Wednesday, August 21, 2013

What Have I Done? and a Give-Away!

About a week ago, a friend on Facebook sent me a link to a small heirloom seed company that was offering boxes of their surplus 2012 seeds to community gardens and the like.  I jumped on it, and an email and a couple phone calls later, I had one of those boxes winging its way to me.

Facebook.  Not just for pictures of your cats, apparently.

So today, while peeling yet more peaches from the half bushel box I got last weekend, I heard a ruckus on the porch:  cats came flying away from the outer door, something WHAPPED onto the concrete floor, and the door banged..and then started flapping in the afternoon breeze because it hadn't latched properly.

Fed Ex delivers, people.  Sheesh.

So I hauled myself out through the tricky screen door from the kitchen onto the porch, getting stuck twice in the process--crutches are not convenient for getting through screen doors, in case you were wondering--and hopped my way to relatch the outer door before it blew completely open and let a cat or two out into the wilderness.

In the middle of the floor was a massive box.  My first thought was, what the heck is this?

My second thought: oh lord.  Those must be my seeds!


Try, 700 or so packages of heirloom seeds.  My third thought: What have I done??

My fourth thought: I'm gonna need a bigger drawer to house the seed bank in. 

Can you believe the generosity?  I am so excited--this is going to be a great contribution for the Community Garden, Seed Swap and the Seed Bank projects I coordinate!  Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, thank you very very much!

To share the wealth, I'm offering ten readers the chance to win a dozen packets from my insane collection.  Leave a comment telling me your name, email to contact you at, and why you'd like some free seeds to add to your gardening endeavors.  Entries will be accepted until 6 PM, this Saturday, August 24, 2013.  Good luck, and I can't wait to read about what you'll use the seeds for!



31 comments:

  1. Congrats on the ginormous box! Hugs!

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  2. My husband and I have created a "senior-friendly" garden in wooden boxes. They are about 16' long, 3' wide, and 2' tall. We have five. I would love to have some of your seeds to try.

    Mary Glynn Lambert
    brquiltmaker@yahoo.com

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  3. Hi Christine,

    I'll bite. First what an awesome deal! I'm Kat and I'd love some seeds to add to the garden. I'm trying to get my herb garden going enough that I could become a producer for our local grocery co-op that just opened up and I'm trying to get a dyers garden going so I can dye the wool that I spin. You can e-mail me at katrinatylee@yahoo.com What a great seed company and it sounds like you are going to be doing lots of cool things with these. Congrats.

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  4. My husband and I along with our 3 children still living at home purchased a home in town this year. Our goal is to eventually end up back in the country with a few acres to play on but for now this has to be the way it is. We didn't get moved in until the end of May and there was no garden spot tilled and ready so we tore out a 10 X 10 flower bed and it was our only gardening space this year. Our children have planted and cared for it perfectly. (With a little weeding push from mom)Our children are homeschooled and love the lessons of learning to plant, care for, harvest and eat from seeds. I would love to be able to offer them some of your amazing seeds for next years garden. Yes it will be much larger. :)
    Carol Tompkins
    tompkinsc@hotmail.com

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  5. Wow, I am happy for all of your seeds. It will help in all you do. I would love to be entered to win 10 packs. Why? Heirloom that is the most important thing. I love to grow things and would enjoy putting the seeds to good use. Thanks for the giveaway!
    Dolly

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  6. I love squash!!!! All kinds of squash. I garden then I share it with about 10 other people that cant garden. I also love flowers and watching the humming birds eat from them. Any seeds would be nice. What I cant use I will share with people that garden.
    Thank you
    Jessie
    jj.moon@yahoo.com

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  7. Just last year I started planting veggies again after a 20yr hiatus. I live in tiny house with a tiny yard and am exploring the wonders of container gardening using of all things old washtubs, watering troughs and herb gardening in rain gutters (pinterest is amazing for ideas) I now have the interest and love my little place so I am making it work. Would love to try some of your special seeds next year. Thanks for the opportunity!
    Deb Minnick
    debsarabear@yahoo.com

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  8. I would love to have seeds to start my own garden on property in the country that has plenty of room for a garden
    Marvene
    cajncowgal@aol.com

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  9. Wow, that's a nice big box of seeds. My grandson loves to plant. When something comes up he is so exited. Being a VERY picky eater, he now asks for carrots and celery, cucks, pumpkin(his favorite). He calls me Happy but I'm really Ellen Marique, itsmegramma@comcast.net. Thanks for sharing and have fun.

