Catalogs, 2022

[digitS']

I did something that I haven't done for ages.

Ordered from Park Seed. When they declared bankruptcy, those ages ago, I stopped dealing with them. This time, I ordered through Amazon because I decided I'd do a quick search for some varieties that aren't in the few catalogs that we will order from in 2022. There was Park! Not many choices on Amazon but several things that we were not gonna have.

Of course, I could have gone to their website but, they don't carry the brand of pajamas that DW likes!

Steve

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Oh, the ambitious dreams we have in our youth - before we encounter the hard wall of reality.

I know. There was me and the wrinkled soybean project, if you remember (the one where I thought that wrinkled soybeans might have the same recessive gene as wrinkled peas, and that, since that gene makes peas sweeter, it would make soybeans sweeter as well, and make a tastier edamame.). THAT part of the plan was probably feasible. The part about this new soybean TOTALLY REPLACING all existing commercial edamame soybeans, or even being included in them in any significant manner, probably wasn't. That would mean going up against the WHOLE INDUSTRY, and decades, if not centuries of tradition. Even if something IS better, people often go for the old thing, because they are used to it. The current type is "good enough".

It's sort of the same as the thing with Corn Belt corns. By now, most people (at least, most nutritionists). KNOW that colored corns have more healthy nutrients than white or yellow ones. But I very much doubt that a plan to replace the corns of the corn belt with colored ones, or even INCLUDE colored eating corns as part of the regular commercial stock, would get very far. In fact they seem to have spent some time PURGING the colored corns from the belt stock (remember, Bloody Butcher was once a corn belt corn). Blue corn products EXIST, but they are still very much a niche product (and I'm not sure that much, if any, research has been done in making a more commercially friendly blue corn.)

People are working like CRAZY to try and modify the Cavendish banana so it can resist Panama disease. but even if they do, if someone suggested that maybe they could try and do the same to the Gros Michel (the previous "top banana") and bring it back, they'd be laughed out of the business.

Heck I'd be happy to just read an article that some scientist in South East Asia tried shooting some radiation at some mangosteens to mutate them and give the species SOME genetic diversity (every mangosteen on earth is genetically identical, which means they are on disease away from extinction.)

Even my walnut project, if I ever got it to fruition would probably never actually GET anywhere. I could present my product and it could be perfect, but such industry as there was would probably shrug and say "Eh, what we have is good enough."

Actually, a lot of people have said that one of my major problems in life is I NEVER LOST those dreams, that I never reached the point where I said "Eh, the world is what it is, no way to change it."

But as Robert Browning once said "Man's reach should exceed man's grasp, or what else is Heaven for?"

 

[Zeedman]

Even if something IS better, people often go for the old thing, because they are used to it. The current type is "good enough".

Well, there was the Gardensoy edamame project, by Dr. Bernard at the U of Illinois. He bred a line of improved edamame cultivars (by crossing Asian edamame varieties with hardy grain soybeans), for nearly all U.S. Maturity Groups. They may not have turned the world upside down, but a lot of gardeners are grateful for his work. I still grow two of them, Gardensoy 12 & 24, and both are great cultivars. IMO he was of the 'old school' of land-grant university breeders - he actually encouraged me to share that seed widely. We could use more like him.

Actually, a lot of people have said that one of my major problems in life is I NEVER LOST those dreams, that I never reached the point where I said "Eh, the world is what it is, no way to change it."

Don't give up... you just may be that next Dr. Bernard, and are more inspirational than you know. I strongly suspect that very few on this forum have given up dreaming, or would even consider doing so. The very act of gardening is to dream of turning brown earth into a bright green future, and to see that dream fulfilled. The failures are just part of the process, and the successes wouldn't be as sweet without the perspective they give us.

 

[meadow]

That's not a plant, it's an obnoxious roommate!

Good thing I wasn't taking a drink when reading that! HA!

 

[ducks4you]

Just ordered 1,000 chives from Seeds 'N Such. I got suckered in by "last time to get free seed packets."
My first order with them, from February 12th, is Finally out for delivery.
Is anybody else experiencing such delays?

 

[digitS']

Johnny's was very prompt.

Seed orders were very limited this year ... and, odd. Ordering Harris seeds from Walmart sure wasn't something that was expected. They came so piecemeal I will now need to return to the original orders to be sure that I have everything asked for. The orders included some non seed items. I didn't expect to find pepper seed under DW's slippers and pressed against the bottom of the box. Disrespectful!

I wonder if some of the labor shortage might have to do with what has to be an enormous expansion of delivery services.

@ducksforyou , once I sent a detailed email to a seed company after a 3 week wait for an order. It showed how they were doing compared to other companies and their delivery times. I probably shouldn't have picked on them because it is a Canadian company but they were interfering with my starting schedule! Anyway, I think that I got on some kind of list with the outfit. Never in the years that follwed did I have any trouble with their shipping.

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

I wan't blaming them. Just last week, during a snowstorm, a FedEx truck had an accident less than an hour from us on the Interstate.
I only wondered if anybody else was experiencing delays.
The crops I ordered from them aren't going to mess up my planting bc I am mostly planting seeds that I bought last year and kept stored.

 

[Zeedman]

@ducksforyou , once I sent a detailed email to a seed company after a 3 week wait for an order. It showed how they were doing compared to other companies and their delivery times. I probably shouldn't have picked on them because it is a Canadian company but they were interfering with my starting schedule! Anyway, I think that I got on some kind of list with the outfit. Never in the years that follwed did I have any trouble with their shipping.

At this point in the year, that is the issue with long over-due seed orders... I don't want to plan on them, only to later receive a notice of cancellation. I've ordered much more seed than usual this year, from 6 companies. That included the Bush Acorn & Kabocha squashes that I was unable to find last year, two new peppers, two heirloom corns, a peanut, and a new bean. All but one order have either arrived promptly, or have sent a shipping notice. The one remaining order (Great Lakes) was submitted 2 months ago, and has not yet charged my card. The time to finish my planning & begin starting transplants is rapidly approaching, and this order is the only thing holding me back... so if I don't hear something soon, it might become necessary to cancel the order & move on. I wish I could get on the "list" you mentioned @digitS' (sorry I originally misattributed that comment). I would order more from that company if they placed a higher priority on order fulfillment.

 

[meadow]

Baker Creek announced today that they are sending 100% of all seed sales (thru midnight, Feb 27th) to provide humanitarian aid for Ukrainian Refugees.

 

[Zeedman]

The two remaining seed orders arrived today. The only seed I'm still waiting for is a swap negotiated two days ago, from someone I've traded with before. So planning can finally begin in earnest.