I like them in individual envelopes and ready to go to the next person. I buy small plastic bags in the wedding department at Walmart for mine. As long as the seeds are dry they work fine. If someone has asked you for a specific thing and they are part of the swap, just put their name on that envelope that you send in. Yes, I volunteered to do the swap. It is a MUST to include your gardenweb USERNAME in your package. I will post as I receive things, and at the specified mailout time, I will post that they are being mailed. George suggested the number of seeds (25) for the swap. Now would someone like to specify the number of packets to send. Understand that you can send more than that if you want, but not less than the specified amount of packages. Just tell me what you want done with the excess, or otherwise I will just divide it up for everyone. Ilene, the old postage rate of $1.14 was the parcel post rate and sometimes you have to get a little tough with the post office over it. Seeds can travel in a bubble mailer as "large envelope rate" as long as you keep the envelope from being more than 3/4 inch thick. That might mean that you have to tape your bags to a piece of paper before you slide them in the mailer to keep them from shifting around. When you ship "large envelope rate" they will push the envelope through a template to make sure it is not too thick. I guess my feeling about the cost is this: Even if it cost $1.50 each way to get your seeds, you get to try a lot of things for $3.00. A lot of packages of seed cost that much or more, and some of them don't even have 25 seeds in them. Some of you are seed savers and can select right from your own plants. Others of us buy too many and have plenty to share. Some need only a few seed of one type for the season and the others don't get used. I think it is nice to be able to try a few of a variety to see if you like it or if it does well in your garden, before you invest in a bigger quantity....hot peppers come to mind. I would love to have dozens of ancho peppers, but a couple of chili peppers is plenty for me to plant in a season. This year I have about 3 dozen pepper plants, but they are probably 8 or 9 varities. This also provides a challenge for those people who don't normally plant from seed, and an opportunity for those who do to add a few new things to their garden. How many packs????? Also, I would like to limit it to everything being mailed in the same week to ten days, so I don't have them at my house forever. If we set a date, like mail between Nov 1st and 10th, then I could have them all on the way back to you by Thanksgiving and they wouldn't be in my way for the holidays. I think some of you will still be saving seed in October so we probably need to go later rather than earlier. Ideas?

Happy Wednesday!! My package arrived from Melody late yesterday afternoon. :) I think when I opened it a CRAFTY EXPLOSION happened, lol! Melody, your package was so thoughtful and so decorated! Every little piece was perfect! In my awesome package was: ~Stickers for the kids. Mrs. Grossman's! I use these stickers all the time for scrapbooking, and the company is right around the corner from Melody! Small world! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THINKING OF THEM! :) ~An AMAZING hand made envelope. So pretty! And a letter inside explaining my contents along with a beautiful drawing of 3 of the flowers that Melody sent me seeds for. SO PRETTY! I'm going to trim it down, mat it and frame it! It's just perfect! :) ~So many seeds! All with red~white~blue seed baggies. Very cute! Amaranth: Burgundy Prairie Aster: Blue Tanaka Daisy Poppy: Mysterious Red California Poppy: White Linen Morning Glory: Heavenly Blue Guara: White Butterfly Bunny Tails Grass ~My recipe looks so yummy I think I'm going to make them this weekend. Fresh Lemony Potato Pancakes with Carrots and Rosemary.....YUM! :D ~A post card of a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. It's celebrating its 75th anniv. this week :) ~Velcro Plant Ties (Believe it or not, I just ran out of these and was going to pick some up on Saturday! I've never used this kind before, but it seems to be softer and has more stretch than the one I normally use. THANK YOU!) ~And last but certainly not least the cutest hand made pin wheel! Melody this pin-wheel is the answer to a problem that my Girl Scout troop was having! We are having a Pincess Dance in the late fall and were trying to figure out a economical craft to make corsages with. Not only does it have to be economical, but the girls have to be able to make it. Which leaves out hot glue guns and more regular craft things. This pin-wheel with the wire can be used as a wrist corsage OR as a boutonniere for the dads...SUPER SIMPLE AND EASY!!!! The girls can decorate them any way they want! LOVE IT! HUGE THANK YOU! ~OH! and lest I forget the amazing package of Ghirardelli chocolates! I am in love with the midnight chocolate...so yummy! Melody, you went above and beyond for my box! I can't thank you enough for your thoughtfulness! :) MAY'ED' IN THE USA PARTNERS: flowergirl34 (vina) sends to sandlapper_rose (jeanne)***SENT*** REC'D*** sandlapper_rose (jeanne) sends to veeja11 (carol)***SENT***REC'D*** margaret_2007 (margaret) sends to Astroknot (melody)***SENT***REC'D*** brittneysgran (shirley) sends to canyonwind (annie) veeja11 (carol) sends to brittneysgran (shirley) ***SENT*** Astroknot (melody) sends to flowergirl34 (vina)***SENT*** REC'D*** canyonwind (annie) sends to margaret_2007 (margaret)***SENT*** Jeanne, your super prize will be going out on Friday :) I hope you likey. This month has shaped up to be so fun! I just love everyone's box ideas. All of them are so different and unique! Just perfect! Thank you everyone for making this month so super easy! Have a terrrific day! vina

