[quote="DogsNDaylilies"]Jim - I heard recently that tomato seeds are supposed to be fermented prior to planting. Have you found that to be true? If so, how do you ferment them? (I'm very inexperienced when it comes to tomatoes since I don't particularly like the taste of fresh tomatoes...although I'm trying to make myself like them.)

Dnd , If you need to ferment Tomato seeds just soak them , I spoon or knife them into a cup (with water in the cup , 4 through 7 days then strain the goo , and I dry mine in a strainer

If you have dry tomato seeds not fermented from a trade , just soak them in water , rinse after a day , I soak sprout a lot of mine in spring when I think to do so ,


I had a wormwood this season that overran a bunch of plants I will be working on that the next few days ,
I like a nice vigourous plant only my goodness
Underneath that wormwood there is a Hibicus , several Delphinium . a couple of Coneflowers and about four Snapdragons , an Agastache and a mint managed to grow through the wormwood ,,
Brought in a nice White Swan Coneflower head , and a large Purple also .
A few seeds from last year while organizing , Incarnata and Tuberosa Milkweed seeds ,
odds and ends ,

oh , and DnD White Swan Coneflower seeds can be planted about anytime , they do not require being stratified ,

Thanks, DND!

Jim, ... glue stick! Great idea. That's going right into that article along with "jimard8 improved this idea greatly by ..."

... if you're willing to let me use your photo in my article, ...

... if you "edit" your post with the cool photo, you'll see something like this, but with your screen name and a different number, and no spaces:
[ lightbox ]2013-11-07/RickCorey/995fd6[ /lightbox ]

If you copy-paste that into a post on this thread, or a TreeMail, after adding spaces before and after the "[" and "]",

... then I'll be able to copy-paste that into my article. That way, Dave's server only has to store ONE copy of the photo, but it can appear in both your post and my article. Or our article.

Say, I have a vague memory that is probably wrong. There is no "automatic bidding", is there?

Something like the system automatically requesting any seeds you put 5 stars on, as soon as bidding opens? Maybe that was a wacky suggestion that caught my interest and then became a belief.

Also, have we beat the "20 pkt average"? I THINK there are around 300 offerings, and 13 members. (Average "23").

Rick, I think we should be good, but I'm not counting for another day or two. I wanted to wait until right about the two week mark before I started putting out reminders and diving into everything.

Plus, I'm beat. I just put in seven garden beds in the last two days (hauling the dirt back and forth across my backyard), as well as a bunch of other outdoor labor that needed done, so when I come inside, I like things that fall more in the requires-very-little-thought category.

>> I just put in seven garden beds in the last two days

Yikes! Are you having the same heat wave everyone else is?

Even the coastal PNW has the same heat wave. Why, we are expected to go over 85 degrees tomorrow! The Weather Channel gave us a Heat Alert and tender, pale Seattleites may burst spontaneously into flame.

Rick, you are hilarious!

I have heard of IHC Internal Human Combustion ,

Wonder if there is , Solar Reflective Temperature Burst )
poof ,, Either way , Gone Hot ,,,

Of course ,, Thought Death is famaliar to me ,, end of most days ,, one long D--U---HHHHH

Lol, you guys! Yesterday was right about 80 degrees. Today was more like 85+ degrees. It's actually a little cooler than it has been for a few weeks. We had atleast two weeks that were consistently 90 or higher.

I did okay today, but I definitely felt the heat more today than yesterday. Not to mention that yesterday there was atleast some cloud cover and even a quick 15-minute rainstorm that blew through. Not today. The sun was intense today and I missed putting sunscreen on the sensitive back part of my left shoulder, so the skin over my left shoulder blade got scorched. Could be worse, though, and it's nothing that some lotion and 24 hours won't fix. (I learned, after oodles of sunburns, that lotion is far more soothing than aloe.)

Hi Ya'll!

My, it seems like forever since we all met! I can't believe it's taken me this long to find my way back. But I have to say, my friend Val joined this swap and she told me and I happened to actually check my email and here I am! Better late than never? Lol. It really is good to actually be back. I'm ready this year, lol. Give me a few and I'll get my list done. I've snuck in here now to get a few added while I can. Good to hear from ya'll.

