Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Seedy Subjects! => Seed Exchange => Topic started by: Carol Shaw on November 29, 2009, 07:34:17 PM
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Over the past two weekends, encouraged by the bl@@dy awful weather David and I have packeted out two boxes of SRGC seed.
I want to say a big thank you to all those who sent in Arisaema seed - it was beautifully clean this year and a joy to work with!
I would ask all donors to consider how they packet the seed they send to the exchange. Coffee filters are fine, ditto origami paper packets, paper envelopes and glassines; what I find does not work so well is anything like a little zip lock bag or something with cellophane - the seed sticks to this and it is difficult to remove. I DID manage to get most of the seed out of these packets but himself will tell you I did a lot of muttering. Having spoken to other seed packetters I suspect this is a common 'plaint! :(
Above all though thank you to all who donated seed without it our wonderful seed exchange could not exist...
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Just looking at Ian B's figures for last year, Carol ........ nearly 450 donors, around 65 packetters, almost 50thousand packets of seed, distributed by 31 pickers and posters to thousands of members!
Just looking at the list this year.....around 4500 seeds ....... good grief! Where to start the choice??!! 8)
Yes, the Seed Exchange is an enormous operation...... and a credit to all the volunteers who give it life .... well done to them all! [attach=1]
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Thanks for this Carol. I admit wondering if most of mine, in small, plastic ziplocks, would be a damn nuisance. It was a matter of what was available. We can't get glassine here and the little paper envelopes that used to contain wages are rare in shops and horribly costly so I'm thinking maybe I should start now and make some little envelopes of a suitable kind, in which case, an illustration of what would be best for YOU, would be helpful for me and no doubt others.
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Lesley, we donate our seeds in either glassines or the small brown 'wage' packets and, as a packetteer, I find these to be an ideal combination. The glassines I get from the exchange and the wage packets at £1 for 125 from Poundshop, which has just bought a lot of the Woolworth stores. Please, don't scream at me - I know that at the moment I am doubly blessed! Failing the above I would suggest small paper envelopes, homemade, without too much sellotape and, please, no cellophane sides to them.
But regardless, whatever you have to put the seed in, please keep sending the seeds, we will cope. mumble, love you, mumble, love you, mumble, love you, etc. ;)
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No, won't shout at you David. Thanks for the advice. I have some time to think about it and in the meantime, perhaps others who have the same problem may share their good ideas for packeting their seeds. Some time yes, but then all of a sudden it will be late September and the rush will be on again. I always tell myself I work best under pressure but the fact is, I'm both lazy and a procrastinator. Promise to do better in my next life. :D
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Isn't it possible to get glassines from the Seed Ex Team in advance? Or was that long ago?
Off to search Ebay!
I do know that an awful lot of seed donations leak " summat chronic" !!
edit: Yes, lots of results on Ebay.co.uk many from philately suppliers.... if that's the right term.... supplies for stamp collectors!!
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I've finished my packeting for this year and echo Carol's remarks. The only packets difficult to deal with are the zip lock ones. Some just get greaseproof paper or tinfoil and do a bit of origami to pack them, others even use old newspaper. I suspect you can fashion packets from the envelopes that accompany junk mail, though I tend to use these for gathering seed in the garden as I do have the glassine packets. I'm fascinated by the packaging I open sometimes, some of them are just ingenious. If you have to use zip lock bags, maybe you could put the seed into tinfoil and then put it in the bags? Just a thought. It certainly would help the packeters.
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for larger amounts of seeds, i've been using the white paper (i think its treated, but not as much as regular waxed paper)bags meant to hold a pastry, or maybe a small sandwich in a deli-4x6 inches to take a wild guess..not sure what they'd retail at, i get them from work for a nominal cost...
while collecting in the field, i have used a lot of plastic zip-lock bags--really tiny seeds and hairy things tend to stick, but i find if i breathe into the bag, the humidity causes the seeds to release and i can tap them out.. i'm sure that would still be a pain for packetters doing dozens and hundreds! my hat is off to you folks, in any case!
