Online spice exchange co-op?

Yesterday I visited the newly opened Indian grocery store in our neighborhood. Our coriander seed is several years old, so I bought I a new bag. What a difference the fresh spice makes! If I had to pick only one spice to be freshly ground, it would be Tellicherry pepper, but the second would absolutely be coriander. So resinous and floral! It was delightful when mixed with freshly ground fennel and fenugreek on paneer / panir (this being Northern California, the paneer was organic). The ground coriander in a jar smells like nothing.

The thing is, being an Indian market, the smallest bag is something like two cups of seed. I set aside a few to plant as an experiment, but what am I going to do with the other cup of seeds? Is there a service somewhere that I could send my coriander seed to, along with a self-addressed, stamped box and get back other peoples' new, excess spices?

Walt

Do you ever make your own curry or other spice mixes? Have you ever made your own chai mix? Coriander is good as an ingredient in a vegetarian stuffing (using either cornbread or white bread, or a mix of the two). But, a spice exchange is a novel idea. I live in a community with lots of Asians, so I get an over abundance of things like star anise, Szechuan peppercorns, etc., when all I need is about 1/4 C, which will last almost a year. I like to turn my spice over quickly, but using them up can be a challenge. But, several years! No. Even if you don't use them, turn them over at least once a year.

The lifetime of spices seems to vary a lot, mostly having to do with surface area. Whole nutmeg, for instance, will last just fine for years, while whole dried basil leaves are only good for a couple months. Coriander is somewhere in between.

I do make lots of spice mixes, mostly based on either Jaffrey's "An Introduction to Indian Cooking," or my own improvisations. The quantity one uses is suprisingly high, but I usually don't cook Indian so it is a while before I would run out.