Anybody up for splitting/sharing orders placed in time for distribution at the seed swap? (We haven't set a date for that yet, but Feb. 4 looks good to me... I'll have them "hold" that date next time I'm at Chef Lin.)

Here's a chat thread I just posted for the seed swap: The thread "2023 Mid-Winter Seed Swap chat" in Mid Atlantic Gardening forum

I got my Fedco catalog a week ago and am having fun looking through it.

I definitely want to order some fresh seeds for peppers. Due to a number of reasons, I haven't started my own plants for years, but I fully intend to make it happen in 2023! Gypsy and Carmen are the backbone of my pepper crop, both hybrid non-bells. Gypsy is like a smaller, tapered-tip version of a sweet bell pepper, ripening to red. Carmen is a bull's horn, deliciously sweet and large red pepper, and the hybrid version is 10 times more productive than the standard.

If others are interested, then the bigger seed packs from Hazzard or HPS are probably the way to go (19-22 cents per 'Carmen' seed in packs of 100, compare to 30 cents per seeds elsewhere in packs of 15). I'll probably order these two varieties in big (100 seed) packs even if nobody else wants "in." I get close to 100% germination for 4-5 years from pepper seeds, and I start a couple dozen plants each year.

I also want to wintersow trays of zinnias, maybe other half-hardy annuals also. The bunnies don't bother them once they are taller but tend to mow down seedlings.

I'll figure on putting in an order at HPS for hybrids 'Carmen' and 'Gypsy', two reliably high-yielding sweet non-bell peppers. LMK if you want some of them and how many seeds (10, 25, 50...).

There are some non hybrids I want for next year as well, including Fish, Sweet Pickles, and one of the no-heat habanero types (like Trinidad Perfume). LMK if you are interested in getting some (or you can hope I manage to save seeds for next year!). I may order them from TGS (Tomato Grower's Supply). If you are planning to order from TGS, please let me know, so we can combine and split shipping!

What seeds are you thinking of ordering, and -- if you are willing to share an order and split shipping costs -- where are you ordering from?

Jill,

I'd be interested. What URLs are you looking at?

Sorry @RickM, I totally missed your post.

TGS (Tomato Growers Supply) for smaller packets: https://tomatogrowers.com/

HPS (Horticultural Products and Services) for larger packets: https://www.hpsseed.com/

maybe also Fedco: https://www.fedcoseeds.com/

Where are you planning to order from?

I'm looking at several things at Seed Savers (https://www.seedsavers.org/).

If you order from there, please add a few things for me!
I'm open to splitting any pack. A dozen ground cherry seeds, 20-50 basil seeds, and so forth would be enough for me! If there's one lots of people want, we could go to the next largest packet size.

They had 3 of the tomatoes I was looking at over at TGS, but I'd rather support SSE when I can. If you don't end up ordering from SSE, let me know so I can add them to my TGS cart!
Lime basil, 250 seeds for $3.75

Ground Cherry, 50 seeds for $3.75
I liked the "slightly sweeter" Lowen Family Heirloom, but any of the 3 varieties would work for me.

Tomato, Wisconsin 55, 25 seeds for $3.75
Tomato, German Pink, 25 seeds for $3.75
Tomato Speckled Roman (stable cross of Banana Legs & Antique Roman), 25 seeds for $3.75

Pepper, Hot Portugal, 50 seeds for $3.75

***

Here's what is in my cart so far at Tomato Grower's Supply

PEPPERS
If others are interested in Gypsy & Carmen (the 2 most productive sweet peppers for me), we may order from HPS instead

Gypsy Hybrid
Carmen Hybrid

one of the large hybrid Jalapeño varieties
Fish Pepper

I need to vent for a moment.

AAAARRRRRGH!
So I registered on a web site earlier that required a credit card for age verification. This was stated in plain English that the card would not be charged. LIARS! I went to pay my property taxes using the same card and it was declined for fraud. Oh great. What are the chances of getting in touch with customer service at 8:00p on New Years Eve? Well, they were there and answered! Before I could even say anything, the rep asked about the charge from earlier. They put a temp hold on the card due to suspected fraud based on the country of origin.

I explained to him that yes, I did see that and that I had already sent a message to the company about the bogus charge. I told him that the more immediate issue was that I was trying to pay my tax bill, and the card was declined. Once he knew what had happened, he cleared the hold ans stayed on the line while I tried again. It worked! YAY! I also told him to keep the flag on the earlier charger, which he marked on the account.

Maybe 2023 will be a better year.

Any way, back to the topic at hand, which is splitting seed orders. I was in Walmart earlier and picked up a bunch of seeds. I don't recall what all I got, but it was like 12 packets. I will be bring them to the swap.

I'm going to place an order with Seed Savers next weekend (payday).

I have created a separate thread for Seed Savers at:
The thread "2023 Seed Orders (Outside Pride & Seed Savers Exchange)" in Mid Atlantic Gardening forum

OK, I'll copy my order to the new thread. Switching the swap date to Feb. 11 would probably give a better chance of getting the SSE order by then. I seem to recall they are slow to ship.

Does anybody want pepper or tomato seeds? Tomato seeds can be traded for, at least if you are into heirlooms. For peppers, especially sweet varieties, I mostly go with hybrids for the increased productivity. I used to grow 1 or 2 bull's horn pepper plants, even though I got maybe 2 peppers from each plant, because the flavor was so amazing. Then came 'Carmen' hybrid, with 10 -15 big peppers per plant.

I'm also looking at cucumber seeds at Johnny's. https://www.johnnyseeds.com/

I think seed orders need to go in by this weekend to be sure of arriving before the swap, although I don't need cucumber seeds until spring plant swap time, so the Johnny's order could be later. (If somebody wants seeds earlier from Johnny's, they can place the order and add my cukes.)

Johnny's has an offer for $10 off on orders over $50, which nearly pays for shipping. I have $20.80 in my cart now.

'Carmen' bulls horn pepper seeds are 10 cents less at HPS, so just ordering a packet of 100 seeds (which I'll use up in 5 years or less) will pay for shipping.

Therefore, I'll definitely place an order at HPS. They have lots of stuff besides peppers.

I'll also order from Tomato Growers Supply (TGS), because they have 2 peppers I'm not seeing elsewhere. ('Fish Pepper' and 'Sweet Pickle Pepper' -- LMK if you have seeds please!)

So if you want anything from HPS or TGS or Johnny's, please let me know by/before the weekend!