JOE HOLLIS

3020 WHITEOAK CREEK RD.

BURNSVILLE, NC 28714 USA

(828)675-5664 e-mail:jhollis@wnclink.com website:gardens.webjump.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear member or prospective member of PSPE:

Perhaps you have noticed that I am a bit late getting in touch with you about entries for next year's catalog (or responding to your inquiry), perhaps not. Well, there is a reason: BIG CHANGES are in the works for next year.

For better or worse, I have decided to move PSPE onto the internet. For the present, it will be located at my new website: gardens.webjump.com.

What's better about this is: It will reach more people, and it will be way less work and expense for me. The catalog is composed on a computer anyway, and if I can simply upload it to the website, the work and expense are minimal. The listing form (format) will be posted at the site, and it should be possible to send listings to me by e-mail already formatted for the catalog.

What's worse is the possibility that this move will alienate (practically +/or philosophically) many individuals, including some of those who have the most to contribute to and gain from the Exchange; so I want to assure you that PSPE will continue to keep one foot in the world of paper and postage. You can fill out the enclosed form (if you have items to contribute) and return it to me, I will enter the data into the catalog. If you want a copy of the catalog, the price will be the same as previously, $7.00. You will get a printout, same size as previously, 8 1/2 x 14, but stapled along the left side rather than in the center.

For those able to use the internet, the Exchange will be free; and this, combined with the relative ease of promoting PSPE on the internet by means of links with other seed and permaculture sites, will hopefully lead to the kind of growth which I have anticipated but which hasn't so far happened.

Under this arrangement, there is no need for a deadline for submissions: you can send listings (or deletions) at any time.If you order a printout, I will send a copy of the catalog in mid-February, 1999, which should allow time for entries to come in. Any time after that, I will send a copy of the catalog as it is at the time of your order.

Contributors to previous editions of the catalog will notice that I have revised the form to make it a bit simpler. The computer allows for as much room as needed in any given cell, but in printing out the form, I have had to crowd all the columns into 14". Please use several lines per item, if needed. PLEASE WRITE (PRINT) LEGIBLY! I have provided several sample listings on the form to guide you.

Please fill out both sides of the form. All of the information on the contributor form will appear in the catalog.You can use the 'additional comments' to describe your particular interests, request assistance, share tips, etc. If you have a related business, you can promote it; if you have a website, we can establish a link. Use an extra page if necessary (but please don't overdo it - I'm a two-finger typist).

In view of all these changes, I am not this year providing a printout of your contributions last year, hoping that everyone will be willing to start over with the new form; however, if you require a copy, let me know and I will try to produce it. (It will be very easy in the future).

Finally, for those not familiar with the internet (a category which last month included me): it is a vast source of information, and easier to use than a library card catalog. I intend to spend the winter searching out the most useful permaculture, ethnobotanical, plant description, seed germination, etc. sites and establishing links to the PSPE/Mountain Gardens site. (Point to the link, push a button, and you are immediately transferred to the site requested.)

Sincerely,

Joe Hollis

P.S. Y2K? I hope so. I'm under no illusions that computers will be any more beneficial, in the long run and all things considered, than the industrial revolution or the internal combustion engine.