Stumbled on this site today. It's a kids website but it tells a little bit about the origins of some fruits & veggies. It's brief but interesting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Origins of fruits & veggies

how many seeds are considered a "full pack" of seeds?

Generally, for medium size (like tomatoes) or larger size veggies (like winter squashes), a full pack is 25-30 seeds. For smaller seeds, 1/4 teaspoon of seeds is considered a full pack.

Bump! There's still plenty of time to sign up!

Hi all! There's still time to sign up. I stumbled on this this morning. It's about weird food from around the world (regarding fruits and veggies. Thought you might want to take a look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Weird Vegetables from Around the World

Bump! There's still a few more days to sign up!

So, when are we getting partners? just curious! Are their still only 3 of us :( I might have to go talk to someone,,,

Hi Christy,

Yes, there's the three of us! I'm letting sign ups go through Friday and will assign partners on Saturday.

So far we have:
SunnyK/ Donna
Bonechickchris / Christy
Booberry85 / Becky

No pouting! The three of us are awesome and know a good thing when we sign up for it!
:)

OH I WANT TO SIGN UP, but I can't! I have so much to get done before my next show, I'm going to be working in my sleep!

Toni,

How can you not sign up? It can be your stress reliever! I tried to give people enough time between sign up & delivery to find lots of fun things. If we made the delivery date the 14th instead of the 7th would that help? Would anyone be opposed to doing that?

That would work! I have two back to back shows...then three weeks off until a 17 day HUGE show, which will be my last for the season. I hate to ask anyone to change the dates for me, but I would be so appreciative if you did.

That's fine with me, Toni. I'm not sure about Donna or Christy. I know Christy's out of town until tomorrow.

I dont mind , The 14th is fine by me....even later if need be : )

One more day to sign up!

SunnyK/ Donna
Bonechickchris / Christy
Booberry85 / Becky
Dirtdiggin / Toni

I picked my first Poona Khira cucumber today! Originally from India. DH will learn that cucumbers come in other colors than green!

Last day to sign up! Nancy is joining us too! She emailed me.

SunnyK/ Donna
Bonechickchris / Christy
Booberry85 / Becky
Dirtdiggin / Toni
luvgardening2 / Nancy

Don't be shy, come join the fun!

Sounds like a good time, sign me up.

Booberry85, My Poona Kheeras are blooming, and it shouldn't be long. My favorite cucumbers are the Poona Kheera and I recommend them to everyone.

Dean(DeanRIowa)

Glad to have you join us, Dean!

SunnyK/ Donna
Bonechickchris / Christy
Booberry85 / Becky
Dirtdiggin / Toni
luvgardening2 / Nancy
DeanRIowa / Dean

I'm glad to know that about the Poona Kheeras (I've slaughtered the spelling every time I've written about them!) This is my first year growing them.

Good Morning Everyone!

Please remember the send by date was changed to the 14th of August. Also, please remember to send with a delivery confirmation. One last thing, please remember to post when you receive your package from your swap partner and tell us about some of the things you received!

Here are your partners:
Bonechickchris / Christy & Luvgardening2 / Nancy
SunnyK/ Donna & Dirtdiggin / Toni
Booberry85 / Becky & DeanRIowa / Dean

Hope you enjoy your "Trip Around the World" through seeds! Happy gardening everyone!
Becky

Will email Donna shortly, but had to share....

Went out this AM to water the garden and noticed that one of my Dahlias is almost completely opened up, so I looked more closely at it and noticed some strange green coloring under the petals. I looked closer and found that almost every petal was host for a little garden friend. When I got my camera, they began to jump off, but I did manage to catch a few in the act of bedtime. Believe it or not, there were more than 10 of these little guys nestled under the petals as the two left are. You can see one escaping but two still have their noses just sticking out from under the petals. What a fun sight! We are inundated with these little guys this year!!!!

For some reason, our frogs are tiny this year. Yesterday, we had two crawl under the front door and come in the house to escape the heat. We're having some major hot temps for here and it is even worse due to our horrific humidity. But these little frogs are only about a half inch long.

Toni

Toni,

That dahlia is gorgeous! I love dahlias. I had a baby hoppy toad hop across my foot today in the garden. I was happy to see him!

That is the most adorable little guy I have seen in a long time!! I wish my yard was a froggy/toady haven.

My partner and I have been in contact.

Nancy

The pressure begins on what to give as my gifts. I am terrible at giving gifts.

Side Note: Frogs and toads I always have to hide in my garden as my wife is afraid of them. I think they are neat, but not her.

Dean

Toni, I missed the teeny tiny froggy hiding in the flower until Donna noted it. It's too cute!