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  10. My name is Andi and I would love to have some seeds because our family needs to be more sustainable. Our attempts have been less than successful, only to see our two tomato plants die and our carrots get overrun by weeds. The only thing that has grown beautifully is our Chammomile and Sage!! This would be an excellent opportunity for our entire family to get our hands dirty--- literally. And, most importantly, it would be a lot of fun!!! Email: larison_a@hotmail.com

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  11. My name is Andi and I would love to have some seeds because our family needs to be more sustainable. Our attempts have been less than successful, only to see our two tomato plants die and our carrots get overrun by weeds. The only thing that has grown beautifully is our Chammomile and Sage!! This would be an excellent opportunity for our entire family to get our hands dirty--- literally. And, most importantly, it would be a lot of fun!!! Email: larison_a@hotmail.com

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  12. Would love to add these seeds to the gardens we volunteer parents are putting in at my daughter's elementary school. Our students are amazing and are far too removed from where food comes from. We are a tiny little school, but are very proud that we are 1 of only 5 A rated schools in our county! Most of the kids, over 70%, are on free or reduced lunch at our school and could greatly benefit from learning to garden. Our goal is to teach them from kindergarten to 5th that they too can grow wholesome food and it doesn't have to come out of a box.

    Thank you for considering us!

    Tanya

    ortonapta@gmail.com

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  13. I have joined our local FFA's "Plant an Extra Row" campaign to help provide fresh vegatables for those in need in our community. Having some extra seeds would go along way towards helping those less fortunate within my community. Thank you!

    Marjie Hicks
    marjiehicks@ymail.com

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  14. Hi! Congratulations on your seed donation, and thanks for considering me. I'd love to be a seed recipient, and it would go to a great gardening endeavor. I started gaardening 3 years ago with my father-in-law, then 72 now 75. We've bonded over compost and trial and error. We start each winter pouring over garden magazines and seed catalogs. As much as my F-I-L wants to do everything evenly, I know he has trouble bending, and lifting heavy things now. So he attempts to spend more then he should to make up for his perceived short comings.
    I don't mind the lifting and pulling, but he wont stop the spending, so any seeds would keep him from the stores, and catalogs. He loves to grumble about the work, but every year he has me taking photos and putting them on "the face book thing". Anything you would give would be greatly appreciated thanks again!

    Sincerely,
    Jennette Tittelfitz
    viviansandel@gmail.com

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  15. Hi! Congratulations on your seed donation, and thanks for considering me. I'd love to be a seed recipient, and it would go to a great gardening endeavor. I started gaardening 3 years ago with my father-in-law, then 72 now 75. We've bonded over compost and trial and error. We start each winter pouring over garden magazines and seed catalogs. As much as my F-I-L wants to do everything evenly, I know he has trouble bending, and lifting heavy things now. So he attempts to spend more then he should to make up for his perceived short comings.
    I don't mind the lifting and pulling, but he wont stop the spending, so any seeds would keep him from the stores, and catalogs. He loves to grumble about the work, but every year he has me taking photos and putting them on "the face book thing". Anything you would give would be greatly appreciated thanks again!

    Sincerely,
    Jennette Tittelfitz
    viviansandel@gmail.com

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  16. Hi!
    Congratulations on the seed donation! I started gardening 3 years ago with my then 73 now 75 year old Father-in-Law. He has issues with lifting and bending, but together we bonded and have had a rather successful 3 seasons. While my FIL wants to do everything evenly, he tends to over do the spending on the seeds to compensate for his perceived shortcoming. I love the exercise, but he feels bad. We pour over garden magazines and seed catalogs every winter to plan the next season, it's like making up a christmas wish list. There is real joy there. Any seeds you could give would keep him planning more, and spending less. Thanks for considering us!

    Sincerely,
    Jennette Tittelfitz
    viviansanadel@gmail.com

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  17. Oh my Goodness! Some seed packets would be such a blessing to our family and neighbors as we are wanting to grow fresh veggies and fruits for our family but also swap with neighbors so we can all benefit from fresh organic goodness, and also canned! We are a family of 5 and because groceries are getting more expensive we need to cut back and find ways to provide a healthy diet without adding cheap carbs as fillers because good produce is hard to find without it costing a lot. I know there are many families in need these days with costs sky rocketing and cost of living wages not keeping up.
    Thank you for your generosity.
    Blessings, Yvonne Storaci
    whylog@hotmail.com

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  18. sue feely Mary Janes Farmgirl #349! I have been veggie gardening for about three years now and would love to try some new seeds and I only use heirlooms! Thanks for the chance! suefeely@gmail.com

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  19. Please, I too would love the free seeds................

