The 2011 NARGS Seed Exchange

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As November moves rapidly toward it's conclusion, I thought I'd remind everyone that on December 15 the new online Seed Exchange will be ready for it's initial roll-out. Over the past few years the Seed Exchange has had fewer participants, primarily due to a rather diminished variety of interesting seeds, in particular fewer wild collected seeds. So in an effort to generate more interest we've purchased quite a bit of seed from Alplains for the Seed Exchange, and the variety and quality is unsurpassed. Alan Bradshaw is one of the last seed collectors, and he's been working harder the past couple of years than ever in his lonely effort to bring every worthy species of the American West into cultivation, and this year's collection is probably his best and most varied.

In addition, we've (successfully) solicited seed from a lot of our long time members like John Weiser, Mike Kintgen, and others, and I believe that it will be a truly exceptional selection, so make sure that you plan to participate. As most of you know, NARGS membership is a requirement for participation in the Seed Exchange, so make sure that your membership is paid up, or if you're not a member, contact Bobby Ward and get it done early enough to allow you to have a shot at the seeds you really want.

Comments

Richard T. Rodich's picture

Richard T. Rodich

Fri, 11/25/2011 - 5:16pm

Well I, for one, am very excited!

The Coryphantha(Escobaria) vivipara I donated is really quite special, in my opinion, for those trying to grow cactus in the east.  It is seed from plants grown from seed from the easternmost colony known (as far as I know) - the South Dakota/Minnesota borderland.

Peter George's picture

Peter George

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 8:57am

As many of you know, the online Seed Exchange has been delayed due to 'technical difficulties.' I discussed those issues with Chris Klapwijk, our webmaster, and he's confident that we'll have it functional today, the 17th. I did have an opportunity to go through the seed-list, which IS online right now, and I was quite surprised at the vast number of taxa that are there. And the wild collected group is the best I've seen in quite a while, due to contributions from both Alan Bradshaw/Alplains, John Weiser and so many others. Lots of Penstemon and Eriogonum seed is there, along with some very choice species not often seen here. So those of you who are already members of NARGS, make sure you have your email registration completed, and those of you who aren't members yet, take a look at the seed list and it may be enough to get you to pay the pittance for such an excellent collection.

Beatty's picture

Beatty (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 9:41am

Hi, I'm new to NARGS so forgive me, but, where is the seed list?  I'd love to see it even if the system isn't running yet.  Thanks.

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 10:00am

Welcome Sue!  The link to both PDF versions of the seed list are currently not working for me, it stalls about 3/4 the way through the download, and the second link (basic seed list) gives errors.  I tried the link to the complete seed list several times, each time it gets a smidgen further in the download, maybe there's too much traffic trying to access it.
Seems these items are also in a state of needing repair.

Beatty's picture

Beatty (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 10:06am

I can't open the link at all.  I finally got a donor list to open up (thank you) but an actual list no.  I don't see where I can get a spreadsheet but it tells me it's not a pdf.  What am I doing wrong?

Lori S.'s picture

Lori S. (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 10:12am

I dunno.... I am able to open all links at the site, and see the full seed list.

Beatty's picture

Beatty (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 10:13am

Thank you for your replies :-)  Mark, that's my problem and I thought I wasn't clicking in the right place - lol.  I'll try later and see how it goes.  I appreciate all the work they're doing and how frustrating it must be for them and now I know it's not my lack of knowledge I'll just wait.  Sue

Beatty's picture

Beatty (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 10:24am

Mark, that's what I'm getting.  Out of curiosity I went into my computer download file and there they all are - yes, every single click gave me another copy.  I'm not sure why I kept getting the error and it threw me off but it's there.  Hope you find it.

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 10:28am

Each time I tried the link for the complete seed list PDF, it would get a little bit further in the download... until eventually it finished.  I can email the list to anyone having trouble downloading it, it is a little over 2 MB in size.  For me, there were no other copies in my downloads folder.

Beatty's picture

Beatty (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 10:36am

I guess I didn't get it.  I thought it was there in my download file but it wasn't :-(  I still get the same error as you are.

Jan Jeddeloh's picture

Jan Jeddeloh

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 11:11am

So right now the red link to online ordering isn't working for anyone, right?  I can't get it to open in either Chrome or IE.  Just checking to make sure this is a bug they're working on to fix and not a fluke of my system.  I was able to open the pdf of the seed list so I can start shopping.

Thanks to everyone working to make this system work.  Rolling out something new like this is difficult and often a bit buggy at first.  I'd just like to make sure the bugs aren't in my system!

