though this thread doesn't have alot of posts, the posts are somewhat extremely long. I'm going to need all of your input on what Themes for what month so the next 6 months of swapping are on the calendar.

Grovespirit has also brought up that some of these could be combined. Feedback is appreciated!!! :)

1."REGIONAL FAVORITES" and "GETTING ACQUAINTED" - Combined due to the types of seeds they both require. :)

2."DODGE THE DUDS" With "HEIRLOOMS" Combined due to the taste and quality you get from heirloom veggies. :)

3."WEIRD N ODD" veggies/herbs. Any kind of odd/strange edibles.

4."ETHNIC FAVORITES" From "AROUND THE WORLD" Combined due to the type of seeds they both would require. :)

5."Anything but a Seed Swap"

1\. Theme would change each month just like this group. 2\. Same rules would apply. 3\. 3\-5 Seeds packets required for each swap, although \-partners can get together and decide if they want to send each other more than 3\-5 packets." :) 4\. This group would be open to more than just edibles, it will include flowers, herbs, etc. as long as they are heirlooms.

Sorry I was so dim last night Kathy! I like the idea of a splinter group of Incredible Heirlooms (I still have seeds drying all over my dining room table from this fall!)

I don't mind the idea of combining most of the swap topics. However my "ethnic favorites from around the world" would definitely be different than my "ethnic favorites." I'm Eastern European but love Italian, Greek and Lebonese food. I thought the ethnic favorites would be a good way for people to get to know each other better.

(Boy, you're never going to ask for opinions again are you! LOL!)

I am happy with what makes everyone else happy....how is that for non-commital ROTFLMBO!!!

The heirloom idea is great. In matter of fact, I brought this up a while ago and I am glad we are going to do it. One question, would it be ok to make a request of just veggies and herbs from your trade partner during swaps? I am so bad at growing flowers but I am awesome at growing veggies. Just like I am an awesome cook but am a bum baker! Of course, if my partner wants flowers too, I would give them, so I do not mean no flowers in general, just a personal request of my partner. Just curious, Christy

The Incredible Heirlooms sounds GREAT. I hope we can squeeze a Tomato Swap in there. I also hope that we can make special request with our swap partners in the Heirloom Swaps. I only grow edibles. Not all that interested in pretty things. HA.

I look forward to all of these new swaps. I hope the seed catalogs come out QUICK.

Nancy

OT: Aren't vegetables pretty? My husband fails to see the beauty in a hubbard squash. ROFL!

HA! I have been told that my grandma ruined me. She always said "Don't grow it if you can't eat it". Doubt she knew about Daylily. I honestly have no interest in flowers. My planters in my front yard have been in need of replanting. I had the tree trimmers remove all the plants from the planters so they were all clean slates. My friend said she would come over and re-plant them for me. I told her you better hurry, I am tempted to plant vegetables out there. She called and told me to forget it. She had her way, it is pretty out there. My backyard is far from "pretty".

Nancy

Veggies are pretty. I love the way that carrot tops look. The red globes of the tomatoes, peaking out through the leaves? lovely!

I firmly believe that anything I grow should serve dual purposes. It should be both tasty and ornamental. Even my front garden has flowers that all just "happen" to have culinary or medicinal uses.

Chamomile rose-hip tea anyone? How about some Lavender cookies?

My husband has become resigned to the fact that I'm going to spend all my energy in hiding my "farm" from the neighbors. If only they'd let me keep goats. . .

You know...I was going to see if I could request veggies only myself LOL....but I felt bad about it . I am so glad to know that there are others(sounds kinda like a horror movie, huh)

I try growing posies, but the only thing I can get to work for me is iris, daylily and rose of sharon...oh and a coreopsis too. But I think there is nothing more beautiful that the rosy glow of a ripe tomato among the lacy green of their foliage!!I am a tomato fiend(sp)!! I absolutely adore collecting tomato varieties, and specially the heirlooms ....I cannot wait to get this group going...although with the holidays fast approaching I will definitely have to switch gears to overdrive ROTFLMBO!!

