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.)

jim, Nope, never done anything dumb in the kitchen myself, ever ever... ;-) We do like to tell a similar story about one Thanksgiving in my childhood. My Dad had made stock from the turkey carcass in the big stockpot, and it was sitting cooling in the corner of the kitchen. Later that evening, my mom asked my little brother (who, to be fair, was only 10 or 12) to take the pot downstairs. Now, what she meant, and thought was clear from context, was to "take the pot of stock and put it in the second fridge in the basement, where there is room for it." What my brother understood was "take that big pot full of really dirty water and dump it down the big sink in the laundry room downstairs." Being in a helpful mood, my brother even scrubbed out the pot while he was down there (he figured whatever was in it must be really nasty if mom didn't even want it poured down the drain of her kitchen sink) and brought it back up shiny clean, proud to be such a good son. Zabby

Is it worth it? Well, I think it is. We just finished eating all of our potatoes. We still have 6 to 8 more helpings(each one feeding 12 people)of pureed tomatoes that have been in the freezer all winter for pasta things. We have 6 to 8 more things of pesto in the freezer that will take us to May. We are still eating carrots from last year. I have 3 large banana squash's, 8 more butternut squash's, and still lots of frozen beans and corn from last year. I dont spend that much on anything anymore. Some of my seeds I have had for 8 years, and they still work. I definitely think it is more than worth it, not to mention the shape of the economy, and even more so-the healthy things we get around here without all the worries of salmonella,e.Coli, etc....for me, its totally worth it...

Preppy stud, economically, you might b better off buying the pints as we haven't talked about weather changes and animals decimating home grown edibles, events that can put you in the red fast! However, there are less discussed and more subjective benefits to growing your own:. 1). In case of Armgeddon or any such catastrophe, you would have growing experience under your belt vs. those who only buy at store so hopefully better survival skills 2). Satisfaction of growing yourself and increased love and appreciation of nature 3) you will join the ranks of those demanding food mfrs be accountable and honest as you will now better understand what it means to work with Nature