Gary Woods wrote in message . ..
[...]
The odds of getting a desirable
potato are lousy, but that's where Luther Burbank got the potato that bears
his name, and that's where new varieties come from. I was recently told at
the Seed Saver's Exchange convention in Iowa* [...]

*I posted a report in rec.gardens.edible; OT here, I fear.

Gary, no, no, a thousand times no! Please don't think NAm gardening
experience is OT he we all thrive on one another's experiences, and
even if we don't get an new idea from it, any real gardener will
always find the news interesting. (Personally, I love dreaming about
the wonderful American plants I can't grow, and never fail to be
entertained by accounts from American gardeners in some states of
their increasingly desperate attempts to grow lawns! -- you'd never
have made it to the Moon if you were the kind of people to give up
easily!)

Mike.