As a newbie just receiving seeds back from my first ever swap...I am completely overwhelmed and so filled with gratitude at the generosity of you all. Nearly every seed that I had ever dreamed of acquiring arrived in my package, and then some! Tomatoes, beans, cardinal flower, monarda, herbs,cream of sask watermelon, I could go on and on. (because that was one big package of JOY) Going to be a tough act for the man in the red and white suit to follow on the 25th, my morning on the 7th is off the charts!!!! Thank you all so much! Nicky wasn't kidding when she told me to start planning a new garden bed, now I will have to!

Ciao Nicky- I received my parcel on American Thanksgiving, so that was extra super because Duane was home and got to share in the surprises! You really outdid yourself this year with the care and consideration you gave to the inventory list and the quality of the seeds. This is a smaller swap than some of the others that I participate in, but you managed to fill 11 wishes off of my edibles list! That's VERY impressive! The quality of the flowers was also better than ever before, so thank you very much and consider yourself hugged by me!

I wouldn't say I'm an over achiever, but I do like lots of detail so I'll go with Colleen and do both. Plus since I haven't participated before, the more info might make it easier on my partner. Please tell us a little about yourself and your eating and cooking style. Who lives with you, favorite colors, hobbies etc. I live with my DW in an old [circa 1825] house with our dog and 8 cats. We've been together 31 years. In one of my several incarnations I was a chef so our cooking depends mostly on how mobile I am. Sometimes I do quite a bit of the cooking and at times most is left to Christy. Luckily she's learned much during our 31 years together. I'm half Italian so I do cook lots of Italian, but love non hot Mexican, regional American, French, Chinese, etc. My favorite color is purple and the non color black. I'm also an artist and draw, sometimes paint watercolors or sculpt. I crochet in a very basic manner and know only basic knitting stitches. Love to garden but can't do too much anymore. Luckily I'm surrounded by the best of the Garden State for food needs and also lucky that I concentrated on perennials when I did garden more. Your favorite cookbook. Types of cookbooks you always look at. Do you like to write in your cookbooks when you find you need to alter a recipe to make it work or do you believe books should not be written in? My favorite all time cookbook is James Beard's American Cookery. Good recipes but I love the way he wrote. I have a extensive cookbook collection and love all types of cookbooks. Favorites are the old time pamphlet cookbooks, to the many incarnations of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. I too read cookbooks for pleasure. I do write in them and love used cookbooks that others have written in. Do you like jam? Love it. Do you like jelly? Very much so. Apple is a favorite. Do you like marmalade? Not so much. Do you like pickles? Not spicy but do love dills. Do you like spicy food? Well spiced, but not hot. I don't eat black pepper if I can help it, but can eat a bit of cayenne much easier. What are your favorite fruits? Any you do not like? Love fruit and can't think of any I don't like... ah.. except cantaloupe. Do you have a strong sweet tooth or you more of a savory person? I do have a sweet tooth. 1. Where do you live? I live in a tiny town in rural New Jersey, surrounded by farms of the horse, tree and food varieties. 2. Do you grill/eat outdoors often? Do you pack up a picnic basket or typically eat in the yard or kitchen? We grill fairly often in the summer but then eat indoors. 3. What colors do you use on your porch/patio/outdoor eating area? Not really any particular color. 4. Do you use your regular dishes or do you have special dishes/serving ware for outdoors? Or are you a paper plate/paper napkin kind of girl/guy? Depends. I don't like using paper products too much but when I'm not getting around Christy likes to use paper plates so she doesn't have as much to wash up since we don't use a dishwasher. I do use cloth napkins though. 5. Are your summertime gatherings more casual or formal? Casual. 6. Do you like to try the latest kitchen gadgets? I love gadgets and have lots. I like to collect old/antique gadgets too. 7. What are your favorite summer drinks? Desserts? Snacks? I drink seltzer as my continual drink. Raspberry. Unsweetened only. I have a 2 gallon crock that I make iced tea for the summer in or lemonade. Neither of us really drink alcohol any more although we keep some around. I'll drink Asti or champagne but don't like other wines. Desserts we eat mostly fruit, but I do like to bake and we like most anything with lemon, chocolate or other fruits. We make ice cream fairly often in the summer. Snacks consist of dark pretzels or a hunk of very dark chocolate. I don't care for milk chocolate, plus the dark doesn't seem to affect my glucose levels. Smiles. 8. What are your favorite summertime cooking/eating/entertaining activities? Do you spend time boating, at a cabin, around a campfire....etc.? We haven't been doing much the past couple years but we like to rent a cabin on a lake or down the shore when finances allow. Mostly we just love to lounge around and read, eat Jersey tomatoes and white corn and play with our animals. 9. Do you garden and/or grow your own veggies and fruits? Are you one who likes to can and preserve? I love to garden but don't do much anymore. I do have several friends who have produce stands on their farms so it's easy and close to get great veggies and fruit. I like to can but have done more freezing lately. I plan to get out the big pressure canner this year though. 10. Barefoot or flip flops? Always barefoot whenever possible and sometimes when not advised. Smiles. I've been known to run outside in the snow barefoot for a few minutes. We always kid about how hard it is to get me in shoes. I like to say my feet are claustrophobic. Smiles. Hope this helps.