Hi Karen , Old friends and new here , Good to see and hear from you ,
A few weeks to go ,
I am always in to big a hurry
Need to learn from the plants and take my own time and pace ,,

Karen, it's so good to see you back! I wondered if you were too busy for it this time around. So you're the friend Val was saying she heard about the swap from--nice!

Two more weeks until the crazy fun!...

Dnd,

You KNOW I'm not going to miss this one. Thankfully Val emailed me. I saw those dates and thought Oh my gosh, I almost missed it. I would have cried. I love this swap. I have had mishap after mishap happen at the worst times this year. Everything has put me behind. Gardens were early, some were late and so I've been saving seed since early July. Plus my computer blew up and I lost everything and still am in the midst of putting everything back together after I think 3 weeks now? I just do not have enough time in my day, lol.

At any rate, I'll put more seed up but as I said, I'm running behind. I'll get it done by the end of the weekend. Promise. I'm so excited. We are going to have a ball this year.

Hi again, Karen! Welcome, Val!

I feel like my cat when we put a little tuna fish in his bowl. Jumping around eagerly and yowling "Now!" "Now!"

My order from Seeds Of Italy (Franchi) just arrived. Fortunately they mostly use foil-lined pouches, becuase our beloved USPS must have dropped the Priority box in a big puddle. The cardboard shipper was soggy and partly crushed, and had some packing tape slapped over the soggy cardboard.

Thanks, guys!

Two of them are fine (foil pouches) but there were 170 grams of pole French bean /snap bean 'Smeraldo' ("emerald"). It's a white-seeded pale green long flat roma type from Northern Italy in a plastic-coated cardboard box.
http://www.growitalian.com/bea...

It looks like the outside of this inner box got very slightly damp and a little crushed, but I opened it right away and spread out the beans to dry ... they seemed totally dry and clean and orderless already, so I'm thinking of it as a day or two of storage at high humidity.

Not sure I'll ask Franchi to replace them, since the replacement might arrive after the swap's mail-in-date. Also, they advertised "100 grams" and sent 170 grams (6 ounces), which is not unusual for Seeds of Italy.

Also, I totally plan to plant them and expect 90% + germination. But I am going to email Seeds of Italy and see if they can collect the insurance, or at least yell at USPS for trying to pre-sprout my seeds.

I tentatively plan to offer them in this swap with the warning that they got humid during shipment, and make up bigger packets. At least they were packed for 2016/2017, and have an expiration date of 12/2018 (which assumed dry storage!)

Anyway, does anyone disagree? Not even offering them is certainly an option. I may be desensitized to "it rained on the seeds I planed to collect" because I live in the Pacific NorthWet.


P.S. I examined these beans very closely, which I seldom do. Out of 170 grams (6 ounces), I found 13 beans with small chips or very small areas of discoloration in the shell, brown or black.

From some vendors, I'm used to seeing some beans broken in half, entirely discolored, or with big chips. From most vendors, I expect a much higher % of damaged beans than 13 slightly damaged out of 550 beans (2.4%)

What do you think? Are 2.4% imperfect beans average, below average, or above average?

I've been thinking of Franchi as having some of the best quality seed I know. I don't blame Franchi for the USPS dragging our mail through puddles, but I might demote them from "one of the best or THE best" down to "still considerably above average".

I probably shouldn't blame the USPS much either. I'm guessing they are grossly underfunded among their other problems.

Rick, I'm so sorry to hear about your beans, both the water incident and the chipped beans. It sounds like, with the large 'overage' quantity that they gave you, they are still a great place to purchase from. I'm sure that if you dry them over the next several days, you really won't have any issues with the beans. I'm guessing that, just as with daylily seeds and a multitude of other seeds: a few days of drying and they are good to go! Your warning to the bidders is appreciated, but likely not necessary in the grand scheme of things. ...but I love how conscientious you are!

I can't make any expert judgments of their damaged seed percentage because I don't typically order/grow bean seeds, but my non-expert opinion would be that 2.4% sounds pretty low and is really good, as long as the price is good. If you were paying $1/bean, that would be a different story, but if it's pennies (or less) per seed, I would say that's not bad at all.