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what I find does not work so well is anything like a little zip lock bag or something with cellophane - the seed sticks to this and it is difficult to remove. I DID manage to get most of the seed out of these packets but himself will tell you I did a lot of muttering.
And another horror, there are a few groups that send seed out in glassine envelopes that have pre-applied glued flaps. Most of the tiny seeds are embedded in the glue by the time they arrive, extracting them is no fun.
Even with decent glassines the donor rule is to fold, fold, fold in every possible direction.
Keep up the good work Carol et al.
johnw
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while collecting in the field, i have used a lot of plastic zip-lock bags
Away from home, I use brown paper bags intended as lunch bags, in the belief that in them the seed will not sweat. As many readers know, sometimes when collecting seed, you have to take a whole pod or capsule and there is significant moisture in that. The name is written on the outside in pencil or waterproof pen. With the top folded over and the whole bag flattened, you can fit a surprising number of these into ordinary pockets.
At home in the garden, I use plastic tubs about 500 ml capacity, labelled with a scrap of paper *in* the tub. Some plants demand that you collect every few days as seed ripens, and I just keep these "open" collections on my desk. Seed collected away from home is decanted into the same tubs on my return, then treated just like garden collections.
All seed is allowed to ripen and dry further in a cool, well-ventilated room, then cleaned and packeted as soon as it looks ready. (I'll save for another day the witchcraft necessary to clean berries and such.)
I've learned the hard way not to let uncleaned seed pile up, lest you have the submission deadline looming and dozens of collections yet to clean. This year I sent about half my donations off at the end of August and the other half at the end of September, with one late ripening item (Anemonopsis macrophylla), going a little later.
It's a good feeling to go to the post office and mail off fat envelopes of seed, knowing that they are now off your back.
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Our Arilnut Forum member John, has sent me a link for glassine envelopes of different sizes and they are not pre-glued so should be just what the doctor ordered. I'll order some anyway. You used to be able to buy them from the AGS but I thought then that the price was exhorbitant when maybe 100 or more may be needed in a year. These ones don't seem so dear and I'll put the link here as soon as I get back to it.
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Here it is. Darned if I could copy and paste so I hope I've written it correctly.
http://www.clearbags.com/stationery/envelopes/translucent/glassine (http://www.clearbags.com/stationery/envelopes/translucent/glassine)
(edit by Maggi : link corrected ;) )
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500 gram margerine pots are good for the seed from the garden waiting to be cleaned. I've been tweezing dropped Crocus seed today.
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NARGS sells non-gummed glassine envelopes at $30 per 1000, or $3.50 for 100. I finally broke down and ordered a box of 1000 with my last book order... should do me for a while!
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Isn't it possible to get glassines from the Seed Ex Team in advance? Or was that long ago?
Off to search Ebay!
I do know that an awful lot of seed donations leak " summat chronic" !!
edit: Yes, lots of results on Ebay.co.uk many from philately suppliers.... if that's the right term.... supplies for stamp collectors!!
It is philatelic - and the envelopes are excellent - non glued :)
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It is philatelic - and the envelopes are excellent - non glued :)
Thanks, Art, wrote that but then convinced my self there were letters missing! ::)
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Glassine envelopes from this link, http://veratrinder.org/lindner-glassine-envelopessize-45mm-60mm-x500-p-2024.html?osCsid=s713r6fc0l4e2qtkqsi7dlake5
Mike
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Thanks for these links to sources for glassine envelopes.
Having failed to find them a couple of years ago I opted for small ziplock bags instead, and was very happy with the latter because of their secure seal. Another advantage seemed to be reliable identification, by placing a printed paper label inside the bag.
Therefore it's interesting to hear that ziplock bags are less appreciated by those working on the seed exchanges, due to (a) static and (b) internal labels obscured by seeds. Would a reasonable compromise be to send fine seed in glassine, and larger stuff in ziplocks?
