Topic: New to seed swapping

[Garden Manager]

I was looking at all the seed packets i have aquired recently and thinking to myself  'I'll never sow them all' and wondered about swapping them. This perhaps being a better alternative than trying to sell them on Ebay.

I was wondering how one went about doing a swap? Any tips/advice would be gratefully received.  Thanks  :)

[aquilegia]

Richard - just list them here. Say what you want and see what replies you get. Couldn't be simpler.

[Garden Manager]

Great Aqui, just what i thought. Thanks. Now i have to decide what i want and what i want to swap  ;D

Deciding what to swap is the easy bit - thinking of what i wnt in return is the hard part. Decisions decisions......... :-\

[Mrs Ava]

Richard, I have been swapping seeds now for a couple of years, and one thing I would say is don't be toooo precise and piccy with what you want in return.  Ruud and I have traded a few times and it works great!  

If you have loads of, no offence seeds, common seeds, and you are after unusual, the people who have the unusual won't necessarily want common, if you know what I mean....clear as mud I know.  The way I have done it, and I have to say I have had some real beauties returned, is type up my list of what I have and then a list of the sorts of things I would like, but also make it clear that I am open to suggestions, and then see how it goes.  Thing is, if you have stacks of seeds that you are never going to sow, someone might as well have the pleasure of growing them rather than them all drying up and becoming no good and ending up in the bin....

Okay, I shall shut up know.

[Garden Manager]

Hello EJ, thanks for replying. yes i see what mean and will bear it in mind.

I tend to get lots of bedding plant seeds free in magazines and so on. I like some but cannot grow all and basicaly am not the greatest fan of half hardy annuals. I prefer herbaceous perennials - they last longer and are well worth the effort growing.

I am not talking about dead common stuff here, like petunias or pelargoniums either.

Trouble is although i have more than i need, i can never be 100% sure that i wont want to grow them at some point even if i dont want to know, so it makes deciding difficult. however as i am keen to exchange for more intersting varieties I shall certainly give it a go.

[Mrs Ava]

One thing you can do Richard, with the seeds you think you might want, but can't be sure, open them and say, half the packet.  Bung half in a new little packet, and label, and you keep the original.  It is a common practise amongst us traders.  ;D  I agree with you about the perennials, but I love growing the african beauties also so do a lot of trading that way.  Problem with them is, they need lots of winter tlc, and you have to wait years for a flower  :-\

[ruud]

Hi richard,so as E.J. already wrote i did some trading with this lady,and it was always a surprise what was inside the envolop,but serious now its a great way to get some rare seeds,and do remember commen here is rare overthere.I also did swaps with gardeners from the states,canada,belgium,australia and ofcourse from holland.I found a webside in the u.k thats especially for swapping seeds. www.gardenpassion.cfdeveloper.co.uk mayby that will help you.By the way E.J. nice picture,must be already summer in the u.k.