Do you all think it would work if we decided to make the Sister Group completely Heirloom Edibles? I don't mind the idea. :) If we can decide on how to do this before the next month or so I was thinking about starting the first swap in January.

Becky - Not a problem at all! :) If I don't ask I don't know. LOL

Nancy, your grandma sounds like a smart woman! :) Those are definitely words to live by! :)

Diane, what the neighbors don't know certainly can't hurt them. :) You could dress them up to look like kids, just in case... ROFLMBO!!!

Donna, I was thinking about a swap that could be Completely Tomatoes. I love tomatoes and there are just so many varieties I want to try out. :)

I, of course would not mind if the sister group is All edibles. Most of the swaps out there are for flowers and It is great that this group is perfect for the Vegetable/Edible gardener. Oooooh, I LOVE the idea for the Totally/Completely Tomato Swap. I plant more tomatoes than anything else and this would be perfect.

Nancy

I would love a tomato seed swap too, I was a tomato seed collecting junkie in the spring. I have over 70 different varieties now. What was I thinking? I may grow about 15 different kinds next year, but only 2-3 plants of each.

*Stands up in back row*...Hello, my name is Donna....and I ...I am ...I am a tomato seed junkie. At last count I had 89 different varieties...with a trade for 1 more and another variety to be seeded at a later date.....I admit I have a problem....*sits back down contemplating an Aunt Ruby's German Green BLT*

Would love an ALL tomato trade!!

WOW! I about lost my soda on that one! That's a LOT of seeds... ROFL! Atleast you wouldn't have to buy anything for the tomato swap. Or would you? That is the question AHAHAH! If it's ok with you all, we can start the group in January. :) I'll start a new thread for that one and we'll get the months ahead planned. First month would be an all tomato swap. :)

Ok, on to the next... IE Swap Calender

November (CLEARLY CANNABLE)- Iheartroscoe/Heather
Send partners vegetable seeds that are good for canning/storing with a great canning recipe.

December (WINTER WONDERLAND)- Bonechickchris/Christy
Exchange seeds with Christmas or winter related names within the plant's name, example, Christmas Grapes Tomato, Snow White Cherry, Snowball radish, Snowball tomato, Evergreen Tomato, Icicle Radish, Cinnamon basil, I know there are many veggies that would follow these guidelines, and should be quite easy and fun to do! Don't forget to wrap seed packets up like little presents for added anticipation! :)

2009 Incredible Edibles Swap Calendar

January (WINTER SOWING)- Sandlapperrose/Jeanne
Seeds for Winter Sowing. Lots of herbs do well with winter sowing and here in the south lettuce and other greens as well. I love winter sowing!

***January -SIDE SWAP- Hosted by Becky. Swap/Donate Seeds to cleanout your seedbox. :)

February (SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE)- Amybabyboy3/Amy
We could trade things that are sunny colors or have "sun" or "summer" in the title. Things like Sungold tomatoes, yellow Doll watermelons, summer squash, Sunray Peppers, Sunray squash, Sunburst or Sunray beans, Summer Dance cucumbers, etc.

March (FEEDING FRENZY)- pixieluvplants/Pixie
Exchanging edibles for the critters in the yard (caterpillars, butterflies, bees, and birds)

April (HOMEGROWN RECIPES)- OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
Exchanging recipes for something using mainly home grown produce ie. Salsa, Soup, or Sauce, etc....and providing the seeds to accompany the recipe.

May (MEMORY LANE) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
A few of your favorite fruits, herbs & veggies from when you were a kid and a story or two to go along with it.

June ("REGIONAL FAVORITES") - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
Someone from the South may send collard greens, okra, sweet potato starts. Someone from New England may send Boston Horticultural Beans, fingerling potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and so on. This would be a great one to include regional favorite recipes.

