What's on your mind? Is there something new in your garden, community or life that you want to share? This is the place to do it!

Like many from the DND swap, I am one of the many that have moved and will be growing in a new zone and new situations...

Then/Now:
-I was growing in southeastern PA (zone 7a) and now I'm in northwestern Ohio (zone 6a).
-I was growing in raised beds and containers and will be growing primarily in ground.
-I growing in a tiny crowded yard limiting what I could grow and now have a much bigger area and will also have an orchard area too.
-I was just a small garden and will now be a big garden, chickens, turkeys, and exploring the idea of either rabbits or sheep for food.
-I had a seed starting room set up.... need to build a greenhouse and try to set up a temporary growing area for this year in the meantime and will try wintersowing as a first
-I wouldn't grow non-edibles (due to size restrictions)... now I'm trying to learn about some non-edibles, preferably natives, that will add beauty and attract pollinators.

Lots of things that will be different for me this year, so kinda excited, kinda freaking out...

@Hammerojustice I moved from Southern MD (7a) to Western Maryland (5b/6a) so I understand completely. It was like learning to garden all over again. It has its pros and cons.
My first year of getting into more vegetable gardening I was so disappointed because nothing was getting pollinated. So last year (my first year winter sowing) was all about putting in things that were going to help with pollination. I love love love winter sowing. All my WS perennials jugs are under about 12" of snow right now. I can't wait to put in hardy annuals and then I am actually going to try some veggies this year.
One of the things that also helped was putting morning glory on the cattle panel trellis with the beans and squash.
I wish you lots of blooms in your new adventure.
Toni

Hammer O'Justice you will love winter sowing! Last year I planted over 100 jugs and had such a good time trying some flowers that I had never grown before. I also tried ws (or early spring sowing) vegetables for the first time and got tomatoes, several different squashes, green peppers,
and herbs! This year I hope to add more. I'm in Iowa zone 5, so ws helps me get a head start on growing without too many seeds being started indoors under lights! So glad about this swap because we will get our seeds in time for me to ws (its still cold here in March)! Thanks Jessabelle JLH!

@theflowerlady Anita!

Is this your first swap at this site? I have not participated in other recent swaps and did not recognize your username, so thought to ask...

Wow, I see more unfamiliar names...@Amewis1, @DirtCheapGardener, and @DeerXing; two of whom joined the in the last couple of months. Welcome to the swaps, all! It's always great to see new / refreshed participants!

@gngrbluiz: Yep, as fresh as new-fallen snow. Since the in-person swap I host at my local library for National Seed Swap Day is postponed for the second year in a row, I thought it high time I give these NGA swaps a try. Attempting to bring seedy friends along for the ride, if they aren't here already! What a chore, building my list against the site's database. Ageratum files under "f" for flossflower? I am learning. Thanks for having me!

I participated in the first swap of the year so this would b my second one! I really enjoyed it an love my flowers and my garden ( give me the outdoors any day!!)
I haven't listed anything yet as this time around I want to have my stuff packaged before I list it! With two little ones and an unexpected trip at the end of the last swap it was a little overwhelming to get it packaged and out the door so I'm learning from the wise ones on here an doing things different this round

Mountainlakecorner said:@Hammerojustice I moved from Southern MD (7a) to Western Maryland (5b/6a) so I understand completely. It was like learning to garden all over again. It has its pros and cons.
My first year of getting into more vegetable gardening I was so disappointed because nothing was getting pollinated. So last year (my first year winter sowing) was all about putting in things that were going to help with pollination. I love love love winter sowing. All my WS perennials jugs are under about 12" of snow right now. I can't wait to put in hardy annuals and then I am actually going to try some veggies this year.
One of the things that also helped was putting morning glory on the cattle panel trellis with the beans and squash.
I wish you lots of blooms in your new adventure.
Toni

Thank you! ny tips on winter sowing would be most appreciated! It's been cold as anything here, but no snow... I'm really annoyed at that... I want snow.. lol...
Morning glories with beans and squash? Was that for pollination purposes? How does it work with the invasiveness of the morning glories?

Thanks in advance

maryjoz5 said:Hammer O'Justice you will love winter sowing! Last year I planted over 100 jugs and had such a good time trying some flowers that I had never grown before. I also tried ws (or early spring sowing) vegetables for the first time and got tomatoes, several different squashes, green peppers,
and herbs! This year I hope to add more. I'm in Iowa zone 5, so ws helps me get a head start on growing without too many seeds being started indoors under lights! So glad about this swap because we will get our seeds in time for me to ws (its still cold here in March)! Thanks Jessabelle JLH!