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  20. Hi I'm Jaylyn and I'm always looking for new varieties of seeds to try out. Something I've never grown before is onions from seed. I also like flowers. I'd like to incorporate more flowers among my veggies next year to balance out all the green:)My email is jaylynmorehouse@gmail.com. I follow your facebook page and enjoy reading your posts!

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  21. Would love to win these seeds and try growing things I've never grown before...thanks for the giveaway!! :)
    Cindy Holland
    scaholland@msn.com

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  22. Greetings from the Okanogan Valley, WA...My name is Joy Timm and I've lived in this beautiful part of the country for 20 years since moving from the Canadian east coast; marrying my down to earth husband and having 5 growing and curious children. I was raised in a large family on a garden of entirely heirloom fruits and vegetables, and so I have attempted, failed and succeeded many times so that my children can learn the joy of planting seeds and helping them to grow so they can reap the harvest - life lessons that they will not learn anywhere else! The biggest thing I miss is letting a few plants of each kind go to seed and collecting them for the next years crop. Not only will that allow our family to be self sustaining, but also frugal and good stewards of our abundance! We would love a little more variety to add to our acre plot, and also to our diet as well! Thanks for hosting this contest - brentsjoy@gmail.com

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  23. Sunny skies from the Okanogan Valley, WA. I'm Joy Timm, and I've lived in this beautiful part of the country 20 years "farmsteading" with my down to earth husband, and 5 healthy, and curious children. I was raised on gardens of entirely heirloom fruits and vegetables on the east coast of Canada, and while trying to attempt, fail and succeed every year at a garden of my own... it seems that my family has learned the life lessons that come from planting seeds, helping and weeding, and reaping the harvest - we are missing the best part when it comes to letting a few plants of each set seeds to collect for the next year's crop. We love creating a self sustaining environment and to teach our children to be frugal and good stewards of our acreage, which could use a little more variety as well as in our diet with your newly added seeds! Thanks for hosting this contest. Brentsjoy@gmail.com

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  24. Thank you for the chance! My name is Jenny, and we have been growing fruits and veggies in our community garden plot for the last six years. I have been trying to switch over to all heirloom, so would love some of your seeds. We enjoy sharing with the fellow gardeners there, and appreciate the feeling of community. We recently changed our plot over to a "Back to Eden" style garden with mulch. It is great! Less watering and weeds, and the city was happy to give us mulch. I can be reached at juicenow1@cox.net
    Anyone interested in easier organic gardening give a look at the full length documentary at http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/

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  25. We are very excited about becoming self sufficent & are taking our first step by starting a fall garden in hopes of making it a year round garden next year. Our town has a weekly farmers market where we can sell extra vegies or trade for eggs, etc. What a blessing you are to your communinty! Thanks for entering me in your contest.
    Sheryl Simpson Mary Janes Farmgirl #5068 sctxtraveler@yahoo.com

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  26. heike@goddessinthegroove.com

    I am taking out our front lawn, little by little. My plan is to plant the whole thing with veggies, and then share with friends & neighbors :). You can never have enough seeds!

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  27. Double post?? :)
    Just in case...

    Taking out the front lawn, little by little. Replanting with herbs 7 seeds. I am going to share with the neighbors & friends, then they will all want their own gardens!! You can never have enough seeds!!!

    Heike
    Farm Chick #2245

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  28. I'd love the seeds to plant a larger garden up by my house. I share things I grow with friends & family, and customers at my thrift shop. erica5751@msn.com, Thank you.

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  29. This year was the first time I've attempted a garden since we've lived at our present house on five acres of land. Most of the property is trees and there are lots of springs. My only way to go was to try above ground gardening on top of our sand mound. For those of you who don't know what that is it's our septic system. I bought six four by four garden boxes, laid a layer of black mesh fabric and dumped in a trailer full of organic dirt and manure. From there I had to pick out rocks and crunch by hand dirt which was still hard. I raked and crunched until I had my little garden just how I wanted it. I planted green beans, sweet peas, lima beans, pumpkins, squash, zucchini and corn. What did the best was green beans so I'll plant more of those next year. Even though I like peas there just wasn't enough to can so we ate what we wanted and froze some. Limas take too long with very little actual product. Next year will be a much larger garden with less zucchini but more pumpkin. I would like to grow tomatoes and green peppers. I don't know if I would try corn again. I think the above ground garden isn't conducive to corn. I would like to try some of your heirloom seeds! Thanks!

    Carol in western PA

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  30. This is awesome! What a great deal for the community garden. I'd love to plant some unusual varieties of veggies for the food bank and my friends. Yay, Irish Eyes :-)

    Joyce Plunkett

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Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a comment! All comments will be reviewed before posting. So, comment away--I look forward to reading your thoughts!