Rick , seems like beans have always been a tough ship , Something always happens ,
I am still looking through things

Thank you very much!

I do think that the plastic coating on the inner box saved the beans from anything but humidity leaking through the seams. The paper packing slip proved that no actual WATER got into the box. Corners were wrinkled but not moist, and only where they touched the shipper.

>> with the large 'overage' quantity that they gave you, they are still a great place to purchase from.

That's what I thought. They seem to do things like "we're out of the 100 gram pkt, so we'll send 3, 40 gram packets. I appreciate the extra 20%, but REALLY appreciate getting several of their state-of-the art foil-lined packets. I leave them sealed until I need to split more, THEN open and split one more pkt. When empty, I post them on my cubical wall for the photos. I'm looking at some "Taglio" chard right now.

>> 2.4% sounds pretty low

That's also my vague impression. When I was dividing up big packets from "bargain" seed vendors, there were many (?? 5-7% ??) beans broken in half or with big chips or big discolored areas. This was the first time I noticed even ONE bad seed from Franchi.

Love those guys. Their photos are not AS good as Baker Creek's, but Baker Creek has better photography than ANYONE.
Like "garden pornography".

Rick, I am so sorry about your seeds. If you want to list them, I'll be your guinea pig. I'd like to try a new green bean this year along with my regulars. Wait, I know this is stupid, but are they stringless? I hate those things. I always forget about them if i don't plant stringless. I remember the first time I ever planted a garden. Not stringless. I cooked dinner one winter's night and threw the entire pot of beans out. Along with the strings, lol.

I don't think you have a problem if it's only 13 beans out of 500. Unless you absolutely need those 13 beans. But for me, it's 13. You'll have bad luck if you don't break one more. I would be more worried about the wet beans. Hopefully they were not in water for long. I doubt there's really a problem. I'd still plant those babies.

I thought about "bad luck 13"! That's one reason I kept using a close eyeball, hoping to find #14. I like your idea: I'll hit one more bean with a hammer and then there WILL be 14 losers!

Then I'm going to test-sprout all the chipped beans and those with little dark spots. I think that all but 1-2 will be perfectly fine.

>> wet beans. Hopefully they were not in water for long.

I am confident they never touched water. They don't even look or smell like they were humid, but unless the glue on the box's seams was waterproof, they must have gotten some humidity. So I would not trust Franchi's "12/2018" expiration date, That assumes consistent dry storage!

Anyway, it's a good excuse to make up fewer, bigger packets. I know, an excuse to use a bigger Zip-Loc!

>> are they stringless? I hate those things.

Well, Franchi SAYS "stringless":

"Pale green and stringless. Excellent taste & texture. Has a very good reputation for production."

However, vendors like Burpees and Parks ruined me for believing anything I read in a seed catalog. Those guys claim that almost every seed they sell is the "most popular", "best tasting", "easiest to grow" and "most productive". Like you can say "easiest to grow" without specifying a region and climate!

Right, like "Where ALL the children are above-average"!

Franchi, I do kind of believe, because they start with Italian heirlooms, and Italians gosh-darn KNOW and demand great food. They have plenty to boast about, so they don't have to lie.

KarenHolt said:Rick, Wait, I know this is stupid, but are they stringless? I hate those things. I always forget about them if i don't plant stringless. I remember the first time I ever planted a garden. Not stringless. I cooked dinner one winter's night and threw the entire pot of beans out. Along with the strings, lol.

Karen, I was just looking at purchasing a bean that you would probably love: http://www.seedsavers.org/lazy...

...The name is great, too!

I am debating putting through an order to Seed Savers because they have garlic that is cheaper than my normal place and they have more organic options that my normal seed place, but I don't want to get too carried away with seed purchases and then have nothing I want to request in the swap. ...so I'm probably going to leave it up to chance whether or not I get something similar to what I would have ordered from Seed Savers. I'm hoping that some garlic, stringless beans, interesting dry beans, etc...end up on the seed lists. (Jim, I'm willing to be your guinea pig for the small garlic you have, even if they are small.)