Thank you,

Jan Jeddeloh

Harold Peachey's picture

Harold Peachey

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 11:26am

That is my current experience Jan-the hardworking folks at the seed exchange and web host will come through soon I'm sure.  The list was much more exciting than my meager wish list so many revisions were in order-sooo excited

Doreen Mear's picture

Doreen Mear

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 11:57am

From Down Under in New Zealand (on Windows 7) the red link isn't working for me. I can't open the complete seedlist, but I can open the basic one and start jotting down my order. Lots of goodies on there so my order's probably way bigger than my allocation! Off out for a walk now for a couple of hours to give you guys chance to fix the bugs - good luck, and thanks!  :)

Peter George's picture

Peter George

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 12:25pm

For those of you who are having difficulty accessing the PDF file of seeds available in the exchange, please email Laura Serowicz @
[email][email protected][/email] for the list. Hopefully we'll have the whole thing fixed shortly, but in the interim, at least you'll be able to pick out your seeds.

Peter

Kuhn's picture

Kuhn (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 5:13pm

Any ETA? Will there be an announcement when this is all working or should we just keep clicking on the red link? Thanks...great list BTW, will be hard to decide.

Schier's picture

Schier (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 7:34pm

No problems here, wonderful seed listings...Thanks so much to everyone for all of the hard work.

Diane Whitehead's picture

Diane Whitehead

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 8:42pm

I've been trying unsuccessfully all day to get the list.  It doesn't download in Safari - just bounces me back to the NARGS homepage.  However, Firefox downloaded it instantaneously.

Diane Whitehead

Kuhn's picture

Kuhn (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 9:02pm

The seedlist downloads instantaneously for me too, but I'm confused...is the online ordering working for anyone or should we just mail in our orders?

Beatty's picture

Beatty (not verified)

Sat, 12/17/2011 - 9:22pm

I never managed to open up the seed list but Joyce sent me a copy of the basic list via email - I didn't expect that so thank you very much.  Thank you for trying so hard to get it up and working - I can only guess at your frustration but technology is so complicated and integrated these days that the best laid plans...............  Appreciate all you're doing.

Jan Jeddeloh's picture

Jan Jeddeloh

Sun, 12/18/2011 - 3:46pm

I have my selections made but the online ordering function still isn't working for me.  Everyone else in the same boat?

Perhaps whoever ends up fixing the problem can post in the forum when it's fixed.

Thank you,

Jan

CScott's picture

CScott (not verified)

Sun, 12/18/2011 - 4:23pm

The seedlist came through for me,but the ordering link does not activate for me.
Thank you to the people who organized this---it will be great when it is all functional.
Caroline

Peter George's picture

Peter George

Sun, 12/18/2011 - 4:49pm

My 'inside' information is that there is one last issue to be addressed and then it will be a 'go.' Hopefully that will happen soon. Thanks for your patience.

Kuhn's picture

Kuhn (not verified)

Mon, 12/19/2011 - 7:57am

I have my seed order all ready to go....should I wait for the online system or just mail it in? I imagine the online system should make it much easier to process all the orders, but I don't want to miss out this year. Thanks.

Peter George's picture

Peter George

Mon, 12/19/2011 - 8:06am

If you mail in your order, it will be 2-4 days before the order is actually processed. I can't imagine any scenario where the Seed Exchange won't be fixed by tonight. So considering the alternatives I would suggest waiting. I've been waiting for 3 days as well, and the thought of sending my order in by mail has occurred to me as well, but I have to believe waiting is the right choice.

Kuhn's picture

Kuhn (not verified)

Mon, 12/19/2011 - 8:45am

OK, I'll try to be patient. I was ready with my order early last week but decided to wait to submit it electronically to make it easier on the processing end.

Peter George's picture

Peter George

Mon, 12/19/2011 - 3:27pm

An update: Right now it's going to be another 12 hours or so before we get this thing working. I haven't pressed our webmaster for the 'why' of these seemingly interminable delays, but at least I know he's working on it. His last words to me were "but yes, we are getting closer. At this point, it looks like we'll go live tomorrow for sure." That was as of 5:54 EST, Cross your fingers!

Saori's picture

Saori (not verified)

Mon, 12/19/2011 - 6:32pm

Thanks for the update! I appreciate the people who are working very hard to make this happen!

Bertil Larsson's picture

Bertil Larsson (not verified)

Tue, 12/20/2011 - 6:45am

I can wait. It´s no hurry but good to know it´s not just me who can´t get into the on line ordering but the list I could get yesterday so I have something to do looking thru that.

