It's taken me a while to get back here, but here I am.
Dice, I do wish you had told me about your problem seeds last year but nevertheless if it's crushed seeds I know they weren't crushed as seen here at home b'c I don't need a microscope to see same, trust me, b/c they look crumbly, is best I can say. And of course if you'd like replacements please just PM me with your address and the variety names.
Linda, all the varieties you requested were 2008 seeds except for Ashleigh which was 2004.
And I sent many of those 2008 ones out, b'c of the 80 or so folks who participated in my recent seed offer almost all requested mostly 2008 seeds. There were two different batches of Giannini and one had slightly darker seeds but that shouldn't have made that much difference based on my past experiences with seeds.
I also sent those 2008 seeds, not as part of the seed offer, to a few folks who live in the south and had to start them in January and knowing them, LOL, I would have heard if there were problems.
Linda, if you'd like me to resend you those seeds please just PM me with your address and list the varieties. Too late for this year, but should still be OK for next year since I don't know right now if there will be a seed offer next year, even though I have a lot of new ones on my current list.
And thanks for noting that the seeds you've received from me before have had about 100% germination, for that's been the case for all the seed offers I've done before.
So......what's to do.
I'm going to continue and pack the way I have been and those of you who did get seeds from me either this year or in an earlier year know that I tape the seeds to something else inside the envelope so they don't get relocated and pile up inside the envelope such that they wouldn't be crushed, b'c I do know about crushed seeds, trust me.
Yes, Linda, I can post a germination thread but I've thought about the last time I did that. This seed offer most of the folks who requested seeds were folks I didn't know and I know from prior experience that the germination range for any one variety with fresh seeds can range from zero to 100%.
So how do I interpret that? Can I say that the seeds were crushed? No, I can't. Can I say that different folks use different methods to sow seeds and germinate them? I sure can.
Linda I know in terms of knowing what's shes doing, same with Tania and Dice and Ted and now I can't remember who else posted in this thread.
Since there's a number of ways one can interpert germination results I'm not sure how much I or others would take back from such results and I think this thread has been great in terms of indicating that there may be a new problem out there in terms of USPS sorting machines.
I know from previous seed offers when I've said, for older seed varieties, to sow so many seeds, or double sow, that it isn't done b'c many folks have no intention whatsoever of saving their own seeds and are trying to sow the least number of seeds to stretch them out.
So this time I said nada on the 2008 and 2007 seeds b'c they're fresh but for every one of the packs that had older seeds I hand wrote suggestions on how many to sow, as in sow no LESS than 4-6 seeds, or double sow, or whatever, and that was for close to maybe 300 plus seed packs.
Do I switch to using bubble wrap or something else or using small padded mailers for so few seed packs when I make seed offers?
it's bad enough trying to get seeds out ASAP and I don't think I want to switch my seed packing methods/bc right now I've heard back from just a few of you, and no others.
So how much of a problem are crushed seeds when they haven't been in the past as far as my seed offers and SSE listings are concerned?
If it turns out to be a significant problem, which I don't know right now, then I'll continue making SSE listings but just stop making seed offers. Seems to me that would be a reasonable way to go.
And of course I can't speak to anyone else who sends out a lot of seeds, either from SSE listings or seed offers or just to special friends, etc.