I've taken a page from that book. I've recently posted a rant about people contacting me, then getting ugly when I ask for their GW ID. That's if they'd mentioned GW. Otherwise I ask what site they found me on. Any response but this one perhaps gets a polite letter telling them I don't trade with people I'm not familiar with. If they don't want to provide me with an ID, then I don't want to share the babies that others have shared and entrusted to me. Lately it seems to be more and more the rarer seeds they're after. So, I've gotten to where I don't post those on my trade list. When I'm setting up a trade I scan the other person's list and see if their interests run towards some of the more rare or expensive that I have to share. If so, I offer them. I'm new, and I have a very (well, it was anyway :) ) empty yard. I responded promptly to SASBEs, I've made a presence on the boards both here and in the RR. I'm even hosting a RR this month (shameless plug for the MNF After Dark RR!) I took the time and trouble to put up a trade list. I take the time to split down VERY generous trades so that I have some to plant and some to share. To them it may seem like it's 'just seeds, so why should we care so much' but to me it's my favorite hobby, a way to make new friends, a labor of love to tend the plants and flowers, gather the seeds and repay the kindnesses shown to me. And I've met so many wonderful and generous friends here! I know for a fact the Angie will offer seeds simply for enjoying seeing someone's trade list after they make themselves known on the boards. I was one of the ones blessed by her :) And Michele is always sending me new goodies :) I want to thank you ladies and state again, that you're you're not being small, or petty, or anything else. You're generous hearted people who enjoy gardening and care about your gardens. I am very glad to have met you all. So don't feel badly if you just ignore those emails. If they can't take the time to become part of the community, then they probably can't take the time to plant, nurture and enjoy the babies you would share with them. Kathy

This forum reminds me of playing the old game "Telephone", where you whisper something to the person behind you, they repeat it to the person behind them, etc., until you get to the last person who relates the message and you discover that low and behold! It bears no resemblence to what it started out to be. Gardenweb is supposed to be a seed trading site. TRADING. What will happen when the people who want things for free are more numerous than those who are looking to trade? I know a lot of people who have left GW, pulled their lists, because they don't see it as a viable trading source anymore. People join and post for SASBE the very first day, and you can pretty much bet that many of them will never come back, never offer seeds they have collected (though they may 'generously' give away extras they got from others), unless they are looking for another item they don't want to buy. It's easy to be generous when you have not spent a dime, put in a minute's work, for what you have gotten. And I think that because there are so many SASBE offers, people take the value of the seeds for granted. I could use some minor repairs on my car, some shingles redone on my roof, a bit of legal advice for my son, but I don't expect others to give it to me for free. But when it comes to seeds and plants, it's all fair game--ask for and grab as much as you can. This has nothing to do with generosity. I have sent out easily 60 SASBEs this season compared with only about 12 trades, including to a woman who sent me her SASBE stamped with the name of her law firm (she is senior partner). My husband has been unemployed for the past 6 weeks. People don't need seeds of rare ornamental plants to live, or feed their family, yet I get asked for them all the time because they are costly. Some of these seeds I have collected from plants that were expensive for me to buy, that I have taken the time and care to grow, that I have monitored the pods for days if not weeks to collect them at the exact time they are ripe, that I have cold stratified to keep them viable--in other words, they are a lot of work. Yet they are devalued by people who don't realize or care how much I have put into them. Back in the 'old days' of GW, people joined with the few seeds they had, traded, built up their lists, collected from the plants they grew from seed or purchased things to offer, and continued to build up their lists over the years. They realized that to get really rare or cool things they had to offer the same. There was a sense of accomplishment in that and a realization that what others posted for trade had value. Now there are people who have nothing to trade, but they want the best of the best seeds right away--no effort, no thought, and no sense of responsibility to other traders or to this site. As I said, I never meant this to be a thread against generosity.

hi i would love to have the seeds, any of the 8 would do so you can pick for me, let me know and i will send stamps

Hi Wendey, I would love a grab bag for sasbe! Please let me know where to send it. Thanks! Melissa