The actual logistics: what goes in the mail, how it's addressed, and how a volunteer-run sorting system decides what goes where.
Volunteers, property owners, and partner landscapers gather acorns, samaras, pods, and seed in season. Every submission gets a rough species ID and a collection zip code.
Seed gets split by what it needs before it ships: some species (sugar maple, most oaks) tolerate drying and storage; others (silver/red maple) need to move fast. Anything that needs a cold period gets stratified in bulk rather than leaving that step to whoever opens the envelope.
Recipient zip code gets checked against hardiness zone and native range before packing. No maple going to a desert zip code, no oak going somewhere it'll become a problem instead of an asset.
Seed is light — a standard envelope at the first-class weight break carries a real assortment. Packaging uses paper-based, water-activated tape instead of plastic, so a packet that ends up dropped or littered is compostable rather than plastic waste.
USPS offers bulk and saturation mail options — Every Door Direct Mail and similar programs — built for hitting every address in a carrier route or targeting by some basic demographics, without needing a purchased mailing list. A nonprofit mailing at volume may also qualify for nonprofit postal rates. Media Mail does not apply to seed — that's restricted to books and media, so regular first-class or bulk marketing mail is the real lane.
Recipients are asked to get whatever they received into real ground by Earth Day — their own yard, a community plot, a family member's land, or a trip out of the city for the day.
| Seed type | Packaging | Pre-treatment needed |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar maple samaras | Envelope or flat postcard | Dries and stores fine; cold-stratify before mailing or let recipient overwinter outdoors |
| Silver / red maple | Envelope, time-sensitive | None — but ship within days of collection, can't be dried or stored |
| Acorns (white oak group) | Padded envelope | None — plant soon after collection, don't let them dry out |
| Acorns (red oak group) | Padded envelope | Needs cold stratification — pre-treat in bulk or mail in fall for outdoor overwintering |
| Dormant scion wood (grafting) | Padded envelope, wrapped damp | Seasonal only — collect and ship while fully dormant, typically Jan–Mar |
Early on, sorting and stratifying is a volunteer job: a few people with a fridge, some damp sand or peat, and a labeling system. As volume grows, this is the piece that's worth building or buying actual equipment for — a seed cleaner, a cold-stratification room, a small incubation space that can also sell overflow starts to greenhouses or nurseries instead of letting them go to waste. That's covered on the marketplace page.