Beatty's picture

Beatty (not verified)

Tue, 12/20/2011 - 12:41pm

Just a suggestion.  I only have the basic list which doesn't have an order form - this I have because it was emailed to me and I'm one of the people who can't open up the lists as posted.  However, if we could get an electronic version of the order form (maybe in excel format but not pdf'd), could we email the order in?  It may take the pressure off trying to get the system going.  I feel for the people doing it - it's so close to Christmas and everyone is always busy getting ready to celebrate Jesus birthday.  The only snag would be paying the $15 - we could pay online but you'd have to match up who's paid and who hasn't.

Peter George's picture

Peter George

Wed, 12/21/2011 - 1:57pm

As you might imagine, I'm more than a bit frustrated by this situation. I have promised 'one more day' for too many days now, so I'm not promising anything. But I do know that the webmaster appears to have virtually every glitch addressed, and with only one or two left, it shouldn't be more than one more day until we're live. I sincerely hope that tomorrow is the day. Thanks for your patience!

Doreen Mear's picture

Doreen Mear

Thu, 12/22/2011 - 11:40am

Just done my seed order - worked like a dream, and having had my "shopping list" ready for a few days, it only took about 3 minutes! Well done and thanks to everyone concerned, the wait was worth it.

Peter George's picture

Peter George

Thu, 12/22/2011 - 2:58pm

Just to note that the vast majority of the work to make this happen was done by Chris Klapwijk, our webmaster, and Laura Serowicz, the Director of the Seed Exchange. Joyce Fingerut and Bobby Ward also played major roles in this project and we should thank them all for their work and their persistence in overcoming the inevitable series of tiny problems which collectively almost killed two or three of us. And for those of you who haven't had the opportunity to peek at the seed selection, methinks you'll be surprised at the variety and the quality. To those of you who are Christians, have a wonderful Christmas. To those Jews among us, Chag Urim Sameach. And for the Pagans, I'm confident that your Solstice celebration was truly memorable.

Peter

Richard T. Rodich's picture

Richard T. Rodich

Thu, 12/22/2011 - 3:56pm

I've never spent so little time putting in an order. 
With simple and easy to follow directions, it went so smoothly!

Clearly, there was a mountain of thought that went into this.
-- (Not to mention a world of work!)

My gratitude to everyone involved!

maggiepie's picture

maggiepie (not verified)

Thu, 12/22/2011 - 4:03pm

All's well that ends well. ;D

Many thanks to all involved, I can only imagine the amount of hours that went into making this happen.
Hope your hair grows back :rolleyes:

Happy holidays to all.

Helen Poirier

Tom Waters's picture

Tom Waters (not verified)

Thu, 12/22/2011 - 4:45pm

Everything worked very smoothly for me too! Thanks to everyone who helped this come together.

Lori S.'s picture

Lori S. (not verified)

Thu, 12/22/2011 - 9:11pm

Wow, that was slick!  Thanks very much, Chris and Laura, and Joyce and Bobby (and anyone else who may have been involved), for all your hard work to set that up!  It's much appreciated.

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Thu, 12/22/2011 - 9:40pm

I am duly impressed of the NARGS online seed exchange ordering system... just went through it from start (first look at the seedlist) to finish (paying via PayPal), and it was so easy and seamless.  Huge kudos to NARGS WebMaster Chris Klapwijk, seed exchange director Laura Serowicz, and the whole seed exchange team!  As an IT guy myself (Information Technology), I know full well the huge amount of effort that goes on behind-the-scenes which largely goes unappreciated, but I must say to Chris in particular, the online seed ordering experience and user-interface is extremely well done (I'm a known critic of bad software implementation), the interface has all the right links, options, and User-Interface implementations... certainly worth the small delay in ironing out wrinkles, a new standard has been set. 

Howey's picture

Howey (not verified)

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 4:11am

Just got it this morning - absolutely wonderful and thank you, thank you, thank you.  So easy to manage - and I need lots of "easy" these days.  Merry Christmas!  Fran

Frances Howey
London,Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 10:05am

I can enter the seed system to make a seed request... but I still  cannot download the list.  In the seed ordering area it does not seem possible to see who the donors of particular species are... is that possible in the downloadable list?

If so, could someone who has managed to download it, email it to me, please? I think my email is visible to all members.

I know there have been problems  and those involved in the set-up will have been distraught at the difficulties... but it is all coming together now and it will be a boon, both for the members and for those picking and packing the seed in future. well done folks!

Cheers,
Maggi

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