Littlecheryl said:I have enough seeds but can't fight the urge to start my own swap. I was thinking of doing a swap where it's everything but smaller amounts of seed so you can try everything and find new favorites. Is that something that would be popular? And @DogNDaylilies how hard is it to host?

I would say it isn't too hard, but since there is still the organizing part to do, which is a huge chunk of the host's responsibility, it's hard to comment as of yet. I would say you should go for it, though! I do agree with others, though; it's probably best to wait a little while since most people are seeded out. I know that I have all the seeds I can possibly do for this season and then some, so I wouldn't be able to participate in another seed swap just yet.

(For what it's worth, I hope you didn't feel pressured to contribute large quantities of seeds. I know most of the offerings in our swap probably averaged about 10-15 seeds per package, and only three packets were required...were you thinking fewer seeds or fewer packets? And how much less?)

@DogNDaylilies Thanks! I'll definitely try it. I'm going to wait until October I think. So the winter sowers get their seeds in time.

My thoughts about it is...I want to try things I may have never tried if it was 20 seeds. I'm thinking more of a sampler type swap. I didn't feel that I had to do more for your swap. I have limited space so if I get 50 seeds of something I break it down to a number I need and swap the rest. I was thinking of 5-15 seeds with 15 being max and due to the low numbers of seeds maybe 5-10 pack limit. But if someone doesn't have it to let everyone know and I could possibly help out :). I'm still thinking about how to do it but I have until August to iron out the details!

Just popping on ATP for a quick update...I got the boxes today and plan to do the sorting this weekend.

As something of an aside, I double-checked with the lady at the post office and small priority mail boxes are $6.80 now. If I'm not mistaken, that's over a dollar increase in price. (For the record, do not send extra money in for this round of swapping...it's not enough to worry about this time around.) That means that future swaps will likely have a slightly higher fee to cover the difference. I'm still wondering how other swaps are maintaining a $6 fee...maybe they aren't using priority mail to send the boxes back?... Either way, I'm excited to get all of these out to you, I can't wait for it to be like a seed Christmas for all of you, LoL! I'll likely post an update this weekend if I'm not online tomorrow.

I don't know how in the world anyone gets lots of seeds in those tiny boxes! I think it's cheaper to use padded envelopes if people are getting back lots of seeds. If you are worried about the seeds being crushed just add more bubble wrap. And I don't think priority mail is much faster than first class. And both give you tracking numbers.

Also , one says mailing box , as to the set of "if it fits .it ships" set pricing ,,
I think the small box I sent was was 5.80 , not sure now

DnD would say I sent that and it was stuffed , more packaging than seeds , maybe ,,
Hello , all ,, How is the seed stuffing going ,, Winter is playing havoc with my motivations .
Not bad here ,
Political Joke ,, Why does a Blizzard snow storm , make sense at DC ,,,
Last Blizzard I was in was 78 , I try to avoid those , sometimes I leave ,, and I am a hard rock to get to move off of mine ,,
Planted some yesterday ,, If the mood happens ,, more to come ,,

bxncbx said:I don't know how in the world anyone gets lots of seeds in those tiny boxes! I think it's cheaper to use padded envelopes if people are getting back lots of seeds. If you are worried about the seeds being crushed just add more bubble wrap. And I don't think priority mail is much faster than first class. And both give you tracking numbers.

Good advice. I considered it, but I think this time around I'll still send Priority Mail...it's only a handful of packages and I know everyone will be happier to get their seeds just a bit earlier. I may end up doing First Class next time, though.

(The bubble wrap envelopes are also $6.80 now...I picked up a few of those yesterday for the larger quantity 'orders' in our group. They should work well.)

I really don't mind the extra cost this time around, it isn't many packages and you guys are so so great, it's worth it. If our group grows, though, I'll have to change shipping methods or the fee. I have time to weigh out the options, though, so I'm not worried about it yet.

A very nice swap ,, I am looking forward to more planting , Wind here is awful , at least the storms went past ..
That is not without caring about those getting snow bombed ,, Maybe some specials coming ,, future thought ,,

There were a few people in this swap that were affected by some MIA seeds...please see your Tree-mail from me and respond this evening if you would like me to add some seeds to your 'orders' to try and fill in whatever gaps may have been caused from our MIA member.

