SRGC Seed Exchange 2010-2011 General information

[Maggi Young]

64th SRGC Seed Exchange - 2010-2011
Autumn 2010 Seed Donations
Please send seed donations, individually packaged per variety, preferably in a paper
envelope, and cleaned of all seed cases, debris, insects, etc to:-
Prof. Stuart Pawley, Acres of Keillour, Methven, Perth, Scotland, UK, PH1 3RA.
Please include your name and address and a clearly written alphabetical list of the
seed you are sending. Don’t be put off if you only have a small amount of seed of
a species- it may be the small amount that no-one else has, and that someone would
love to have.
The deadline for seed to arrive at Stuart’s door is 31st October 2010, please.
If you have “late maturing” seed that cannot be sent until later, please send the information
about this as early as possible and before 31st October, to Stuart at gsp.srgc@
tesco.net. Send the list in the text of an e-mail, not as an attachment. Stuart can’t
afford a computer virus at this critical time. It is important to send the information
early so we can produce the seed list in good time. Please send late seed as soon as
you can.
Seed Lists
Overseas members and all donors will receive a seed list by post automatically. Home
non-donors should request a list from Stuart Pawley, and send a C5 (24 x 17.5 cm)
stamped addressed envelope. Last date for requesting a list will be 14th December.
The seed list will be available from around 10th November, and will go online at the
same time; you can browse and order online as well as by post. You will need a password (this has been issued in the Secretary's Pages, sent out with the recent Journal.  You will also need to enter your membership number (it’s
on the envelope the The Rock Garden arrived in!)
Seed Distribution: early 2011
Seed orders must reach Alan Hayes by 15th January; we cannot guarantee to meet
orders received later. The Edinburgh Rock Garden Group begins seed distribution in
early January; we aim to have all main orders completed by January 18th.
Surplus seed distribution will not begin until all main orders are completed; not
before Jan. 18th, so members will receive their main and surplus orders a few weeks
apart. We hope to complete surplus distribution by the first weekend in February.
Queries about seed orders should be addressed to alan.hayes31@blueyonder.co.uk,
but please do not enquire about the whereabouts of orders until after 5th February.
Donors’ orders will be completed first, on the basis of their donation record; donating
more seed and for more years moves you up the list. Non-donors and surplus seed
orders will be dealt with in order of their arrival date with Alan Hayes.
Seed Exchange Notice for USA Members
US members must have a ‘Small Lots of Seeds’ permit, which is issued by APHIS. You
can find details of how to get a permit at:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_imports/smalllots_seed.
shtml
This must be a ‘small lots’ permit, as this does not require UK phytosanitary certification.
You must enclose a copy of the permit and conditions and a green/yellow customs label
for each order - one for a main order, and one for each surplus order of 50 packets.
If you order online, you must still post the permit documents and labels to Alan
Hayes. You can copy your permit as many times as you need. Please ensure your
permit is still valid before you send copies to us.
We must stress that “no permit, no seed” is the SRGC rule! We will do our best to get
everyone their seed, but it must be in compliance with USDA regulations.

[Maggi Young]

A reminder about the forthcoming 64th Seed Exchange of the SRGC:
SRGC 64th Seed Exchange 2010-2011 season

The Seedlist for the 64th Exchange will be available on the main SRGC Website after publication of the paper list in late 2010. ( http://www.srgc.org.uk/seed/seedexchange.pdf)

Autumn 2010 Seed Donation

The 2010 Seed Donation will operate in the same way as recent years:

Donating Seed

If members have seed they would like to donate, please send it, individually packaged per variety, preferably in a paper envelope, and cleaned of all seed cases, debris, insects, etc to:- Prof. Stuart Pawley, Acres of Keillour, Methven, Perth, Scotland, U.K. PH1 3RA.

Please include your name and address and a clearly written alphabetical list of the seed you are sending.

The deadline for seed to arrive at Stuart’s door is 31st October 2010, please.

If you have any "late maturing" seed that cannot be sent until after that deadline, please send the information about this seed as early as possible and at the latest: before 31st October, to Stuart at gsp.srgc@tesco.net. Please send the list in the body text of an e- mail, not as an attachment of any kind – Stuart can’t afford to acquire a computer virus at this critical time. It is important to get this information to Stuart before the deadline so we can produce the seed list in time for mailing.