Same question/comment for you... any tips on winter sowing would be greatly appreciated!

How exciting for all of you starting new gardening experiences and adventures!

Yesterday while I was filling seed packets, in those little plastic baggies, I noticed there was a lot of static in the air. And of course, some of the seeds were clinging to the sides of the baggies. How annoying!

So, I thought I should post my remedy just in case some of you don't know:

When it's time to sow your seeds and you find them clinging to the inside of the bag, not wanting to come out, get a dryer sheet such as Bounce or any brand and rub it on the outside of your seed baggie. The seeds will stop clinging to the sides and fall to the bottom of the baggies and then will roll right out!!

@ wildflowers, don't you hate when that happen. Thanks for the tip. My newest favorite seed packing aid is these paddle tweezers. I found them at Dollar Tree in the craft section. I was loving how easy it was to pack up those Blue mistflower.

I'm another one that moved this year. Closed Dec 1 so I didn't get to do much in the way of prepping the garden. Moved 30 miles east of my former location, from corner lot in the city to 5 acres in the country. I lost 2 weeks of growing (last frost went from April 1 to April 15), but gained all the space I could imagine. So this year is mostly an experiment: test the soil, see which method works best, build compost, etc.

Since my garden shed isn't ready to go with lights and all, most of my seed starting will be wintersown. Starting with completely empty land, I'm planting way more than I have space, so extras will be swapped or sold. Gotta earn enough to get me my greenhouse.

We also moved in spring 2021, not too far so I moved as many of my perennials as I could pot up (just divisions). Went from a large house and garden to a smaller house with a yard carved out of a brushy field. I got 3 raised veg. garden beds in last summer and they did remarkably well. Plans for a lot more this year!

This is my first swap here, though I did a lot on gardenweb before--I remember some names here, which is nice. We've had a very cold, snowy Jan. so I've been going through my seeds, in between doing some WSing. I've packed up things that others have dibbed. Should I pack more--some of everything? How do others handle this? Hoping Feb. will be better & I can get outside more, so whatever I can do before then is great.

Thanks!!

I think everyone has a different system, once you do enough swaps on here you'll find a rhythm that works. One thing that works for me is to have everything packaged & ready to go, and in alphabetical order according to how this site lists them in my trade list. That way when I go to pack them up they're easier to find. I know I've tried packing them afterwards & it was just too stressful.

I like an idea by @mountainlakecorner. She posted the idea of morning glories growing vertically with winter squash. Is there another vining flower (not morning glories or wysteria) that will grow with winter squash & not be invasive like those two? I would have it at the corners of the cattle panel arch trellis I would be using.

Thanks in advance

Steve

@okieheart I do the same thing. I prepackage before I list and have them in the order of the online list so I can find them when it comes time to package them up.
@hammerojustice I have never grown them so I don't know if they are invasive but have you considered sweet peas (ornamental)? Maybe some one who has grown them can offer more information.

Thanks @okieheart and @Mountainlakecorner--this weekend will be a good time to get them all organized.

@hammerojustice Sweet peas haven't done well for me in the one time I tried, maybe too hot & humid here. I did have luck with the perennial ones. How about white or purple hyacinth bean -- or scarlet runner beans which are beautiful and edible?

Hi all,

I'm still pretty new to the seed swapping world, this will be my third swap! We moved from a townhouse that was north facing two half years ago, to a one-acre property Yay!! the yard was pretty scary- boo Radley comes to mind. LOl I still have a few scary areas that need to be tamed haHA i LOVE Winter sowing, I drive my husband nuts with the containers along the driveway. Took me awhile to get everything planted out last year. I'm like hey, you married me!
Thanks, Jessabelle, for hosting!! I adore seed swaps! it's like gambling but way better because i'm not losing money: hurray:

Hi, everybody. I've labelled some seeds I recently ordered from African companies as "packed for 2022," since I just purchased them and there aren't any dates on the packets. However, their seasons are different than ours, so I'm guessing the seeds probably are a few months older than most seeds harvested in the northern hemisphere last year. Not to mention that they took a month or so to get here! Just wanted to make that clear.