Labelling can still be a problem due to ambiguous handwriting, particularly if the envelope carries a number only. Is there any practical way around this?
Once again my thanks and appreciation to all who make the seed exchange work so well 8)
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Cohan, I'd never thought of breathing into the packet, I'll try this next year. I found I had to cut open the zip lock bags to get the tiny seeds out, and even then they carried static making them stick to my knife when putting them into groups to packet up. Zip locks are not too bad for larger seeds such as crocus ( I did a lot of crocus this year) but the fine seed was very difficult to deal with.
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I'm so happy! Tra la la!
Because years ago I bought 2 boxes of 1000 "coin envelopes" each. It's probably more than a lifetime supply, but at least my seeds go to the exchanges in paper, not plastic!
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It is philatelic - and the envelopes are excellent - non glued :)
Thanks, Art, wrote that but then convinced my self there were letters missing! ::)
I always thought that philately would get you nowhere? ???
;D :-[ It's a bad day for punning.
cheers
fermi
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Shame on you Fermi. You're as bad as Mr Buttercup!
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Oh dear... I posted this thread, went away, did nineteen dozen other things, totally forgot about and just rediscovered this evening! Sorry all... one the actual packet front my favourite is the person who creates little origami packets, they are easy to open having no tape or glue and, as they end up being a flat sheet of paper, so long as I open on my paper plate are wonderful...
Seriously folk send your seed no matter what. We had one really weird seed, sorry can't remember what it was... that was slightly sticky and clumped together - dividing into lots of five seeds was fun and games ;D
That said I guess my final comments are: When you look at your seed prior to packing up and sending off to the seedy ones. Just take a few seconds to look at the packets and ask yourself 'Would I appreciate receiving seed to packet that looked like this... In the very unlikely event that your answer is 'no' ask yourself it you should be sending. Equally if you are not sure that the seed you have sent in is viable flag this in some way so it can be checked, if David and I 'know' what a specific seed is meant to look like then all is fine BUT if we have to packet something we don't grow ourselves all we can do is look at the various offerings separately study the books and, if one of them looks very different or does not appear to be viable, not packet.
Thank you to all seed donors :)
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Nearly thirty years ago (1983, to be exact), I attended the Western Winter Study Weekend. That year it was hosted by the Seattle chapter of the then-ARGS, and held at Fort Worden, a decommissioned military installation outside Port Townsend, Washington. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=48.137597,-122.767196&spn=0.012716,0.027552&z=15
Attendees were housed in the former officers' quarters (still icy cold inside! friends warned me, "take your electric blanket"), and meals were at the dining hall on site.
One morning I was sitting over breakfast yakking with Vera Peck, who in those days ran the Alpine Garden Club of BC's seed exchange and we got on the subject of seed. "Oh, you should see the seed that Faith Mackaness sends in! It looks like every seed has been hand-polished." My mental reaction was "well, if that old bat can do it so well, so can I". Ever since I've tried to come up to that standard as a matter of personal pride.
I know some people take the attitude that any old seed will do, and they take no more care over the cleaning than over the selection of plants to collect from. But, dear people, that's NOT the way to do it. Try and put yourself in the position of the person who opens your parcel of seed: you want to inspire reactions like "oh, wow, look at this, seed of Veriolitsis glomulama, I've been looking for that for over 30 years! and there's so much of it! and look how beautifully clean it is, every seed looks like it's been hand polished!"
Yes, it takes time and effort to collect, clean, package, and mail your seed, but the extra effort to do it to a high standard is not much more than the effort to do it to a much lower standard.
And besides, I have a theory that while seed donors have privileges, some donors are more privileged than others: the seed exchange workers know who sends in truly worthy donations.