July (WEIRD N ODD) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
I just love weird and oddball veggies. Can be any weird veggie, or even crosses. I love growing the unusual, and I think this would be so much fun, to receive, and also lots of fun to hunt for these weird veggies/herbs! Maybe the person who finds the oddest veggie selection could get a special prize!

August (AROUND THE WORLD) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
Give some seed varieties from around the world. You could give someone: Cherokee Trail of Tears beans, Cape Gooseberries (from Peru originally,) Chinese Red Noodle Beans, Ukrainian Heart Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Bulgarian Carrot Peppers, watermelons (originally from Africa, )etc. It can be a person's world tour through seeds. Might be a fun one for recipes too!

September (DODGE THE DUDS) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
Tired of flavorless grocery store tomatoes? Carrots that have the elasticity of aged wood? Peas that only serve a purpose if put into a sling shot? Herbs that come "pre wilted?" Lets dodge the duds by growing our own.

October ( ) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST

November (ETHNIC FAVORITES) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
This would be a great seed & recipe swap. I'm Eastern European (Polish, Slovak, Ukrainian & Austrian to be exact.) I promise to take it easy on the cabbage & horseradish! The food is a big part of my heritage. There could be stuffed cabbage or stuffed peppers (thus pepper and/or cabbage seeds,) pierogis (potato starts & onion bulbs,) borscht (beet, carrot, & parsley seeds) and so on.

December ( ) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST

Thanks for putting my Side Swap on the calendar Kathy!

Kathy, It's a good thing that I did not reveal how many I have. You would have lost your soda for sure. :o) If Donna and Becky are tomato seed junkies, I assure you that I am way beyond help.

I am going to hop over there to take a look.

Nancy

My husband just said the greatest thing regarding gardening. He said, "Flowers are suppose to turn into something edible."

I know a lot of you share that sentiment! I had told him just prior to him saying that, that "Flowers are the filler for where edibles didn't make it."

Becky, no problem. I hope you get a nice turnout in January for that one. Maybe I'll have enough seeds to share then. :)

Nancy, I'm so jealous! I only have about 10 varieties! LOL

Hi, everyone -
I have not stopped in for awhile. We had a bad drought all summer so my hopes for fresh veggies grew dim; even though I planted a pretty good variety of things all I got out of it were a few tomatoes, a few summer squash, a few (maybe a dozen) green beans, a few peppers, and two of the tiniest cucumbers you ever saw! I always say, "Next year" but this has been the second summer in a row with basically no rain. Anyway, it curtailed a lot of my interest in trading edibles as the summer went along. Right now I am still getting a few Red Popper Peppers and have decided I like them really well. I also have some Peter Peppers out there that may be ready to harvest. I will have to look them up to see if they are edible. I guess they are. I definitely want to save some of the seeds.
I will still plan to do the Winter Sowing Seed Swap that is lined up for January. If I am not stopping in frequently, please send an e-mail to me and remind me when it is time to post it. Do I post early in December for the seeds to be mailed out early in January? Anyway, let me know. I'm sure December gets to be a very hectic month for most of us.
Glad to hear about the interest in heirlooms. I have an interest in growing more of them, too.
Happy to see that this group is still doing well. It seems to have been a great idea.
Jeanne

Oh, Jeanne, it's so good to hear from you! I was starting to wonder if you still checked in or not. :) I'm glad that you are getting a few veggies, I didn't get so lucky myself. :( Instead of a drought we had flooding water from the tropical depression/storm that went through. So depressing... I hope you'll stop by and throw in some ideas for the months ahead. :)

looks like a tasty group, how does one join ?I wanna be in on the fun
carol

Hi Carol nice to meet you, all you have to do is sign up for one of our upcoming swaps when sign ups are taking place. :) Right now November is taking sign ups until the 24th of October. Hope you'll check it out. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Incredible Edibles November Swap

Hey Guys,....I can do October again if you want.