Dean, you need to reassure your wife that they're good because they eat bugs! I'm always happy to see them because it means my garden's ecosystem isn't out of whack.

if you look closely, there are three of them. One is trying to escape and there is a froggy nose to the left and right of him, hiding out. They are tucked under the petals with their noses poking out.

Wow! It's like a frog search puzzle! They're cute!

Hi all,

I seem to be having a few email troubles at home. I'll see if it's working at work. I'll be out of town for a few days. but will be back on Saturday.

Happy Gardening!

Hi Everyone,

I'm back in town now. My email troubles seemed to be short lived! Hope everyone is having fun finding seeds for their partners.

Welcome Back :)

Glad your e-mail woes are over!

I have my box packed and ready to go! I just need to get to a post office now. Easier said than done. I'll be working out of town the end of the week.

Well, I received my mail order, but need to do a bit of research on origins. I'll be mailing shortly. I'm so excited for Donna to receive her package :)

I think it's so fun to see my partners excitement for what I've sent along to them...almost more so than receiving my package lol. Well, almost ;)

It may take a few more days...may not be in the mail until Monday, but I'll try for Thursday...cause I'll be out of town Fri-Sun for a show. But I'll post the DC when it's on the way :)

Toni

I have my package all ready to go....just have to get to the P.O. ... probably tomorrow....hopefully LOL.

:) Donna

My package is on it's way. I'll be out of town for work again. So I won't be around from Wednesday through Friday. Having the work is good, but the traveling bogs me down.

Becky

Toni,
The DC# for your package is:
0308 1400 0000 0107 7591
I hope there are at least a few seeds in the package that excite you :)

I know I get pretty excited with just about any seeds LOL....my daughter calls me "The Seed Hoarder"

Donna :)

Hi everyone! I'm back in town. I finished up my job a day early. It was a nifty place to be but I'm glad to be back home.

Just a reminder, those packages need to be in the mail by the end of next week.

Dean, I checked the tracking number and your package is in Iowa. It should be long now.

Happy Gardening everyone!

Okay Donna, I have your package ready, I'll be sending today and I'll post the DC as soon as it's on the way.

I'm so excited! Exhausted, but excited lol.

Toni

Toni,
did you get the package I sent?? I checked the DC# and it said it had reached its destination. I always worry until the seeds are safe in their new homes LOL!!

Okay, here is the DC - 0103 8555 7497 4654 3820 I do hope you'll enjoy what I sent :)

Donna, I won't know until DH gets home with the mail around 4:30. I'm sure, if it has been marked as delivered, it's sitting in our mailroom on island, awaiting pickup :) So now I'm even more excited lol. I'll post when DH gets home.

Toni

YAYYYYYYYYY!!!! My package from Donna arrived!!!!!! WOW did she spoil me!! So do I post my loot? LOL

How did you know I didn't have ANY of those tomatoes? I have LOADS of tomato seeds and she sent a nice batch...I don't have any of them! WOOOHOOO more tomatoes to try!!!!!!! Can't wait to try them out!!!! And all the others too!!!! The Chocolate bar is currently being tested by DS and me lol. We'll give you the results upon completion lol. YUMMY DARK CHOCOLATE!!!!!

Thank you SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so happy you liked your loot!! I am also glad that you like the chocolate....I love dark chocolate myself and I forget a lot of people dont love it like me, lol :-)

Toni,

You're going to leave us in suspense??!!!! Please let know about some of those seeds your received.

Dean, I hope your package made it to your home! If not, please contact the PO with the tracking number. It should be a ~ 6" square brown box.

Donna - Try a piece of dark chocolate with a good glass of red wine....YUMMY!!! I prefer dark chocolate and it's far better for you than other chocolate! YUMMY!!!! DH is a dark chocolate nut too lol. So you chose well for this family ;)

As for my loot lol.... I won't keep you in suspense any longer.....

As for the chocolate, it was a Ghirardelli Intense Dark Evening Dream chocolate bar...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Note the word WAS lol

Seeds....

Cilantro
Cascabel Pepper
Hungarian Hot Yellow wax pepper
Piment d' Espelette Pepper
Chiogga Beet
Calabrese Broccoli
Tomatillo - Mexico
Wild Spanish Green Tomatillo
Vittoria Eggplant
Rotonda Bianca Eggplant
Chinese Red Noodle Bean
Rosemary
Black Spanish Round Radish
Adapazari Squash
Edamame Gardebsoy
Rucola Coltivata Greens
Lattuga Corcarde Greens/lettuce
Sweet Florence Fennel
Sweet Spanish Onion
Guajito Tomato
Russian Lime Tomato
Kalman's Hungarian Pink Tomato
Jaune Negib Tomato

Can't wait to try them all out :)

Thanks so much Donna....

