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obtuse

Australian Free Seed Ring

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Hi everyone,

Please make sure you use the Australian Free Seed Ring, www.seedring.org

There is a Chapter for:

Perth

Melbourne

Northern NSW

Central Coast

Seeds are free, but please give a gold coin donation for each packet that you order. Each chapter has its own operating costs (renting out the PO box, envelopes, stamps, etc) so please help them out.

The seedrings run on donations, so once your plants have grown and you have harvested the seeds please donate them so that others have the opportunity to do the same.

The Seedrings accept any type of seed, be it ethnobotanical, native, food, herb, ornamental, cacti or even fungi (The Australian Free Seedring will NOT accept, nor give out any spores or fungi cultures to any mushroom species that is illegal to grow or posses i.e. Psilocybes, etc.).

For further details please visit the site, www.seedring.org

Edited by obtuse

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I made a firefox search engine addon for AFSR :)

Just put the attached file in C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\nteqeewe.default\searchplugins (replace "owner" with your windows logon name if different), restart firefox, and it should appear in the list of available search engines on that lil search bar top right.

I made the icon a four leaf clover since I couldnt find a 16 X 16 icon associated with AFSR

I think I programmed it right :lol: I'm just now teaching myself to make those search addon thingies, seems to be functional anyway

AFSR.xml

AFSR.xml

AFSR.xml

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sweet :)

ive added couple things to the nnsw one too

ipomoea carnea

syrian rue (viable)

Argemone mexicanna

desmanthus illinoiensis

coming soon

MG pearly gate (I tricolor)

MG grandpa ott (I purpurea)

i also have others to add

theres heaps of old fsr stock but id rather do a growout in my yard and only list fresh seed

keeps list size manageable for me too

Calea, Stevia, White henbane and other things flowering in my yard

and thanks to auxin i have germinated quite a few Heimia myrtifolia

theyll begoing in my garden in spring and should give seed soon enough

  • Like 1

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Guest Øskorei

It's a shame to read on another thread about that creach fellow having to give up the project in Perth due to lack of interest. It's such a selfless movement, and I hope the other states are having success enough to keep this alive.

Two Questions:

1. Is there an environmental 'duty of care' exercised, as I note that ipo's / morning glory's are available, and some of these can be devestating to local environs if seed-pod-management is not in place. I would like to think that anyone ordering these off the ring were given some sound advice (and factual data) on how to manage them or by default the suppliers would be responsible (although never traced, conveniently...) for the significant potential of native disruption.

2. Can I donate to the ring without being a member, ie; simply send viable seed and know it will be posted for anyone interested ?

It's a great idea, and will hopefully help to maintain an anti-monsanto channel when the commercial seeds turn sour :) More food-seed would be great to see !

Kada, site is running for me, at 11.50pm

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I made a firefox search engine addon for AFSR :)

Just put the attached file in C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\nteqeewe.default\searchplugins (replace "owner" with your windows logon name if different), restart firefox, and it should appear in the list of available search engines on that lil search bar top right.

I made the icon a four leaf clover since I couldnt find a 16 X 16 icon associated with AFSR

I think I programmed it right :lol: I'm just now teaching myself to make those search addon thingies, seems to be functional anyway

Ta Auxin.

Of note is that the "nteqeewe.default" appears to be user specific (in my case it was "ylpxvfv7.default"). Copied to the appropriate sub-directory and all working well.

ed

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Hi Øskorei,

To answer your questions.

1. Is there an environmental 'duty of care' exercised, as I note that ipo's / morning glory's are available, and some of these can be devestating to local environs if seed-pod-management is not in place. I would like to think that anyone ordering these off the ring were given some sound advice (and factual data) on how to manage them or by default the suppliers would be responsible (although never traced, conveniently...) for the significant potential of native disruption.

Fantastic suggestion and i will look into it. While most plants have a link to the enthobotanical wiki, i agree a disclaimer/duty of care statement should be present on some of the seed descriptions, esp the datura's and ipomea's.

2. Can I donate to the ring without being a member, ie; simply send viable seed and know it will be posted for anyone interested ?

You sure can donate seed without being a member. just send your spare viable seeds to the chapter/s of your choice. The only way the seedring is gonna work is by the generosity of the community.

It's a great idea, and will hopefully help to maintain an anti-monsanto channel when the commercial seeds turn sour :) More food-seed would be great to see !

