I have listed some items that are newer than 2015 seeds, FYI.
I have too many of these seeds and/or want to pass them on because I wont use them and might as well do so before they get older. Also will help make this swap more interesting with more seed offerings

Non-newbies are welcome to bid on this swap if you're in the Feb. swap. I only ask that you give the newbies more of a chance to bid

I'm posting some 'newer' seeds, as well. I rarely include previously traded seeds in my swap offerings, but I missed two growing seasons when we relocated and now have too many aging seeds that I won't be able to use anytime soon.

Since this swap is more about passing along seeds than acquiring them, my wishlist is very small. If I claim anything, it will be late on the last day and only if there are sufficient quantities available for everyone.

For the record, I think this is a fantastic idea! We should have this type of swap every couple of years, if not annually, to help folks get acclimated and keep the seed train moving. "Enrollment" seems sluggish, so far; I hope more of the newbies take advantage of this great opportunity!

Thanks, Jen,

I agree...and I'm happy to host swaps any time, mostly.

I think that people are just getting over the holidays and hope more newbies will join in. It's also a practice swap, so those who really need to "practice" dont have to sign up too early...as no real listing is required. I'll need to calibrate the "tickets" for bidding about a week before, so hopefully those who are listing can get their listings done by then.

Thank you all for helping make this pre-swap fun with extra seeds to pass along!

I am a newbie so this will be the first time of my doing anything like this. I have collected seeds but never traded them with anyone other than my with family! So do I need to know the exact name of my seeds. For example, I have salpiglossis seeds but since I got the plants from my sister-in-law, I'm not sure of the specific variety. Can I still use those to trade with? And for this swap in Jan do we only need 1 packet of seed to enter into the trade with? And how many for the February one? This will be so much fun! Since I'd not heard of this till today, I didn't save many seeds last year. Next year I will!

Hi Maryjo and welcome!

If you go to the main swap page, and click each swap, it has the required # of seeds and more info on it, but yes, the required # of seed packs is 20 for February, and only 1 for the Pre-Swap in January.

The Jan swap is older seeds, most 2015 and older, but I personally have also added newer seeds that i just have too many of, and want to pass on to anyone who wants them.

YES! Absolutely you can use your salpiglossis to trade even tho you dont know the variety. Just put "mix" and/or if you know the colors (ie if they were purple and pinks) but that is not necessary if you dont know.

We love newbies, and you can walk away with a ton of seeds to grow....we put the seed requirements low so that newbies can join in and help them get going with some great varieties!

Not entirely necessary, but when I got started trading, i went out and bought a few packs of seeds i really wanted to grow, and that weren't the "run of the mill" marigold and/or other common types of seed, I saved some for me and traded some of these more wanted seeds for others that I wanted. Helped me build my seed collection to grow, and to get my garden going

Let us know if you have any other questions!
Val

@maryjoz5

PS to my message above. You do not HAVE to participate in the Feb swap as well, if you want to do only this swap. I have updated the swap information to allow one or both.

What a great idea!!! If I can go through my seeds in time I should have some offers. If we get dibs like in all the other swaps, is there not a way that we could use them for the newbies?

The Jan swap is a practice swap but a real swap where newbies are choosing seed packs. Happy to have everyone who wants to offer seeds to list them..but the swap starts on Friday and I will have to set the # of tickets a couple days before that, so if you plan to list seeds for this swap, please do so soon.

I'm sure the newbies will be more than happy with the number of seeds they walk away with, and added to the Feb. Swap, hope I can fit them all in one bubble mailer for the one charge

Hey Newbies! The fun starts tonight...are you ready???

I added a bunch of tomato seeds to my swap list a few days ago, and I'd really, really like them to go to good homes. If you haven't updated your wishlist in the last week, you should look at the recently posted items before the swap starts.

See you online this evening! If you have any last minute questions or have issues once dibbing begins, please don't hesitate to speak up -- we're here for ya!

can't wait for the dibbing to start tonight!

Yaaaaaaay !!!!!! Starting sooooooon !!!!

Welcome all, as you probably are signing on, getting ready for the swap to "open the gates" first night in approx 15 minutes!

Eagerly practicing refreshing my wishlist page...

This is so odd because I'm waiting for the swap to open, but not bidding...so just here to assist with any questions and hopefully all goes smoothly ...

Standing by :D

What a blast!!! I was so nervous and excited for this all day! Then I was done in 2 minutes!!! So much fun!!! Mary Jo

It's kind of a rush, maryjo, all at the beginning...the Lightening swap is even more tickets all at once, in one night (24 hour period) so it'll last a LITTLE LONGER!!
Hope you got some goodies!

How did everyone else make out.

OK, I hate to rush off but if any of you have any questions or feedback (or just comments/want to chat), please post here or message me if you'd like with questions, etc....

I ended up having to take a LONG road trip todayand there was a huge accident about an hour from home, so we ended up being detoured around adding an extra 45-60 mins to our already LONG trip, so I'm BEAT.

I'm going to sign off for now and hope everyone got goodies they wanted!
Repeat tomorrow, with MORE tickets :D

WOW that was totally awesome. I got a whole bunch of my top wants, and got a good feel for how often to refresh the page so that I wasn't wasting clicks on something that was already gone lol!

Then I got a bonus pick because 2 of my offers got dibbed on. Yay!

Thanks everybody. It was so exciting. Plus I feel less nervous about the whole finger and clicking mechanics of it all. Thank you bunches

Yes, I got some great seeds! And I appreciated being in this practice swap! I didn't figure out how, till after my dibbing, I could get the ones I got dibs on off my screen. Watching the video tutorial twice helped immensely, but it was actually going through it that gave me the confidence. I am also excited to save seeds next year knowing there is this venue for sharing! Thanks for all the help! God bless! Mary Jo

As a reminder to those who are still getting the hang of it, there is a box at the top left of your wish list that says "exclude no quantity". If you check this box and refresh your page while you are bidding (esp'lly in these LOTSA-Ticket swaps), it will get rid of those items that are gone and you can no longer bid on, and show your page with only items on your wish list that you wanted. Makes for alot less scrolling down.

If you want to get rid of the seeds that you have already bid on/won, you can use the "-" circle to the left of the stars and it will move your item to the bottom of your list (as it will be marked with no stars with zero priority items(once you refresh your page)

You can always review the seeds you've won by choosing "View your bough items" at the top of the page for that swap.

24 hours after the final swap day starts, when the swap is completely over, there will be another option added in this box, which will by your packing list -- It is a total sheet, by participant who have won the seeds that you have offered. You cut each participant's list and if folded, it will fit in a small snack size ziploc.

Each participant's winnings MUST be sorted and packed neatly and completely before sending to the host. You do not have to use ziploc bags. you can do something as simple as wrap a piece of paper around all the seed packets for one person and write their screen name on it....dont forget to attach the winning seeds list to each.

Questions?