Please send late seed as soon as you can after October 31st

The bonus of being a seed donor is that you get the Seed List sent to you automatically (All Overseas members will also automatically get the Seed List), you get 25 packets of seed in the main Seed Distribution (only 16 if you are a non-donor) - and the Donors are given priority in the Seed Distribution.





SRGC 64th Seed Distribution: early 2011

The SRGC 64th Seed Distribution in 2010-11 will again be completed by the Edinburgh Group of the Scottish Rock Garden Club.

Seed distribution work will begin on the first Saturday in January, and we hope to have all main orders completed by January 18th.

Surplus seed distribution will not begin until all main orders are completed; ie not before Jan. 18th, so members will receive their main and surplus orders a few weeks apart.

We hope to complete the surplus distribution by the first weekend in February.

Seed orders must reach Alan Hayes by 15th January; we cannot guarantee to meet orders received later.

Queries about seed orders should be addressed to alan.hayes31@blueyonder.co.uk, but please do not enquire about the whereabouts of orders until after 5th February.

Donors’ orders will be completed on the basis of their donation record; if you donate more seed and donate for more years, you will move up the donors’ priority list. Non-donors and surplus seed orders will be dealt with in order of their arrival date with Alan Hayes.

Seed Exchange Notice for USA Members

In 2006 the US authorities introduced new regulations regarding the import of seeds into the US, which apply to all US residents requiring seed from the Seed Exchange. To participate in the SRGC Seed Exchange, our US members must have a 'Small Lots of Seeds' permit, which is issued by APHIS. We advise that you get the permit now, rather than wait until the seed list arrives. You can find details of how to get a permit at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_imports/smalllots_seed.shtml

We must emphasise that it has to be a 'small lots' permit, as this is the only permit which does not require phytosanitary certification at our end.

When you send your seed order, we need a copy of the permit, the conditions attached to it and a green and yellow customs label for that permit for each of your orders - one for a main order, and one for each order of 50 packets in the surplus.

Please read all Seed Exchange instructions before ordering. Even if you order online, you must still post the permit documents and labels to Alan Hayes. You can copy your permit as many times as you need, and we understand the permit lasts for three years, so get it now and use it till 2013.

Some Folks who have had their permits for  some time will discover that these are about to expire: so check your permit NOW and renew it as neccessary!! Please ensure your permit is still valid before you send copies through to us. We must stress that "no permit, no seed" is the SRGC rule! We will do our best to get everyone their seed, but it must be in compliance with USDA regulations.

[Maggi Young]

As well as reminding you to get your seed sent off soon to Stuart Pawley, and for the USA members to check the status of their import permits, I think it is a  good idea to remind you also that in order to make a seed request online you will require the password for the 64th SRGC Seed Exchange and your SRGC Membership Number.
It may be a good idea to check NOW that you have these and file them in a safe place!  
The seedlist password for the coming season was published in the Secretary's Pages which was sent with the last Journal, Number 125, dated July 2010.... it has a photo of a  Cremanthodium on the cover.
This password is also published in the Seed Exchange article in that Journal, on page 10.
  
The password will not be able to be used until the seedlist goes live online, probably sometime in November. An announcement will be made when that is.
 
Members will also need their membership number, which will have been noted on the envelope the journal came in, or on their membership card, to make their seed request.

I suggest that checking these details now will save you a lot of bother when the time comes for you to make your seed requests..... and who knows, it may  even  take a load off my shoulders!

In which case, I thank you all most profusely, in advance!!    

[Maggi Young]

The Seedlist for the 64th Seed Exchange of the SRGC is now being posted out to Members and an online copy PLUS the Online Seed Ordering System will be activated early next week.

The Seed Team hasn't given us the go-ahead for the online version yet.They are  getting the lists out: even as we speak I hope they are all posted, but there is a delay before putting the online version and activating the online ordering to be fair to those getting their list by post.

Overseas members using the ONLINE system WILL NOT need to send by post their written lists (for import of seeds to the likes of USA, Australia, New Zealand) ..... BUT, postal requests for seeds from those countries WILL NEED those lists to be sent in with the requests.

