Information About Canada Post Strike

Sign-up sheet closed on November 1, 2024

Group Emails were sent out on November 2, 2024

Deadline to send seeds out - Due to the Canada Post strike, the deadline to send seeds will be extended for two weeks after the strike is over.

You can send any seeds that were purchased from a seed company or seeds that were self-saved. This can include vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, annual flowers, perennial flowers, wildflowers, fruits, herbs, and more. Swappers usually love receiving rare or uncommon varieties that cannot be found in commercial seed catalogs. 

Please ensure that you are not sending any seeds that may be invasive or are considered noxious weeds.

Group information will be sent out up until November 5th. Early birds that sign up before the deadline may receive their group information before November 1st. 

Group information emails will include some basic information, and a name & mailing address for each group member. 

Be sure to add seedlibrary@shaw.ca to your safe senders list. If you haven't received an email from seedlibrary@shaw.ca by November 5, 2024, please reach out and let us know ASAP.

No, anyone who resides in Canada is free to join

If you are sending self-saved seeds, ensure the seeds are clean from as much chaff as possible and that they are completely dry. If they are not, the seeds may rot or get moldy in transit and storage.

Dry seeds can be placed in little plastic baggies, paper coin envelopes, or recycled or homemade envelopes. Pinterest has a lot of great DIY seed envelope ideas. Most of these can be made from items laying around your home, or purchased from the dollarstore or local craft store. Have fun with it! 

Be sure to label the envelope with the variety. Other helpful information to include on the envelope are the scientific name, source of the seeds (self-collected or purchased), date the seeds were collected, and if the seeds are poisonous/toxic. If you want to take it a step further, you can include sowing & growing information, notes about how the variety grew in your garden, tips for growing the variety, history behind the variety, etc.

Some swappers include a little card or note with the seeds if all information cannot be recorded on the envelope. 

Feel free to add your social media tags so your group members can add you to their socials. This is a great way to meet fellow Canadian gardeners/seed saving enthusiasts, facilitate future seed swaps, and build your northern-adapted seed saving network!

The goal is to send enough seeds from ONE variety for the person to plant, grow, harvest, and collect seeds from (if they wish to plant again the following year). These numbers are estimates. Feel free to share as many seeds or different varieties as you wish with your group mates.

Tomatoes 12-25 seeds

Peppers 12-20 seeds

Peas 20-25 seeds

Beans 12-20 seeds

Annual Flowers (ex: calendula, marigolds, sunflowers, chamomile) 20-50 seeds

Perennial Flowers (ex: yarrow, columbine, delphinium) ~50 seeds

Herbs (ex: dill, cilantro, basil) 20-30 seeds

Lettuce 20-30 seeds

Cucumbers ~12 seeds

Zucchini ~12 seeds

Pumpkins & Other Squash ~12 seeds

Almost all seeds can be sent as standard lettermail with Canada Post for $1-$2, depending on the size and quantity of the seeds. If you plan on sending a lot of seeds, larger seeds or other things like stickers, a note, card, or other small items, it may cost you up to $5 per envelope.

If you are sending small seeds like tomato seeds, you will only need one regular lettermail stamp. If you are sending larger seeds like beans or peas, you may need one oversize lettermail stamp.  Take this into account when choosing your group size.

Seeds are very light. For example, 10-25 tomato seeds in an envelope weighs around 2g-3g. You would have to send A LOT of tomato (or other small seeds) to exceed 30g. An envelope of 20-25 beans weighs on average 20g-25g. This is still under 30g, but remember to take into consideration the weight of the mailing envelope, or any other contents in the envelope.

Small envelopes weigh on average 3g-6g

Large envelopes weigh on average 4g-8g

Bubble mailers will weigh more. Small poly mailers are usually 10g-40g, while paper-based bubble mailers are heavier at 20g-100g

Almost all seeds can be sent in a small envelope as lettermail.

Regular Lettermail (3g to 50g)

Up to 30g - $0.99 to $1.15

Up to 50g - $1.40

*Permanent stamps can be purchased for as low as 99 cents if purchased in a booklet of 10 at the post office

Oversize Lettermail (5g - 500g)

Up to 100g - $2.09

Up to 200g - $3.43

Up to 300g - $4.78

500g+ see here

Please keep in mind that these prices may not reflect all price changes implemented by Canada Post, and that seed and envelope weights are just estimates and can vary greatly.

Some examples:

Small Seeds- Tomatoes, peppers, onions, ground cherries, calendula, chamomile, cucumbers, small pumpkins & squash seeds (they lay nice and flat in envelopes), carrots, dill, pansies, lettuce, chives, basil, poppies

Large Seeds- Pole & bush beans, peas, broad beans, runner beans, garlic bulbils, large pumpkin & squash seeds

Regular small white mailing envelopes that are up to 9.6" x 6.1" can be sent as regular lettermail. Thickness of the envelope cannot exceed 0.2"

Envelopes that are larger than 14.9" x 10.6" (or bubble mailers) will need to be sent as oversize. Thickness of the envelope or mailer cannot exceed 0.8"

You can re-use an old envelope or mailer, or purchase envelopes for relatively cheap from the dollarstore, staples, or a post office.

See here for information about addressing envelopes.

For our seed saving resources, see here

Please send fresh seeds. Seeds up to 2 years are generally viable and have high germination rates considering they were properly grown, collected, and stored. See our seed viability chart here

Please reach out to us at seedlibrary@shaw.ca as soon as possible

Mail sent through Canada Post can take time. As it will be Canada Post's busy holiday season, mail may take longer than usual. Some members will send seeds out as soon as they receive their group information, some may only be able to send seeds closer to the end of the month.

Please allow up to January 1st, 2025 for all seeds to arrive.  If you still haven't received a package of seeds from each group member by that date, please reach out to us at seedlibrary@shaw.ca

For more information about TNSL, see here.