Today is Carlin Sunday. That’s a Carlin Pea up there. There is a lot more one could say about carlins. Indeed, I’ve said some of it myself. For now, let them be a reminder of all the choices we’ve been denied as a result of EU legislation.
Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog
Agrobiodiversity is crops, livestock, foodways, microbes, pollinators, wild relatives …
Today is Carlin Sunday. That’s a Carlin Pea up there. There is a lot more one could say about carlins. Indeed, I’ve said some of it myself. For now, let them be a reminder of all the choices we’ve been denied as a result of EU legislation.
So, if I read the 2007 posts correctly, there’s some EU regulations that prevent selling seeds of specialty varieties that aren’t registered? That seems … harmful. I’m going to assume the United States doesn’t have anything quite so encompassing because surely I would know about it (and being the US, you probably have to sue if a seed seller sold you a non-stable seed variety or otherwise mislead). Considering the number of organic / heirloom seed sellers that seem to exist here (many quite small), it seems such a system would be a huge burden on a new company (unless they only sold varieties easily obtained elsewhere so why bother).
Anyway, I got some Sugar Anne Snap pea starts at our local Seattle Tilth plant sale this weekend. Not the same as your Carlin’s but maybe I’ll actually manage to grow more than a handful of pea pods this year (I’ve tried from seed a couple years running …)
That is correct. EU legislation can be summed up as Everything Not Permitted Is Forbidden.
Don’t be too fooled by the namer of small seed sellers; not many of them grow and save their own seed. They may well be buying from wholesalers.
I assume a lot of the seeds are all the same ones (what’s the point of growing the same variety of many of the popular home garden varieties?) but at least one Pacific Northwest seed seller seems to have varieties specific to them. But who knows — it might just be marketing. :)
I did say “not many,” rather than “none”.
You’re quite right — I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.
It really is a bizarre law.
Don’t get too blue, though.. Maybe its just the circles i run in, but i’d argue (without actual data) that small scale seed companies producing their own diverse seed varieties are on the increase in the U.S. Many were at http://www.organicology.org/organicology/Welcome.html
And many are linked with the wonderful
http://www.seedalliance.org/
Which they’re free to do in the US … my point precisely.