What a great thread and since I've come out of my lurkdom here and have a fair amount of experience in packing seeds to trade/share, and have received seeds in, in a multitude of ways, I'll just add my 2 cents. I see there are certainly multiple ways and some consider one way to be the best, while others consider it to have cons. I don't think any one way is considerably better than another. As far as economical, the ones using pages from catalogs, or printer paper (new or used) are probably by far the most economical to make. What works well for one, might not work for another. What is economical (or considered to be) for one, might not be economical to another. Getting the seeds out of its packaging is yet another part of the equation. Resealing, if need be, is another part of the equation. There is patience (which I have little of) and time as well as convenience to be considered. I have and use the small zip lock baggies. They are found to be what works best for me. They are a little more than 2/3 cent each when I ordered 3000 of the the discounted Blue Line ones Here. Maybe Trudi has an even cheaper source, of ordering in bulk without having to order a million. This winter, I've pondered the problem of static electricity with certain seeds or with particularly tiny seeds like sedums and butterfly bushes. What I opted to do on those two are to wrap the seeds in a 4" square of tissue, folded and labeled, and then inserted in the zip baggie. Nice instructions and pics pitimpinai and monte. Thanks for sharing! I'm sure that many will benefit from them both. Now...you know my preferred way to pack the seeds that I send out and the cost, we'll move on to how I like to receive seeds packed. Like quilt said above, " I promise you if you send me a pack of seeds in a straw, an envelope, a zip lock baggie, a coin envelope, a bubble mailer, or a tin can I will throw them in dirt and water them just the same. " Whatever one chooses to send them in is fine by me. I do kind of like the zip baggies for bigger seeds, and either reuse or recycle them along with other plastic bags...yes I am OCD (or is it CDO?) when it comes to recycling. The brightly colored ones made from recycled catalogs always brighten my day when I see them. If the seeds are properly dried, I think that any kind of packaging is fine and not detrimental. #What is most economical for one person might not be to another person, variables being the purchase of zippies, coin envelopes, straws, printer paper, printer ink, stick on labeling of some sort. #What one prefers to pack in is indubitably not preferred by all, also for numerous reasons. As important as seed packaging is, I think that the labeling is of just as much or more importance, but that is maybe food for thought for another time and thread. Below is a pic of several of the packs of wonderful seeds I received in the 2009 WLOMWL swap. Lots of different packaging, and labeling. Something I had not seen before were glassine baggies and what looked like folded glassine. Both suited me fine/great because of what they contained. Happy gardening, collecting, sharing/trading, and dreaming of your 2010 gardens! Sue...rbb as Terenne said, "This thread is a great example of different strokes for different folks. I so agree. Oh...if you're still with me, my vote for the most economical ones would have to be those made from recycled paper. EEK...have I had too much coffee again? Sue...rbb and loquacious as usual. (kcqrna and monte, it was aliska12000 above that spoke of the rosary pliers in her post showing her potential seed sowing tools.)

At the bottom of any page, click on the "Member Pages" link. From there, you'll want to click on the "Edit Your Exchange Lists" link. Hope that helps! :) Brenda

When I had seeds to trade, I posted on the Seed Exchange forum. I made sure my trade list was up-to-date. If someone was interested in trading with me, they contacted me via email. As with other gardening objectives, it makes sense to define your goals--decide how you want to trade (i, e, postage, address labels, envelopes) and put that out there on GW. List the seeds you have to trade on your trade list, then post what seed types you've got available on the Seed Exchange forum. I "shopped" for seeds on the Seed Exchange forum a couple of years until I filled my garden beds. I kept the seed exchange information (i.e., names & addresses of folks with whom I traded) on an Excel spreadsheet so I'd have it for future reference. Common sense rule of thumb is be sure you get return postage prior to mailing seeds.

I find affordable seeds - including unusual and heirloom varieties - at Pinetree Gardens and The Sample Seed Shop. For anything REALLY unusual, look to Baker Creek Seeds. If you're a hot pepper freak, Redwood City Seeds. Ethnic seeds from Seeds of India and 2 places I get Sino-Asian veggies from whose names escape me at the moment. I am also failing to retrieve the name of my Preferred Potato Provider, but I do have one. I about had a heart attack when I got a load of the price of seeds at Park's and Burpee this year! I bought nearly everything from The Sample Seed Shop instead. Despite my near-perfect level of preparation this year - lights, shelves, trays, seeds, potting mixes, everything ready to go - I ended up having to buy plants this year, thanks to one of my arms trying to secede from the rest of my body. Civil war has not QUITE broken out yet, we're still in open, if chilly, negotiations. The lack of veggies in 4 paks coupled with the ridiculous price for 1 plant in a 4" pot apparently made out of wood pulp and gorilla snot floored me. But that was just a warm-up - the real shocker was discovering that neither Big Box store is carrying a whole slew of supplies, such as th BIG (4 to 4.5 cu ft) bales of peat moss, gypsum in quantities less than 20 or 30 lbs, and perlite in something larger than a sandwich bag. Among other things. I'm reduced to scrounging for supplies at the local hydroponics store, where the big bags of perlite, while 2x the cost of last year's Thermorock from Home Despot, at least have the advantage of costing HALF what the local nursery is charging. $60 for 4 cu ft of THERMOROCK coarse at the nursery! AAAACK! What's an inveterate make-yer-own-potting-medium-er to do? LOL!