PS: Vera Peck died several years ago, I think well into her eighties. I counted her as a friend, one of those special friends it's a privilege to know, and I honor her memory. Faith Mackaness was a fixture of the horticultural community around Portland, Oregon, and had her home and garden in the then semi-rural area out by Gresham, Oregon (iirc!). She was an early champion of the "hardy plant" movement and well known for having an endless assortment of rare and desirable plants in her garden. At the study weekend mentioned, she delivered an incredibly amusing talk about her early days as a gardener, complete with an account of the mountain beavers that infested the area around her first house. The audience was in stitches. And, no, she wasn't an old bat, not by any means. She too has gone, alas.
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One morning I was sitting over breakfast yakking with Vera Peck, who in those days ran the Alpine Garden Club of BC's seed exchange and we got on the subject of seed. "Oh, you should see the seed that Faith Mackaness sends in! It looks like every seed has been hand-polished." My mental reaction was "well, if that old bat can do it so well, so can I". Ever since I've tried to come up to that standard as a matter of personal pride.
PS: Vera Peck died several years ago, I think well into her eighties. I counted her as a friend, one of those special friends it's a privilege to know, and I honor her memory. Faith Mackaness was a fixture of the horticultural community around Portland, Oregon, and had her home and garden in the then semi-rural area out by Gresham, Oregon (iirc!). She was an early champion of the "hardy plant" movement and well known for having an endless assortment of rare and desirable plants in her garden. At the study weekend mentioned, she delivered an incredibly amusing talk about her early days as a gardener, complete with an account of the mountain beavers that infested the area around her first house. The audience was in stitches. And, no, she wasn't an old bat, not by any means. She too has gone, alas.
Rodger, thank you so much for these memories, I am still wiping my eyes from laughing.
You and so many other forumists at times mention people, now departed who were not only fantastic gardeners but interesting and very amusing people.
I read these tales and wish I too could have met these people and called them friends.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone could organize a book of memories, to share with those who came after.
Tell your stories while you can :)
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And who else (than me) drops every fritillaria and lilium seed from about 30cms onto a plate, to see if it falls quickly and lands with a little click, therefore knowing it is fertile. Some which look plump and with a "meaty" inside, are still not viable.
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Reminds me that I have still not vacuumed the dining room floor after Carol was blowing the chaff (as well as she could) out of the Frit seed donations on Sunday!
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David, that reminds me of another hazard to be faced by the seed packeters.... that of spilling liquid on the carpet of the seed packeting room, only to find in a day or two that there is a rash of seedlings coming up !! :o ;D ::)
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I'm sure my conservatory carpet tiles are going to be a good growing medium. I splash water down there regularly when I'm painting. Who knows what is in store....
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I'm sure my conservatory carpet tiles are going to be a good growing medium. I splash water down there regularly when I'm painting. Who knows what is in store....
I wonder if we need a class at the shows for a display of random, rogue seedlings from Seed Packeters' flooring?? ;D
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"Class 69 - One Section of Carpet Cut From Exhibitors Floor to Show Variation of Seed Packeted in 2007. Carpet not to exceed 20cm square".
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"Class 69 - One Section of Carpet Cut From Exhibitors Floor to Show Variation of Seed Packeted in 2007. Carpet not to exceed 20cm square".
;D ;D
Do you want to email Barry, or shall I ??!! ::) ;)
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David, that reminds me of another hazard to be faced by the seed packeters.... that of spilling liquid on the carpet of the seed packeting room, only to find in a day or two that there is a rash of seedlings coming up !! :o ;D ::)
Like a story I used to read to my children of an elderly gardener with poor eyesight. She sprinkled her seed on the garden beds but didn't notice the hedgehog who, when subsequently watered, sprouted well and was a very pretty mobile display for weeks to come.
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;D ;D ;D
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"Class 69 - One Section of Carpet Cut From Exhibitors Floor to Show Variation of Seed Packeted in 2007. Carpet not to exceed 20cm square".
;D ;D
Do you want to email Barry, or shall I ??!! ::) ;)
No, please no, I am awaiting the Show Schedule to and if Barry has to add another class :'( :'( :'(