My wife read yesterday’s post on seed scammers and said I sounded too harsh towards readers who may have gotten some of these fake seeds.
If I made you feel bad, I apologize. That was not my intent. My irritation isn’t directed at the good people who have been scammed, it’s directed at the scammers taking advantage of gardeners. Gardeners are usually some of the nicest, most decent people on the planet. We don’t immediately assume that people want to take advantage of us. We just want to grow neat plants and spend time outdoors and share produce and seeds with friends – why would anyone try to rip us off?
I was once at a large plant show, volunteering as a Master Gardener. As I helped people on the tram, a vendor joined us and was scanning the parking lot as if looking for something.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Someone took our cart,” he said, “I’m hoping to find it again.”
“Someone stole it?” I said. “I would think the gardeners visiting a show like this wouldn’t be the type.”
“No, I’m sure it was an accident,” he said, “they probably thought it was provided for convenience, and not our personal property. My bet is they took it to transport plants to their car. We never have anything really stolen.”
I ran into the man a short time later and he was right. Someone had borrowed the cart – and had brought it back. He told me gardeners were some of the best people to work with and I agree.
And in case you think I think you’re dumb for being ripped off, I don’t. I exaggerate for effect, most certainly, but it’s the scammers I want to lambaste, not the scammed. Except for the people that send zillions to Nigerians. That really is dumb.
I’ve been ripped off before myself. I bought a large variety of seeds from a “rare seed” site and had almost none of them germinate. What a waste! Another time I “saved” money by buying bare root trees from Willis Orchards. Most of them died and the ones that lived were terribly weak. I won’t buy from them again. The same goes for TyTy Georgia.
That sort of thing happens and we move on. I’m happy for others to learn from my mistakes. I’ve made plenty.
Watch out and thank you all for reading. I’m going to post a YouTube video on blue watermelons soon.
-David The Good
You can have greener thumbs by this weekend!
5 comments
I purchased some yellow aji seeds last year, online, because… well, they’re delicious, hard to find in the US, and totally essential to various dishes we learned to love in Peru. Not a single one germinated. Now I wonder…
They may have very limited viability. A lot of tropical seeds just don’t keep – and plenty of people don’t manage the seeds well before you get them.
I attended Baker Creek’s spring festival a few years ago. The admission price was $5 a person. It never occurred to me they would not take plastic at the gate. The guy at the gate suggested I get cash with a purchase from one of the larger vendors. I could pay on my way out. That was such a cool experience! Gardeners really are the neatest people!
Man, I wish I could have gone with you. That would be awesome to attend.
I just purchased seven bare root trees from Willis Orchards. So far all but two have broken dormancy. I am hopeful they will do well. I purchased two elderberry, one persimmon, one mulberry, one jujube, and two pawpaw. It’s the pawpaws that have not broken dormancy. They were a gamble anyway since I am in South Florida.
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