How about "Haunted Halloween" maybe do a Black and Orange theme, with either the veggie/fruit itself being the color, or the color being in the name. Things like Pumpkins and Carrots and Cantaloupe etc. in the orange catgory .....and then Eggplant , Black Krim tomatoes , black radishes, Blacktail Mountain Watermelon as examples of Black.... The sky is the limit :)

Donna, that's great! I love the idea.

I love it too! Good one Donna. :)

Has anyone heard from Trina? Hope all is well. :)

December (WINTER WONDERLAND)- Bonechickchris/Christy
Exchange seeds with Christmas or winter related names within the plant's name, example, Christmas Grapes Tomato, Snow White Cherry, Snowball radish, Snowball tomato, Evergreen Tomato, Icicle Radish, Cinnamon basil, I know there are many veggies that would follow these guidelines, and should be quite easy and fun to do! Don't forget to wrap seed packets up like little presents for added anticipation! :)

2009 Incredible Edibles Swap Calendar

January (WINTER SOWING)- Sandlapperrose/Jeanne
Seeds for Winter Sowing. Lots of herbs do well with winter sowing and here in the south lettuce and other greens as well. I love winter sowing!

***January -SIDE SWAP- Hosted by Becky. Swap/Donate Seeds to cleanout your seedbox. :)

February (SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE)- Amybabyboy3/Amy
We could trade things that are sunny colors or have "sun" or "summer" in the title. Things like Sungold tomatoes, yellow Doll watermelons, summer squash, Sunray Peppers, Sunray squash, Sunburst or Sunray beans, Summer Dance cucumbers, etc.

March (FEEDING FRENZY)- pixieluvplants/Pixie
Exchanging edibles for the critters in the yard (caterpillars, butterflies, bees, and birds)

April (HOMEGROWN RECIPES)- OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
Exchanging recipes for something using mainly home grown produce ie. Salsa, Soup, or Sauce, etc....and providing the seeds to accompany the recipe.

May (MEMORY LANE) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
A few of your favorite fruits, herbs & veggies from when you were a kid and a story or two to go along with it.

June ("REGIONAL FAVORITES") - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
Someone from the South may send collard greens, okra, sweet potato starts. Someone from New England may send Boston Horticultural Beans, fingerling potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and so on. This would be a great one to include regional favorite recipes.

July (WEIRD N ODD) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
I just love weird and oddball veggies. Can be any weird veggie, or even crosses. I love growing the unusual, and I think this would be so much fun, to receive, and also lots of fun to hunt for these weird veggies/herbs! Maybe the person who finds the oddest veggie selection could get a special prize!

August (AROUND THE WORLD) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
Give some seed varieties from around the world. You could give someone: Cherokee Trail of Tears beans, Cape Gooseberries (from Peru originally,) Chinese Red Noodle Beans, Ukrainian Heart Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Bulgarian Carrot Peppers, watermelons (originally from Africa, )etc. It can be a person's world tour through seeds. Might be a fun one for recipes too!

September (DODGE THE DUDS) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
Tired of flavorless grocery store tomatoes? Carrots that have the elasticity of aged wood? Peas that only serve a purpose if put into a sling shot? Herbs that come "pre wilted?" Lets dodge the duds by growing our own.

October (HAUNTED HALLOWEEN) - SunnyK/Donna
Black and Orange theme, with either the veggie/fruit itself being the color, or the color being in the name. Things like Pumpkins and Carrots and Cantaloupe etc. in the orange catgory .....and then Eggplant , Black Krim tomatoes , black radishes, Blacktail Mountain Watermelon as examples of Black.... The sky is the limit :)

November (ETHNIC FAVORITES) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST
This would be a great seed & recipe swap. I'm Eastern European (Polish, Slovak, Ukrainian & Austrian to be exact.) I promise to take it easy on the cabbage & horseradish! The food is a big part of my heritage. There could be stuffed cabbage or stuffed peppers (thus pepper and/or cabbage seeds,) pierogis (potato starts & onion bulbs,) borscht (beet, carrot, & parsley seeds) and so on.

