Plain paper envelopes have to be no more than 1/4 inch thick. The USPS has a template they use to see if your envelope will easily slide through. As long as there is padding and the seeds are protected I agree--$.65 is a better price. For thinner packing material with the same protection try cut up styrofoam meat trays or styrofoam plates. Use two pieces and tape the seeds flat between them. This helps you keep under the 1/4" requirement. Every time I take a bubble envelope to the post office it's $1.95. If I mail it myself I can put 2 or 3 stamps on it like the last post. If anyone uses flat rate boxes I recommend Click-N-Ship on the internet. The box is the same amount, but you get the tracking number for free. If I mail it downtown I have to pay more for the tracking number. If you use Click-N-Ship be sure to enter the correct date. If you're mailing the same day make sure the package gets to the mail that day. They can reject it otherwise. I would say most of us would accept seeds either bubble envelope or padded envelope as long as the seeds arrive safe. I traded for 2 years and thought a lot like you--until I received smashed seeds. They were something I really, really wanted to grow and they were toast. Other suggestions: Write the words HAND CANCEL under the stamps in the right corner. Use a dark or red permanent marker. You're doing everything you can to avoid the nasty automatic sorting machines that smash the seeds. Along the bottom of the envelope under the address write Seeds--example: Mr. Smith 123 Elm Street New Alpha, NX 89340 SEEDS-----SEEDS------SEEDS I like to use a pen or green marker. I like to tell myself the person handling my mail will use a little more TLC if they know it's seeds (and don't think I'm trying to send explosives through the mail). Never use duct tape-bombers use duct tape and the USPS may open and inspect your package. When you package your seeds into small baggies or envelopes it may be prudent to get a slightly larger baggie so the seeds can lay flat. They may fit in a tiny bag, but they may be bulkier.

i dont know.. its SAD time on GW ... i have been getting in trouble for 'straight talk' ... lol .... a pic would really help ... the lilac .. with a hand trowel.. and presuming you want to save a piece.. dig out a sucker with some root ... and move it to a good location ... most of my lilac are 8 feet tall and at least that wide ... if you dont have a space for something that size.. just kill the thing ... as to the gas line .. congrats for knowing its there.. lilac is rather shallow rooted.. and short of using a sawzall.. or really jumping on a shovel.. you arent going to break thru a gas line .. have it marked in advance.. tell the guy why.. and ask his advice ... they dont like to admit it.. but their gizmos can ESTIMATE depth ... at least giving you an idea if it 3 inches.. or three feet down ... he should also be able to tell you if its a galvanized pipe or not ... knowledge is power ... whatever they tell you.. just start an archeology excavation.. and get the job done ... it obviously isnt going to be a grinding job ... and because its right there at the front door.. i would make the effort to dig it out.. rather than kill the stump. and leave it there for 5 years to rot away ... like the rest of us.. you want the fast easy solution.. there isnt one.. just an afternoon of gentle digging and slaughter.. lol .. as to the JMap ... they take well to artistic pruning.. trees are made to cut on .. they can deal with it.. with just a few rules ... on PROPER CUTS this tree should NOT overhang the walkway ... again.. snap a pic before it leafs out.. and we can give you guidance on how to prune it ... i do it thru my photoeditor ... and give you a picture of what you should do.. and then everyone argues about it.. lol ... so.. three jobs.. figure out how to post pix dig out the monster prune the JM ... there you go .. 'straight' as i can make it ... dont be lazy.. or delay.. waiting for some miracle cure.. it aint gunna happen ... its one of murphy's rules of gardening ... ken

Well Boulder, if you think I'm phishing then you don't have to contact me-simple. Some folks are just trying to make some extra money and they don't have the acreage you do and they don't really want to farm. And did I say it was "easy?" I think I said it was work-but not like a farm would require. Little minnie-I get students from 3 general avenues: 1. As an addition to a library class that I teach 2. Word of mouth by those who have been to a class 3. Free advertising in the local newspaper Occasionally I will teach an entire neighborhood. I usually get one of those a summer, and there have been some summers where I did 2 or 3(30+ people each time.) I also teach at other local places by invitation that bring in good money. Here's an example of the ad I am running right now in the local papers. Keep in mind most of the work has been done for the year but there are still a lot of lookers and takers. Here it is: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=31472313&cat=62 Hope that gives you some ideas. It's one of many things I've been able to do. Really-contact me by email. I'm selling nothing. If I am all you need to do is come back into the forum and tell everyone-then I'll be banned from here. Some folks think there's only one way to do things. That's not my experience. Email: jrt2020_2@msn.com http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=31472313&cat=62

here are some more news why we should be gardening (organic as much as possible)and produce own vegetable at least! Recently, one of my colleague who has been diagnosed with colon cancer. He not have any bad habits, no smoking, no alcohol, very health cautious...but stuck by dread evil. By god grace he is out of danger now due to right time detection and diagnosis. While resting in hospital beds, he looked back his life style, food habits, family history, etc... he concluded that food was one of the main culprit. He wrote me five page long story about the his cancer and aftermaths...to cut the story short, I just copy/pasting some of his points on Why does one get cancer: Causes of cancer; -Environment we live in (e.g., breathing polluted air); -Genetically modified food (e.g., nearly 80% of all food sold in US super markets are genetically modified like your tomatoes, apples); -Food processing and storage (e.g., injecting chicken with antibiotics to "preserve" them; preservatives in all those tin\can food; manicured apples!!); -Polluted water (e.g., dissolved carcinogens in water from heavy industries that may never be filtered out) ...and one can go on... Another story is Parkinson's vs. Pesticides: I just come to know from Dorothy, Rotenone, a pesticide used in home gardens/farms seems to be causative factor for Parkinson's diseases... He is our own family story...My mother-in-law, but call her a mother, she is nice lady, is also suffering with Parkinson's disease.. she used to consume lot of raw vegetables/salads (of course from market) to keep in good health... but that tuned out be bad. I too guess her PD was due to lot of harsh chemical in the vegetables. The use of pesticides in food production becoming one of the biggest threat to health, mankind and nature. My mother has been diagnosed with PD in 2007, she has been treated with many Allopathy, Homeopathic, Ayurveda, and Acupressure systems. but none of these practice/medicines has freed her from PD. Now she is doing yoga, meditation, drinking wheat grass juice in the morning, and also started using stationary bike. I read some time ago in science magazine that cycling/biking will help in brain cell stimulation and blood circulation to brain which may help patients to recover faster... mother tells she feeling little better... We should encourage more and more people to start gardening, growing their own food also bring awareness about the chemical in food. Encourage (pressurize) commercial growers to producing organic food.