Just in case there are some new people: seed amounts; i usually go by what another Canadian gardener, Sorellina, posted a few years ago: Tiny Seeds (basil, hyssop, poppies): 1/8 tsp Small Flower Seeds (calendula, bachelor button): 1/4 tsp Small Vegetable Seeds (tomato, pepper, eggplant): 10 seeds Large Flower Seeds (4 O'Clock, Nasturtium, Thunbergia): 10 seeds Large Vegetable Seeds (Beans, Corn): 25 seeds I think that this list works well, although many swaps that I have been in I usually do 10-15 bean or corn seeds. It seems to depend a lot on the size (some are very heavy). I think that it also makes a difference if a plant is rare, most people are happy to have even a tiny amount to try. If they like it they can always save seeds for the following year. Once in a while, I split a package to fill particularly difficult wish lists, so each person gets a smaller amount of the seed that they really want instead of a larger amount of seed that they won't grow. Some people send in huge packages of seed. I usually split those up and share them around the group. In the end - it's up to you. If you give an amount that you would be happy to receive, you are all good. __________________ Swappers always ask what there is too much of & what i need more of. Honestly, it tends to all come together at the end! There is generally a great variety & people are very generous. Keep doing what you all usually do & it should be a great year! That being said, the most popular wishes are as follows; Any odd coloured veg. Especially yellow/purple/red carrots. Bright coloured chard, eggplant, celery, radish, etc. The more unusual colour, the more requests that I get! Basil. It seems that Canadians cannot get enough varieties of basil! I would say that 3/4 of the wishlists have at least 1 variety of basil. lime, lemon, holy, blue, purple, opal, frilly! Herbs of any kind are always in demand. Chamomile, Rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, parsley, fennel, marjoram, medicinals, tea. Greens of any kind. Spinach, lettuce, Kale. All varieties. Especially kale and perennial greens. Malabar, God King Henry. Black flowers. Yep, rare & hard to find! Yellow zucchini. Really zucchini of any kind, but especially yellow! Odd coloured echinacea. Oriental veg. Daikon, choi, gai lan, any herbs, greens Yellow, white or chioggia beets. Moonflower. I always get requests and never have enough to fill the packages! Other popular things; unusual morning glory varieties, asparagus, artichoke, leeks, ornamental grasses If you don't see anything on this list that you are sending in, don't worry! All of the pepper/bean/tomato varieties are needed and requested too. I just always have enough of those to go around. Things that I often get a ton of and not so many requests for; bell peppers. Unnamed hollyhocks, unnamed calendula. Really unnamed flowers of any kind. unless they are dwarf, double or a rare colour it is harder to find a home for them! Again, don't let anything on this list discourage you from sending things in. everything that is sent in is appreciated. Don't stress over what to send. It is all for fun and to get some new things to try out. If you end up getting a packaged of something that you didn't want, pass it on. Or try it - you may wonder how you ever lived without it!