For sure. and agreed, it would be great to see some more food seed.

Thanks for helping out,

Cheers, Obtuse

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It's a shame to read on another thread about that creach fellow having to give up the project in Perth due to lack of interest. It's such a selfless movement, and I hope the other states are having success enough to keep this alive.

Two Questions:

1. Is there an environmental 'duty of care' exercised, as I note that ipo's / morning glory's are available, and some of these can be devestating to local environs if seed-pod-management is not in place. I would like to think that anyone ordering these off the ring were given some sound advice (and factual data) on how to manage them or by default the suppliers would be responsible (although never traced, conveniently...) for the significant potential of native disruption.

There is a brief note under 'terms and conditions' however it probably should be a little more clear, that piece of text was actually just ramblings in email and was put up at the time by admin and isn't particularly correct in it's wording.

Personally I feel it's the growers responsibility, they need to take responsibility for their land and surrounding areas, I think if they spend the time growing the plant, they should educate themselves about it habit, it's origin and it's potential for escape and the impact it could potentially have. This will clearly communicate what needs to be done i.e. if it's a wind dispersed seed with negative potential in the area, you are responsible for controlling the flower/fruit before it gets to that stage. However that applies to potential new weeds, current legislation for a given area will dictate what you are allowed to have on your property/what can be traded/sold etc.

I have taken certain species(i.e.Datura) off the mfsr list due to CaLP Act (victorian state legislation) and will not stock them, it may be okay in some areas, but I am legally obliged not to trade in them.

Legislation for specific species will vary from area to area within a state, and then state by state generally which could possibly be good reasons to restrict seeds to state distribution.

I could be wrong, i've searched through various legislation and the likes and have a vague understanding, but there is so much information constant changes, contradicting statements etc. I get confused alot, legislation does my head in, but I try to understand it to best of my abilities.

If you are going to grow a plant, take responsibility and control it, if you can't do that then it's probably best it's not grown.

My head is constantly spinning these days, hectic schedule and I can't find the time where my head is overly constructive to write out a better disclaimer for the site, i've been meaning to but am very very drained and when I do get free time I try and get my body/mind healthy again for the next onslaught of stress.

A brief discussion on the same topic here:

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/inde...546&hl=AFSR

Edited by gerbil

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Hey Gerbil,

Thats some pretty good stuff you got there. I will go ahead and create the disclaimers but do you mind if I base it on what you have written.

I will have a look at the weed lists for all your respective areas and pick out the one's likely to be traded, and not for those outside your area to be aware of the lists. maybe even post a hyperlink to various lists.

If anyone has a list of hyperlinks feel free to post to help me out =)

cheers, Obtuse

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Is it just me or did half the afsr stock vanish in the last week or 2? :blink:

Maby in my september donation I should include stuff no one would get, like celery seed or somesuch, just to pad the inventory :wink:

Oi Rev, did that Blue Moencopi Pueblo make its way to you? Its very probably the first batch of seed for that variety to ever enter Oz :)

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yeah it does seem sort of low auxin, kind of odd, I swear there was an acacia maidenii listed with at least 30 packets. It's either a software glitch thats happening sporadically, chapter admins accidentally changing stock to out of stock or customers requesting large amounts of seeds instead of single packs of species per order. I'm leaning towards possibly customer based as it seems the more popular species go missing this way, like lophs recently, people ordered them up then only about 2 actually sent their order in (all loph gone now folks, sent to other parties). Possibly if some orders come in the next few weeks with large packet requests it'll explain a few things. Will pm you obtuse, apologies for lack of communication.

Small update for melbourne just done, some golden barrel cactus, hbwr, black pearl chilli and cal poppy mix. (Cheers phil :D)

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Hey everyone,

Thanks Auxin and Gerbil for pointing this out. The sudden disappearence of seed has happened in the last two days and i would presume someone either over-ordering or just playing silly-buggers. Thanks also to Gerbil for the text supplied for the website.

I have temporarily diabled the box on the order form where you can specify the amount of packets you can order. The seedring is about sharing freely so as many people get to grow plants as possible, particularly the rarer ones, and not for a few people to overorder or stockpile. so for the moment I'd suggest one packet per species per order, but at the end of the day its up to the individual chapter.

The thing with being "free" is that its going to invite the "as much free as possible" attitude.

