Charlie wrote:
On Sun, 17 May 2009 18:39:33 -0700, Billy
wrote:

In article ,
"Jean B." wrote:

Eerm, this makes it seem desirable to save one's own seeds. Oh
yeah. That might be illegal.

Ha....you must be another of those kooks! ;-)
Welcome, Jean.

Not the open pollenated seeds, at least not yet, but Mon$anto et al. are
buying them up and discontinuing them. That is where Seed Savers
Exchange comes in http://www.seedsavers.org/ .
There are good nurseries that support open pollinated seeds like Nichols
Garden Nursery
http://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/...sid=LLSRFKE98A
SQ9H, Victory Seed Company http://www.victoryseeds.com/, Fedco Seeds
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/, and others, so we aren't quite up against
it yet. Learning to save seeds, would benefit us all.
Still...

One of the problems with saving seed, at least in my experience, and
not having acres and acres upon which to grow, is variety selection.

Fer instance, we like three varieties of cucumber, Japanese Climbing,
Suyo Long, and Yamato Extra Long... and at least two of us are
unwilling to budge....at some point we're going to have to come to
agreement on one variety/year for three years, or go thru the caging
routine and all that.....feh.

Many veggies don't require strictness to prevent cross-pollination,
but some do, as you know.

One also needs to observe what, if anything, the neighbors are
growing.

Finding others in your area, or joining seedsavers, is a way to spread
varieties around and maintain purity.

Anyway, just my nickels worth about one problematic factor for me. I
want to grow them all!!!

Charlie, playin' with his crayola mainly

Oh sure, but doing something is better than doing nothing.

I find I am getting more "crazy" (radical) about plant- and
wildlife-related things as time passes.

My neighbors? They are not on the same wavelength at all.
--
Jean B.