Hi, my name is Derrick and I am eager to expand my tiny garden plot. I am considering farming as a career path and am excited to take advantage of this amazing resource. There aren't easily accessible seed share programs where I live (that I know of) so i appreciate anything that you have to offer. I can't wait to grow some yummy fresh veg and herbs and start my own seed bank. I am most interested in heirloom varieties and anything that will withstand the summer heat of southern california. Thanks a million!

All messages have been answered.

Akhila, your newbie pack went out in yesterday's mail

Thanks Val! Looking forward to them!

Woo, seeds on their way in a few days time. I am stoked to post my success and failures and am excited to see what seeds I will be receiving! In the meantime, I will get my workout in and prepare some plots! I have officially been a part of this community site for just under 24 hours and I already have been reached out to. This fills me with joy and I can't wait to meet the rest of you! Thanks a bunch Val!

Der

Hi Val! Got my package of seeds today! :) Like everyone else, I am so excited! Thank you for organizing all of this, and for shipping it out so quickly. It made my day to get them in the mail. ^_^ Thanks also to all the generous donors, and all the unique wrapping and labeling. Hopefully one day I will be on the flip side and be able to donate seeds to newbies as well. <3

Hi, I'm Candace. I recently retired and am going to try my hand at growing some beautiful flowers. I will be turning over dirt on the east side of my house so as to get the morning sun. I would love to receive any other seeds that would do well facing the east. I am in zone 7A. Thank you in advance.

Hey y'all! I'm most definitely a newbie to gardening! I've had various plants over the years and a small container garden on my porch, but this year I'm going to attack the yard! :) I hope to plant lots of flowers to attract hummingbirds and bees. I'm in zone 7b and anything that grows easily or is hardy would be wonderful! I also love vining plants and things with interesting leaves (variegated, etc.) Thank you so much to everyone that participates in the exchanges. I'm really excited about getting started planting and starting to share!!

Messages sent to all above.

Thank you all for passing on your excitement for growing. It really makes my "job" with the newbie seed project all the more fun! :D I am looking forward to hearing all about all your gardens this coming season!

Newbie packs set to go out tomorrow (3/27) to Nina C, Derrick L, Sonal B

Thank you so much Val for the seeds! Just looking at the number of requests on this thread, totally awed by the effort you put in collating the requests, matching them with the right seed, giving updates and mailing the seeds out. I feel it's like Christmas morning now as I look at each packet, the colorful designs, quotes, messages on each one. Totally stoked and excited to get started. Heartfelt thanks from a newbie gardener to you and the generous donors!

Got an amazing assortment of seeds!! Thank you so much Val and everyone else who contributed so generously :)

I'd like to add my name to the list. Val, I'll be messaging you shortly.

Hi, very kind offer thank you. Not new to gardening, but new to this. It is so late you may be out of packets, if not I would like to make a request. Will check back tomorrow for any updates. Thanks again.

Hey Val, I'm a new gardener with some raised vegetable beds in Houston, TX. I found this forum looking for advice on tomatoes, and I just noticed this seed exchange. I'm introducing myself here as I'd like to build some seed exchange relationships.

I'm interested in your offer for seeds, and I have a few listed on my profile that I can send back if it helps replenish your stock. I'll follow up with a PM.

Messages being sent this morning to all to to this point :D

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm, what do i plant first!?!?! I need moar lands!

made a small donation, and this is my reward. Also went to the farmers market and got a free garlic bulb. He said it was no good to eat because it was sprouting, and I said "perfect".

Got this today!!! Thank you so much Val, Janlep, Jensyen.. And everyone who contributed.. You all are amazing!! Can't wait to plant all these..

5 Newbie packs went out yesterday afternoon to Elizabeth V, Theresa R-M, Candace D, Patricia W and Evan S.

If anyone is interested/has posted above and has not sent their stamps to me yet, please get them in the mail THIS WEEK. Thank you!

Thanks Val and everybody who contributed to this project. I just received my envelope of seeds and was looking them over. Such a beautiful assortment, packaged with such love from all of you. How could they not grow? Thank you! Now I'm getting ready to go out and keep working on preparing my planting bed. If the rain would stay away...I could get it all done in a week!

Hi Val...We are overwhelmed with gratitude, for the generosity of this community and the care and attention you put into putting everything together! We're excited about getting started with the planting! Thank you!!

I got the absolute BEST surprise today! I've been waiting on pins and needles and today MY SEED PACKAGE CAME!

I can't even begin to say thank you enough! This is better than a birthday!! All the donors are absolutely amazing! And Val's dedication to managing it all is phenomenal!

Someone will have to explain this cold stratifying stuff to me... I'm already starting to research all these seeds so I know how and where to plant them! There are so many that I've never seen or heard of... that's the part that makes this SO EXCITING!!

Thank you all, and especially, Val!! I can't wait to get started and be able to pay it forward with donations of my own.

Val,

I received my seeds today. Thank you very much! The variety is great, and I look forward to planting them. The lemongrass seeds are on their way.

L Silva, your newbie pack went out today! :D

So nice to read all your posts! :D I hope all your gardens do SUPER this year, and look forward to your sharing photos of them!

Cold Stratification: Alot of perennials require a period of 4-6+ weeks of cold. Check out wintersown.org, which is the easiest way to handle this; but another way if you really want to grow this year is by putting seeds on moist papertowels (or have been told roots stick less to coffee filters!) Most seeds will not sprout in the fridge, but my poppies and several others did within 2-4 weeks.