It will be interesting to see how many orders come in.

cheers, Obtuse

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The quantity of Hyoscyamus albus in stock is negative :lol:

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My annuual fall donation arrived at MFSR :) Some of them are new to the ring and some of them have history attached so I figured I should give an introduction:

Althaea officinalis - I got this strain of Marshmallow from a Kazakhstani botanist who collected them in the desert region to the east of Dzhambul, Kazakhstan in 1977. Medicine for respiratory and digestive systems.

Brassica nigra - Black mustard. If you use the seed as a spice then mix the crushed seed with cool water and let the enzyme do its thing before screwing with the pH or applying heat or salt. If you cook the greens avoid prolonged boiling.

Delosperma bosseranum - Caudiciform kanna analog, a returning favorite. I grew these from seed I got through AFSR, thanks to whoever donated them a few years back :)

Desmanthus illinoensis - Needs no introduction.

Escobaria vivipara - An extremely cold hardy hedgehog-type cactus. Its a northern variety of the species, these seeds came from a private outdoor collection at the Minnesota - South Dakota border where they had no trouble with temps down to -32°C. Do not use peat in the soil mix.

Lycium barbarum, Wild Form - These came off my plants grown from seed collected from the wild by a botanist in Idaho, USA in 1963. This blood line shows lots of variability.

Ocimum campechianum - Also known as O. micranthum. An ayahuasca admixture used as a anti-inflammatory pain killer. The odor of the crushed freshly dried seed heads make me want italian food. I grew these from seed collected in Brejo, Maranhao, Brazil.

Trichocereus bridgesii and peruvianus - Got these through horizonherbs.com, an american medicinal seed company, two weeks ago so they should be good and fresh. Folks always say 'people need to build bridges' :wink:

Withania somnifera - Medicinal herb, mild sedative, and cumulative aphrodesiac- a returning favorite. I grew these from seed I got through AFSR, thanks to whoever donated them a few years back :)

I should have a few more new ones to donate next year too, if I'm lucky my maral (Stemmacantha carthamoides) plant will produce enough seed to donate some. It had a hard time getting to my garden, it was collected by a russian botanist in 1974 (durring the cold war) and donated by him to the United States Department of Agriculture! I got some of the original 32 year old seed and miraculously one grew, send it some hippie love vibes so it produces seed next year :)

Edited by Auxin

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You're starting to scare me auxin lol How did you know they arrived? I picked them up this afternoon and just updated now prior to seeing this thread :blink:

As always many many thanks :wub::worship:, I always know when your mail arrives 'cause the mailbox is bulging. :wink:

oh woops that makes sense...9:40 i read as 8:40 ... hmm disregard *twiddles thumbs*

Edited by gerbil

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Always a pleasure :)

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Excellent Auxin.

Thanks heaps for the donation.

I'll have to go and place an order for some of these fantastic seeds. Cheers hey.

Cheers, Obtuse.

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Been wondering for a while, in the user options theres a 'General Newsletter' option so members can be emailed about new listings but it seems to never have been implemented, would that be at all difficult or inconvenient?

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I placed an order a while ago. I sent my goldy and SSAE. :lol:

Just wondering what's happening with it?

Should I send someone a PM?

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sorry my fault, was positive i posted a bunch until i found them under some paperwork :blush:

it's in the mail (if you were one of them? which i'd imagine so); else been too busy with work and madness of christmas, on top of things soon i guess :shroomer:

let me know if it doesn't arrive.

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Indigio sunrise doesn't apper to be aorund much lately, i hope my donation finds him.

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Hi AFSR managers,

I shall be donating free Lophophora seed mix to the chapters soon. 50 seeds each!

The mother plants and father plants could be any of the following: L. williamsii, L. williamsii v. caespitosa, L. williamsii v. texensis, L. fricci, L. diffusa v. keohresii.

Would any of the chapters object or are any not functioning?

Please reply soon as I shall send them out this week.

(Left-overs I shall place on the trade list)

Cheers,

E D

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:wub: Sounds great, thanks a heap Ed B)

(mfsr :P )

I've got 5 of your previous babies still as small seedlings outdoors in plastic; not game to graft with this lot at the moment, don't want to lose them :D

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For Desmodium gangeticum scarify them and soak until swollen, they must swell or they will just sit in the soil dormant.

For Silene capensis surface sow and be very patient, in my germination test I got 90% germination from this batch but that was spread out from week two to week six after planting.

And remember, the rings wouldnt be around without seed donations.

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