THE NEW SSE 2006 YEARBOOK IS HERE. I'M SOMEBODY

[nascarmike]

I'M A NEW MEMBER OS SSE. THE 2006 YEARBOOK IS QUITE OVERWHELMING. TONS OF STUFF. WILL HAVE TO STUDY IT TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE IT. MY WIFE AND I WENT THERE LAST JULY. IT WAS WELL WORTH THE TIME. MADE A WEEKEND OUT OF IT.

[TomatoDon]

How do you order one?

Don

[nascarmike]

You have to join sse.
www.seedsavers.org

[carolyn137]

John, I also got mine yesterday.

And Mike, you've ALWAYS been somebody to me and may I quickly say thanks so much for the fresh Debbie seeds b/c I am completely bogged down with maybe 30 or so e-mails to answer.

Carolyn

[PaulF]

Shoot, the introduction by Kent is bigger than our phonebook.

[carolyn137]

John,

It was a very deliberate decision on Craig's part to not list any varieties this year. And last year I think he only listed one.

He and I used to list hundreds of varieties each year, but there comes a time when for this reason or that it's better to let others, perhaps younger others, carry on.

We both are long time Lifetime members of SSE so will always get our Yearbooks.

I'm not listing that many either, and I'll phase out the few that I am listing b'c with this mobility situation I'm in there's no way I can grow for new stock, which is why I lowered the request price on all my varieties.

Carolyn

[Rena]

I call my husband everyday at work to tell him I will not be cooking dinner if the sse book comes, I have yet to get any takeout
Maybe they forgot me.. maybe they went backwards on the alphabet?? My last name starts with an A??
Waiting by the mailbox in GA-Rena

[nctomatoman]

Carolyn has it right - for many years I offered hundreds of varieties, sent out thousands of seed packets - with the result of perhaps 1% reoffered (so I was pretty much being used like a seed company). More recently, it is a combination of not having sufficient seed of any particular variety to offer, due mainly to our seedlings venture. Perhaps I will list more varieties some day - especially if something that I find excellent is not available. This is also typical of the patterns of SSE involvement - it ebbs and flows from one obsessed person to the next! There are not many Glenn Drowns and Will Bonsalls out there - they've been offering huge collections for many years, and really are a significant part of the foundation of the organization, in my view.

[carolyn137]

Craig,

Just to support what you're saying, I haven't yet had quality time to look at the 2006 in detail but I did look at several of the new ones I listed last year and the three I looked at had only Bill and Neil as relisters, and I'm sure that's b'c I have in the past sent them my new ones, in return for some they send me, and did them those three.

Of all the seed I sent out for those varieties and only TWO folks relisted.

Carolyn, who also ordered more copies of my book from Workman today. :wink: And I found out I can get a discount on everything they publish, which I didn't know before. And that includes their subsidiaries of Algonquin, Storey and Artisan Presses. Just what I need, more books.

[Andrey_BY]

I wonder why there is no something like e-archive for an old SSE Yearbooks on their site as many other organizations used to do?!

[carolyn137]

Andrey,

There is absolutely no way that SSE could do what you request.

SSE is a very low budget organization, there are few staff in the office and there is no computer specialist who is part of the staff, and no time to take on such a project.

Joanne has her hands full just setting up the annual Yearbook as well as the Summer and Fall editions as well as the Garden Inventory book and other publications that they offer.

A good idea? Yes, of course. Will it ever be done. No, not that I can see any time soon, if ever.

Grant money to support the organization has disappeared greatly with passing years as is true for all organizations who have depended on grant monies for support.

My one hope is that the entries in the Yearbook could be edited to weed out wrong information, wrongly spelled names and the like.

Craig and I offered several years ago to do so for the tomato section, to the extent that we could, but that hasn't happened either. And there would be huge problems related to that in terms of letting listers know why their entries might be changed. And I mean in terms of communication, b/c not that many listed members have computers.

As for me, I'm glad for what we have.

In addition, varieties cannot be requested from Yearbooks prior to the current Yearbook, so the only real benefit of doing what you suggest would be to allow folks to see some of the histories/backgrounds of the entries. But as I just wrote elswhere here this AM, there's such info for perhaps only 5-10% of all listings anyway.

Carolyn

[Rena]

You can purchase the old yearbooks for 5 dollars.

[cdntomato]

A Super Yearbook, a compilation of all previous yearbooks, was completed in 2005. Its availability in print or online for member use is unclear, at least to me.

Jennifer, still checking the mail for this year's edition

[Andrey_BY]

I'm very interested in that compilation of SSE Yearbooks as well. Would like to trade my seeds for this book

Originally Posted by cdntomato

A Super Yearbook, a compilation of all previous yearbooks, was completed in 2005. Its availability in print or online for member use is unclear, at least to me.

Jennifer, still checking the mail for this year's edition

[travis]

Andrey, I sent an email into SSE yesterday asking about the availability of Yearbook copies to mail to you, but the lady who handles that apparently is very busy with wrapping up this year's Yearbook mailings, etc., as Carolyn has said.

Anyway, I would be glad to trade you books for seeds or other interesting items from Belarus. Let me explore this further.

Forward me your address via PM or email me at papavic@tomatoville.com.

PV

EDIT: Update: Andrey, I just spoke with Joanne on the phone. She's very busy as Carolyn said. She said that many years of back issues of the Yearbook are available at $5.00 each, but that the 2006 is still considered current and not a back issue as they are still going out to the membership.

If you would like me to pursue acquiring some recent Yearbooks ... say 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, like that ... and mail them to you, let me know via email.

Joanne also said the "Super Yearbook" compilation is still a "work in progress" at this time and is not available in print or online.

By the way, Joanne is a very nice lady on the phone, and must be doing an awesome job at SSE considering the number of members and sheer volume of Yearbooks she is responsible for mailing out.

PV