On a more positive note, I wanted to thank those of you that sent in a little extra for postage money, it was an unexpected surprise! I haven't counted it out yet, but I believe that the extra money that was sent in should cover the additional postage (due to the postage rate hike) for all of the packages that are going out, so it was really appreciated!


Updates to follow as I have them...

There's no problem with my mia's. As I said in tree mail, the things I wanted or needed will be sent.

I really would have felt better with my postage if we had sent sasbe's instead of you having to go to all the trouble of boxing up and not enough postage. If I need to send more for my postage let me know and I'll get that to you asap. I did get a ton of seeds and would feel better to send more money for my postage.

I feel the same , plenty of seeds , no problem ,
Those of you that chose any of mine , if they fail to grow as in germinate ,, say , say , say , so I can replace them , it does not happen often , but it does ..
Stay warm , stay well , all
Looking forward to more ,,

Thank you, all, for the concern but please don't send any extra postage. You all are very generous in offering, but if I were concerned about it, I would send the packages via First Class mail. (It's unfortunate that rates are going up at the post office, but they have to make a living too!) It really is okay, I am more than happy to cover the TINY difference in the fees from the cost of shipping, honestly! (For those of you that are curious, I think it amounted to all of $1.00 ...so please don't worry!)

I mentioned the price hike in large part so that everyone knows for the future because it may cause slightly higher fees (across all swaps?) going forward or may result in 'first class' shipping instead of priority shipping.

I tend to be impatient about getting items I 'order', so I would likely want faster shipping for the slightly increased price...but I also know price is the larger concern for a lot of people. Since I plan on changing my swap dates next time around--meaning that there isn't likely to be the rush to get seeds by the end of January--I may go the route of doing 'First Class' shipping and allowing everyone to keep a little more of their hard-earned dollars. I still have to give more thought as to what is best for the majority of people for my future swaps. You're all welcome to voice your opinions on the matter if you feel strongly one way or the other.

Here's a little teaser photo for all of you that I took earlier...





This is a picture of the seeds that were mailed in (my seeds are not shown here).


Edited to add: (Sorry it's so blurry, I have better pictures that I'll post later.)

Okay, you guys, I just had to share the humorous realization that I had as I was talking with a fellow ATP member...

I was looking at the ATP swaps listed right now and, aside from the in-person dinner seed swap one, there are 4 current swaps...

Take a look at the screen names of the hosts and you'll notice that we have...

A toad
Two frogs
...and a dog

Lol too funny!

At this point, all seeds have been sent out. Please feel free to check your tracking numbers and let me know if there was an issue with any of them. They are all manually typed in and I was careful about it, but I am human. If there are any issues with your tracking numbers, just send me a treemail.

By the way, I just wanted to send a little shout-out to two of our swap members who contributed and asked nothing for themselves in this swap. It was very generous of them and I thought they deserved a little extra recognition, so I hope they don't mind this shout-out.

Thank you @HoosierHarvester and @jvdubb for your contributions in this swap!

I am so excited I am making compost . for seed planting
I am getting the Go Go Go's Thinking about the planting and such ,
The February anticipation mood thing ,, hurry spring ,, hurry Tomato seedling , oh come on little Peppers ,,

I'm happy to share my extra seeds. I'm being a good girl this year and "trying" not to over seed and drive myself crazy over the summer!!

jimard8 said: I am so excited I am making compost . for seed planting
I am getting the Go Go Go's Thinking about the planting and such ,
The February anticipation mood thing ,, hurry spring ,, hurry Tomato seedling , oh come on little Peppers ,,

My worms are busy making compost, too! In a few weeks here I'll be laying out all of my seeds and making plans for what will go where in my garden...exciting stuff!

Thank you so much hoover and jvdubb! My gardens would not be near as beautiful without your help. I have been planning all week and still not done deciding where everything is going yet. But my jugs are ready. I'm ready. The weather is ready. It's going to be a great year. All I need is spring.

Dnd, you have done a fantastic job hosting! thank you for everything!