 Another reminder to members in the USA: Please check that your "Small Lots of Seed Import  Permits" are still valid. Those obtained in the early days of this scheme will now be expiring and so it would be a good idea tyo check the statuds of your permits NOW and get replacements in place in time to send as soon a possible to the Seed Team, as stated in the Seed Ex. notes. (These will be posted for information when the list goes "live".)

REMEMBER:
When the online system is operational, you will need the password for the season and your membership number. ( That is the number only, not the letter code : e.g. your membership number might be shown as REW 917682 but all you require to input to the online system is  917682.)

The password, as a security measure,  has been shown in the Secretary's pages and in the last Journal #125 .... if all else fails, of course.... email me!  

I will make an  post here to alert you  when the online system is operational.

[Maggi Young]

Read the seed exchange notes and browse the list online now :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/seed/seedexchange.pdf and click on the "2010-2011 SRGC 64th Seed List to Browse"... button.

I will post again when the online ordering system goes live. 

[Maggi Young]

The online ordering system is now live.

Last year's registrations are no longer valid, you need to start from scratch, to allow the system to check whether your membership is up to date.
This means you will need to begin by accessing the system with the password mentioned pre viously, and toyour membership number.
Later in the process you will choose your own password and then you may return to the system thereafter by logging in with your own password to do further work on your order if needed.

Please make sure that you do complete EVERY step of the process.
 
It is not difficult, it simply needs a little attention to detail.
Happy seed hunting, Folks!

[Maggi Young]

Last year's registrations are no longer valid, you need to start from scratch, to allow the system to check whether your membership is up to date.
This means you will need to begin by accessing the system with the password mentioned pre viously, and toyour membership number.
Later in the process you will choose your own password and then you may return to the system thereafter by logging in with your own password to do further work on your order if needed.

A further reminder:
When you have entered the online system and filled in the registration "from" you will receive an email, sent to the email address you have supplied. This is to check that it is operational.
You must click on the link in that email to fully activate your seed account
Then, when returning to the Seed system you LOG IN with your membership number and the password you chose on registration.
Please make a note of your password.... it IS case sensitive so if you registered 'HOLIDAY' the system will not let you enter with 'holiday'


Please make sure that you do complete EVERY step of the process. All the instructions are in the pages as you go along.
 

[admin]

If you use AOL  check your spam folder for the registration email Hotmail, gmail etc are also known to cause problems from time to time.

[ashley]

Congratulations on an excellent system Fred

[admin]

Thanks Ashley.

It's essentially the same as last year with one or two small usability improvements.

[Brian Ellis]

How easy was that?  Well done to Fred and all the team for making it such a user friendly (apart obviously from the dreaded AOL system) experience.

[Maggi Young]

Members seeking extra info on plants in the Seedlist may find this link useful:
http://rockgardener.com/harkness/seedlist.cfm

This is a facility to search, online, the Seedlist Handbook.
The page reads........

"This handbook consists of a comprehensive listing of varieties of seed that have been offered by three seed exchanges (Alpine Garden Society, Scottish Rock Garden Club, and North American Rock Garden Society). Brief details of type, size, color, and origin are also included.

To access any plant listed, type genus name and click Get Genus; then scroll through the listing. For larger genera, reduce the response time by specifying a starting point in the species list; in this case retrieval is limited to 30 species. For example, campanula sarmatica produces the 30 Campanula species starting at sarmatica.

Alternatives are partial genus or family names which produce candidates.

The North American Rock Garden Society is grateful to Mabel G. Harkness and Timber Press for permission to use the second edition of the Seedlist Handbook."

[wooden shoe]

Thanks Fred,
I ran through the online ordering smoothly. Great work!

[johnw]

Is the list of seeds actually on line yet? I registered without a hitch but...

http://www.srgc.org.uk/seed/seedexchange.pdf and click on the "2010-2011 SRGC 64th Seed List to Browse"

I click on this button and it says "can’t open “2010seedlist.pdf” because the first character of its address is not valid."

The web address is 2010seedlist.pdf, no www.+whatever.

johnw

[Maggi Young]

Think this must be a browser hitch, John, someone had it yesterday but it seemed to  go away 

Anyway, here's a link to click on for the list to browse, print etc at will...
http://www.srgc.org.uk/seed/2010seedlist.pdf