Comments on SRGC Seed Exchange No. 66, 2012-13

[bainbridges]

Hi all

A quick update from the seed distribution team.......  only 55000 packets of seed to send this year

We picked and packed the first 400 or so orders last weekend (the first 100 person-hours of picking work), so it's good to see seed is arriving.  We should have all main orders completed by 20th Jan, all being well.

So far very few queries; thanks to all for getting their orders correct!

A comment on the hepatica seed; we hope it will be okay; but some was beginning to germinate already.  It was in great demand so we picked a maximum of three packets per order, to spread out the joy.  It has now all gone, though, so our apologies to all who haven't/won't receive any (it will only be donors who have been lucky).  We'd rather have a few dozen packets of interesting goodies to offer, and hope those who have been lucky will germoinate and grow them and send more seed into the exchange in future years.

In general, it hasn't been a brilliant year for seed; could be something to do with the second wettest UK summer on record, but we hope we can send you all a reasonable selection of the seed you requested.

Happy sowing to you all, and back to the seed picking grindstone for the weekend

Ian and Carole B and the seed picking team

[Roma]

My seed arrived today.  Pots filled with compost, seeds listed and labels written ready to sow them tomorrow.

Many thanks to the seed team

Roma

[Stan da Prato]

some snaps of the volunteers at work earlier today. Using the lists recipients have sent   or emailed in the packets are pulled from the trays. As seed runs out trays are topped up  from the green back up trays. The  tables are  for envelopes to be filled and sealed according to the requirements of the recipent's country.
The boxes onthe floor fill up with packets which will go to post on Sunday evening.

[ChrisB]

Such a lot of work.  Bravo all!!!

[Maggi Young]

A huge task indeed, and if anyone within striking distance of Edinburgh could spare some time at the weekends to help out , here's what you need  to know:

Seed Picking will take place on every Saturday and Sunday 0930 to 1630  through January and in February, if necessary.
It has already been mentioned that it was arranged at the last moment for Seed picking to be done at the RBGE nursery.
The nursery is along the unmade road (Inverleith Avenue South) which is the first on the right when you go up Inverleith Row and turn left onto Inverleith Place.  Through the big gates at the end there is a car park.  The classroom is the north end of the big potting shed (there will b a sign on the SRGC working days).
Give Carole or Ian Bainbridge a call first 0131 445 3268 to let them know you're coming.

[fleurbleue]

Very glad to find my seeds in the letter box this morning  And all, first choices ! Thanks for all involved 

[Botanica]

I hope i received my letter in my Letter Box this Week 

A big work to do, i am sorry that i can't do it with you ..Your are not near Paris 

Happy new year for everybody here !

[Jean-Patrick AGIER]

Hello,
My seed allocation arrived today!
Wow! such a good number of seeds in each packet...
This is -as always- so exciting
A real big THANK YOU to all the members ( volunteers ) of the seed team!
JP

[Leena]

My seeds arrived today, thank you so much for the team and people who had donated the seeds.

[annew]

My thanks also and especially to whomever sent in the hepatica seed ready germinated and packed in packets of damp vermiculite! Now tucked up in pots.

[Diane Whitehead]

There were two groups of hepatica seeds: nobilis of various colours, and
nobilis japonica with Japanese names.

I requested some of the Japanese ones.

Which are the ones that are arriving germinated?

[David Pilling]

Diane as mentioned above, mine that were germinating were #1989

nobilis japonica  ‘Hanakikou’

opening the packet carefully is a good move, bits tend to stick to the packet. Got mine happily planted 11 days back.

[frits.kp]

I too wanted to thank the SRGC for the amount of seeds in each packet. I was not expecting to receive most of the request but was extremely happy with my allocation. Think i will wait one week before sowing, shed and compost still frozen solid.

[Lesley Cox]

Germinated seeds already sounds wonderful but if they were coming to New Zealand and were inspected, they would be classed as plants rather than seeds and either destroyed - at no cost to receiver or send back to source - at huge cost to receiver. In other words, we wouldn't be allowed to have them even if they were otherwise a permitted species. The pitfalls are many and various. So damp vermiculite is not the way to go for seeds coming here.

[Maggi Young]

I think, for that very reason, Lesley, that the Seedy Folks were not  sending such seed to NZ......