Here's a great youtube video as to how to prepare the little "cold stratification" packs and pack alot of seeds in a small amount of space in your fridge (as I'm assuming most of you dont have room to plant seeds in soil, etc in your fridge, unless you have an extra fridge youre not using til summer (?) At the very end, he discusses the cold startification in the fridge and how he stores his, I experimented with this process this winter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dirz0WIMQi0&t=3s

The cold stratification doesn't seem to be very complicated. I've been doing a lot of reading over the last couple of days. I had no idea that perennials required it! So much to learn... I've also picked up a bunch of newspaper to make seed cups to start everything in. I'm so anxious to get these guys going! The app on my phone wouldn't let me attach a picture the other day, so I'm trying to attach it again.. we'll see if it works!

Hi newbie here... already sent a message to Val... glad to find this forum. I hope to be able to donate seeds soon.Happy spring everyone!

Hello,

I am a newbie and did post on the newbie forum to introduce myself and Miss Emily, (my niece who wants to do a garden this summer). We are in Zone 5 and I will send a message to Val.

I am so glad to find this forum.

Regards,

Aingealicia

Hi Val, Thank you for the seeds. There are so many and I'm really excited about getting them started. I'm amazed at the amount of perennials included in my packet. I'm researching more info about them so I can be successful with each one. Saying thank you seems so small when I look at the number of seeds you sent. Please know how grateful I am. I think my granddaughter is even more excited, if that's possible. She is 10 yrs old. She has visions of massive flower gardens and lots of G'ma/Granddaughter time spent in the garden. You helped to make this possible. Thank you. I will post pictures later on.

Hi All, Glad you're happy with your seeds :D

I think it's great you're teaching your young ones to learn to garden. Some of the perennials will take a bit to make "massive flower gardens", but you'd be surprised how fast it goes when you look back and have all those blooms.

I have not offered newbie seeds in April, as you'll probably have noticed, as I'm having knee surgery and catching up on March requests (all should be in by now!) and will be unable to get around for weeks after surgery. I look forward to hearing about all your gardens and photos would be GREAT! ENJOY and may all of you experience great growth for each and every variety you plant and fill your gardens!

Best always!

Sorry to hear you are having knee surgery. Hope all goes well and you have a speedy recovery.

Val,

Thank you very much for the seeds.

Hope your knee surgery goes well as well as the recovery! If newbie seeds ever gets going again, super interested! love this idea.

Wanting to say thank you again for this awesome newbie seed project. Our gardens are taking off. We are loving it!

Received so many cute tiny bags of seeds with the picture of plant and information and a handwritten note!... felt like a child receiving birthday gift. Thankyou to all who contributed.:)

That's some mighty fine plantin' Jodi :)

I wanted to officially thank Val & everyone who makes this possible! My 6 year old & I have started our first large garden at our new home thanks to this project! Here's a picture of one of our indoor seed trays! They're doing great!

Yeah, I really love this idea. I wish I had started early enough in the year to not have missed this.

Val hope your knee surgery goes well. My garden is sending you prayers and love...
Here's some pics of the progress. I ended up buying some plants as well, and the seedlings are giving them strong competition!

Hello everyone. Val hope everything went well for you and wishing you a speedy recovery. Big, HUGE thank you for the seed packet. Great variety. It arrived yesterday and the marigolds are started. Thank you and anyone who assisted you.

Val hope you're feeling better and healing up well! You're certainly in all our thoughts!

Val,

I hope you are doing well. I can't thank you enough for you kindness. I do hope you will recover quickly and are out there gardening with the rest of us.

Aingealicia

Hi All, Thank you for your nice comments and love all the photos of what you've got growing. Surgery went well and PT says I'm doing good.. It's been 2 weeks, tho it seems more like 2 months! ha ha! I'm not used to being almost helpless. My family is taking great care of me, I am so fortunate, and watering my plants/seedlings that I DID start/have growing to plant when I can. My stamina is not great, but it takes alot of energy (apparently) to heal. And I"m doing good. I take one day at a time, and know that each brings me closer to having a "bionic knee" that will perform SO much better than my old one! :D Keep the photos coming, everyone! I love to see them, and hear what you're up to, what's growing and how things are coming!

Now that the frost date is approaching, do most people just seed directly outside? I'm new to this, bought some jiffy seed pellets, and it's not going too well.

I sow most everything directly now. Make sure you are not covering to deep and you must keep newly beds moist.

Jeremy, those Jiffy Seed pellets are NOT the easiest thing to germinate in. Buy some potting soil or such....my suggestion. yes, you can direct sow, but I prefer to start most of my seeds in containers and plant when they get a little larger and can fare for themselves. For me, it is easier to make sure that pots stay moist than the various garden areas while seeds are germinating. Those Jiffy pellet things either seem to stay too wet or dry out too fast for me. there is no happy medium ; so it's not YOU, its them

To all my newbies who have been so generous with your thoughts and good wishes, I am now 3 weeks out from knee surgery and have transition to one crutch for the majority of my getting around. things are going exceedingly better than expected in this limited time frame, tho PT will get heavier in a week. I have opened up the May Newbie offer on a different thread

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the seeds, Val! Check out our zinnias! My husband has been so excited, neither of us have every successfully grown something from seed to beautiful, enormous flower. The butterfly weed also came from a seed packet from this giveaway. :) Thanks again!

Hi, I am new to this website. I live in Imperial Beach,ca and just had a neighbor donate a container planter to start a garden. In interested in some help by way of seeds SASE and any advice in regards to growing close to the beach and salty air :) Would like to have a nice veggie garden going to help feed myself and neighbors. Ant advice of help would be greatly appreciated. You can email me at wyomingtaylor1904@gmail.com or message me here. My mailing address in PO Box 614 Imperial beach,CA 91933

Thanks again to anyone who can be of help,

Wyoming

Wyoming, I sent you a private message here on houzz.

Becky, you did a SUPER job! Isn't it fun -- and rewarding -- to grow from seed? If you haven't already, check out wintersowing -- basic and more info at wintersown.org