Frequently Asked Questions
When will I get my request for free seeds? -
Requests with donations have an average turnaround of 2 days,
so about 7-10 days from the time we receive your request email to the time they arrive at the address you provide.
At peak times it could take more than 3 weeks to receive a request from the time we get a complete request email.
If you donated & have not received seeds in 4 weeks
you should email freeheirloomseeds@gmail.com with the donation info & we will look into it.
Requests without donations are primarily filled in bulk when we have the resources.
It could be 2 days or it could be a few months.
We have a limited amount of time to donate to this,
so please do not email to ask when you will get seeds,
as this could move your request to the back of the line or even cause it to be deleted.
This best time to request without donation is the end of February.
Reasons your request without a donation may not get filled -
1. Your request did not say "no donation" in the email subject line.
2. You or your household made multiple requests without a donation in the same year.
3. You did not choose seeds. It costs us about $2 to send these, you must choose at least 4, up to 8 varieties of seed & substitutes that are not on our oversized list.
4. You chose seeds from our oversized list, which cannot be shipped in a standard envelope.br>
5. The seeds you requested are out of stock. List substitutes to avoid this!
6. You ask us to "do" something, other than fill your properly formatted seed request
big>How is this possible? - Free Heirloom Seeds is supported by donations from individuals & small businesses.
All of the donations received are used for acquiring, packing & distributing seeds, so a little goes a long way!
2. How many seeds will I get? -
Seed count varies by variety, based on availability.
You could get as little as 1 seed of a certain variety, or hundreds depending on what you request & what's available.
We also hand pack the seeds so count can vary greatly just by chance.
We also have limits to how many seeds we pack because of the way they are shipped
A standard envelope (4 packs of seed) cannot weigh more than an ounce, with packing material.
Also envelopes cannot be too thick (more than 1/4") or it risks getting returned for parcel shipping.
As this program grows & is refined we will be listing approximate seed counts of different varieties so you have an idea of what to expect.
3. Where do the seeds come from? -
Some of our seeds we grow or wildcraft, others are donated to us by individuals & businesses, some seeds are "grown out" for us by members of our community & some are purchased from trusted seed producers & packers.
We also admin the Facebook group - Free Heirloom Seeds Community Group. There people can trade seeds freely amongst each other &
we will be using that as one of our tools in our Species Preservation Initiative. We are creating a database to track who is producing what kind of seeds to help prevent species extinction.
It is our hope that eventually our seed distribution will become more regionally localized by inspiring more people to grow & share seeds.
4. Why are there 2 different seed lists? -
USPS will charge a parcel rate if the envelope is not flat enough.
Even one bean costs a average of $4.65 to ship, regardless of it's weight or if it is in a simple envelope.
We learned that the hard way & unfortunately we would cease to exist if every package cost us $4 to ship.
The seeds on our second list have been identified as too bulky or fragile to send in a standard envelope & require parcel shipping.
As it is, our local post office has identified our packages as carrying seed & demands we pay an extra fee for
hand canceling, for a shipping cost of $1.19 per envelope, at the time of writing.
We created our suggested donation guidelines to allow us to send you the most possible seed for the least amount
of postage.
We sponsor parcel shipping when we can, but our capacity to send parcels of seeds & pay $4 to do so is very, very limited.
How can I grow seeds to support this effort?
Simply put, just do it. Grow any given seed variety with proper isolation from varieties that will cross with one another.
We cannot micromanage others efforts to grow & save seeds.
We make the seeds available & would be thrilled if you grow them out & save seeds from them.
5. How can I get involved? -
We encourage you to join our Species Preservation Initiative (link coming soon!)
& our facebook group - Free Heirloom Seeds Community Group
Anyone can help! We need volunteers from all walks of life & all variety of skill sets!
Please check out our Volunteer! page, to find out how you can help! |