Toni

WooHooo....I got my goodies from Toni today!! It was like Christmas in August LOL!!

I LOVE the glass garden ornaments they are gorgeous! And the bandana is so cool!I had to control myself with the Chocolate Raspberry sticks....I was only going to try one and ended up eating almost half the box LOL!

And so many cool seeds too!!

Tomatoes:
Black from Tula
Green Moldovan
Noire Charbonneuse
Black Cuban
Dr. Wyches Yellow
Turkish Monastery
Black Altai

Squash Spaghetti
Carrots St.Valery
Radish China White
Beets Lutz Green Leaf
Lettuce Romaine Verde d'Inverno
Artichoke Violetta Chiogga
Tomatillo Purple Coban

I love them all!! And so many things from my wish list, You really Spoiled me Toni! Thank you so very very much :)

Thanks :-)
Donna

YAY Donna!!! I'm so glad it arrived today! And I'm glad you enjoyed your loot lol. I'm so addicted to these swaps! They're such fun and getting to know others is awesome!

Well thanks for a wonderful swap...look forward to reading about everyone elses loot lol.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll take a peak through the weekened...but won't be around much though...just long enough for a few winks and off again.

Toni

I have finally returned from my extended family trip and my package has been sent. Sorry about the delay BooBerry85, I sent you an email with tracking Number.

I want to thank Becky for her generosity. I was a bit worried when I did arrive home, as no package, but my neighbors rescued it from my porch, but not before getting 4" inches of rain, thus it was good Becky placed the seeds in a Ziplock, which left them nice and dry.

Here is the list of seeds I received:

• Bean - Maria Amazilitei's

• Bean - Missouri Pole

• Chicory - Italian Dandelion

• Cucumber - Japanese Long

• Flower - Nasturtium - Alaska Mixed Color

• Lettuce - Marvielle of Four Seasons

• Onion - Sweet Spanish Yellow Utah Jumbo

• Spinach - New Zealand

• Squash - Cucuzzi

• Swiss Chard - Rhubarb

• Tomato - Black Seaman

• Tomato - Oregon Spring

• Tomato - Paul Robeson

• Tomato - Sarnowski

thanks again,

Dean

I forgot to mention the nice recipes I was sent:

• Cucumber Garlic Yogurt Sauce(Dip)
• African Peanut Stew
• Bean Soup
• Borscht

I am looking forward to trying them out, especially the Dip and Peanut Stew.

Dean

Dean, I'm so sorry about the rain! I hope it didn't damage anything else in the package. Glad the seeds were safe!

I received my seeds from Dean today. He wrote up beautiful descriptions of all the seeds. I'm having a great trip around the world. He also sent me some great recipes. Here's the recipes:
Bavarian Potato Salad (German)
Suya Kabobs (Nigerian)
Iranian Chicken in Tomato Sauce
Pepino Aqua Fresca (Mexico) - a refreshing summer drink made with cucumbers. It's 93 degrees today - the hottest day of the year. This sounds good!
Pina Aqua Fresca (Mexico) - MMMmmmmm Pineapple drink!
Chimichurri Sauce (Argentina)

I haven't eaten dinner yet. I can't tell you how good all of these sound!

Now for the seeds:
Asparagus Beans (China)
Blue coco Beans (France)
Armenian Cucumbers (Armenia)
Super Zagross Middle Eastern Cucumber (Iranian)
Cyclanthera Pedata - Lady's Slippers (Andes)
Cham-ae Melon (Korea)
Alma Paprika (Hungary)
Feher Ozon Paprika (Hungary)
Cyklon Pepper (Polish)
Chile de Arbol Pepper(Mexico)
Munchener Bier Radish (Germany)
Purple Plum Radish (France)
Brandywine Sudduth Tomato(USA)
Wapsipinicon Peach Tomato(USA)
Italian Market Wonder Tomato (Italy)

Whew! Well, I'm tired from the trip. Thanks so much, Dean!

Hello everyone! Just checking in. Nancy and Christy are you two set? I've been having a busy week. I've been working like a dog. On top of that, I found out the hard way what Vertigo is. I went to the doctors and have some meds to stop the dizzy spells. The doctor seem to think that by my symptoms, I'M already well on my way to have my inner ear correct itself. Dizzy spells aren't as fun as they sound!

Hope all is well with everyone else.

Becky

Ack vertigo is terrible :( I hope you are feeling better!!