faithann I agree with everyone above. I have been either buying seeds directly from Europe or having them brought back for me by friends for some time now. There are some really wonderful small seed producers with things you'll never find here. I haven't had any problems. If you're only buying tomato seeds, they're so light you can easily just mail them back to yourself. A friend who went skiing in Switzerland a few years ago brought back tomato seeds that I have really enjoyed growing from a company called Mauser. You can now get seeds directly from some companies in Europe over the internet. I wonder if it's getting easier for them. Two of my favorites are Le Biau Germe and Kokopelli (terredesemces.com), both on France. I buy beans, lettuce, etc. and the packages are marked with the names of the seeds and something like "garden seeds". Tomatsidan.se is a small company in Sweden that has some really interesting tomato varieties, particularly short-season types and lots from Eastern Europe and Russia. Some of these have become my favorites. Michael Anderson who runs it has charged me two dollars for each variety and just sends them in an envelope as you would a letter. As far as Italy, you can buy a huge variety of seeds directly from growitalian.com and italianseedandtool.com. I'll be curious to hear about what interesting varieties you find in your travels. Best wishes. Lou

good morning everyone. hope you are staying warm. it's cold here, has been for the last few days and will be the next couple, but certainly not as cold as i hear on the news of other areas or your postings. i might just spend the day doing some baking or making soup - haven't yet decided, but i'm not doing anything until after a good long soak in the tub. how about that plane down in the hudson? amazing the actions of the pilot and the response of all involved in the rescue. thank God it turned out the way it did. remy, i'm so sorry to hear of your friend's passing. what a sacrifice, all the way around, that she made. ashame she didn't ask for help, or even reach out to the pharmacist to front them until she could pay. it is a disgrace how expensive meds are and pharmacuetical companies should be ashamed of their greed. janell, nice to see you. how are you little girls doing? dottie, i used several methods of labeling. if the seeds were in a little plastic baggie, i put the name inside the bag and pushed it down to the side of the container. i used marker in a zillion places on a container until i found my grease pen, then that's what i switched to. i'm at the point this year to just use up all the seeds i have and plant out anything that grows, whether i know the name or not. i have a horrible problem area of of about 50x12 that needs to just be planted like mad, so that's my intention with whatever takes this year. i have plenty of containers in waiting which need attention soon. my grandbabe is adorable. whenever she sees me rinsing out or picking up a container, she asks if we are going to make a garden. gotta love the early on excitement. my son even helped the other day - went through some seeds, suggested they be planted and then taped up the containers and took them out. small help, but help nonetheless. does anyone grow pussy willow? if so, i'd like to arrange a trade for sometime this year. either white or pink, doesn't matter. just let me know. thanks. melissa, how's your little one? ready to post more pix? i keep hinting around - well, actually coming right out with it - about the kids having another one. i thought for a bit it was to be as my DIL was gaining a little belly and such, but was told no, it's just my cooking and the fact that they are actually eating meals every day (something that wasn't always happening when they were on their own). well, time to get moving. i actually went through all the motions of this being sunday and it was not too long ago i realized it's only saturday. be well and stay warm! maryanne GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!color>