I think you're smart. In this case, decentralized is the only sustainable plan! Some method that spreads the work around would be great.
The ATP P:lant Database is too specific for this kind of seed sharing. You have to drill down to specific species and varieties to see who has what (and they might not be in a give-away mood).
I found that the usual request for seeds was very general -
- annual cottage flowers
- colorful vines
- Zone 4 perennial flowers
- vegetables
- anything
When I listed all the varieties that we had multiples of, very few people made specific requests.
>> current members could list the seeds they have available for this purpose and list the zone they live in along with the seed list.
>> When a new member comes along, then new member could be directed to those who have seeds from a matching zone,
...
>> The current member who has those seeds listed that the new member selects would then voluntarily send the packet to that new member.
Something like that does sound good. Maybe an ongoing series of 'request' threads in the "Plant and Seed Trading Forum"?
The list of donors-and-available-seeds could be a sticky thread, with one post for each donor, that they could edit as they added and ran out of seeds..
I'm also just thinking out loud.
New memebers could introduce themsleves and indicate interests (Zone, dryness, shade/sun, annual/perennials, flowers/crops/ground cover).
Then current members inclined to share their seeds (for convenience, call them "angels"
)
would reply (if they had time that week to put together a mailer).
I often found that I might have had seeds that matched a request, but not the KNOWLEDGE of what kinds of seeds WOULD match the request. An open 'request' thread would let one person make a request, several people share knowledge, and then whoever had matches could send if they wanted to.
If anyone started sending out
lots of mailers (for convenience, call them "archangels"
),
I for one would love to send them pkts of seeds that I have in excess, for them to give away. If they were willing.
It always bothers me to pay the post office $1.95 to send 3 pkts, when I could send 3 ounces for the same price. Even if you're dividing up a big commerical pkt, the cost of sharing seeds is mostly the cost of postage, not the cost of the seeds.
Maybe Dave and Trish would give acorns to the angelic choir.