December ( ) - OPEN FOR HOSTESS/HOST

Would anyone be opposed to pausing the swap in December. Then when we start January it would start on the 1st for sign ups or should we keep it like it is where we are a month ahead for each swap?

Jeanne, Signups for the December swap would start on the 1st of November and stay open until about the 25th or so. Deadline for sending is 1st or 2nd weekend of upcoming month, in this case would be December. :) If you need any help please feel free to email one of us with questions. :)

Hi everyone!
I will be posting the December swap particulars tomorrow, if there are no objections. Since the holidays may cause a problem for some, I was thinking of posting partners a week or so earlier than usual and also request that people mail their seeds out by the 1st or December or sometime that first week. WIll that make it easier for some people? Christy

It was slipping down. Don't know if you want to continue this thread or start a new events calendar thread :) Fran

I had another idea (hey, it's been a while!) How about a swap of the very big and the very small. We can trade things like Atlantic Giant pumpkins, Baby Boo pumpkins, Chinese Giant peppers, baby bell peppers, current tomatoes, Mammoth melting snow peas, little finger eggplant, etc. What do you think?

Kathy, I see there's quite a few slots that need a hostess. I'm open for hosting!

Becky, which "months" would you like to host? Your choice. :)

I'll gladly do April & August. Actually, I wouldn't mind hosting any of the open slots.

Jokes aside, I have you down to host April and August. I think I may have to do February, I haven't heard from Amy in a while so she may not be up for it now. ~~~Anyone else want to host? ~~~I also see the error of my ways, I got Jeanne's host month confused with Christy's... Sorry about that Jeanne, if you would like, sign ups could start the 1st of December and we could see how it goes. If no sign ups then we'll just cancel it. If we do get sign ups we could make the send/receive date a little later, maybe around the 2nd week of January or something like that. I don't want this to interfere with anyone enjoying their holidays. :)

I really like the largest/smallest idea!! I think it would be really fun tracking down matching sets of big/tiny items ...so I give it 2 thumbs up!!

I came up with another idea! You knew it wouldn't be long. How about doing one just on personal favorites. This could work here or in Heirloom Incredibles. You would give your trade partner your personal favorites. The seeds you plant year after year because you get a good crop. For instance, my partner might get from me: Celebrity tomatoes, Black Cherry tomatoes, Jalapeno peppers, Cayenne peppers, Royal Burgundy beans, Kentucky Wonder Beans, Green Goliath Broccoli. These are all tried & true things I grow in my garden. My partner would send to me her/his favorite tried & true.

Very good ideas! Thanks Becky! :)

Ooooh Beck...you are just a bubbling font of ideas.....I love it!!!!

I posted another thread for the new 2009 IE events. Please take a look, and if you would like to host any of the open months please post it on the new thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: IE 2009 Events

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.
I am hosting the January Swap and I noticed how early things seem to pop up for the Incredible Edible Swaps. Anyway, I will try to get this one listed by Dec. 8. I know it is hard to find seeds right now but hopefully everyone has some stashed away. I would like to allow seeds saved from your garden and partial packets of seeds for the January Winter Sowing Seed Swap. First of all, to help out if you don't have many appropraite seeds and secondly, I think some who sign up for the swap may not have winter sowed before so when experimenting, no need to do that with a lot of seeds!
When I post the heading, I will include some sites that give guidlelines on what type of seeds to sow when and according to zones. I found that the herbs, tomatoes, and summer squash that I winter sowed were really vigorous plants. Some herbs do great, too. I have only been winter sowing for two years so I am not an expert, but I really think it is a wonderful method for planting.
Jeanne

Jeanne, sounds great! :) I haven't personally winter sown before so any info you have to share would be wonderful help. :)