That’s not my view ((Obviously. Ed.)) but it seems to be what a commenter called Cassandra is saying.
If I could bring myself to be an “evil” person I would offer tons of my “HOMEGROWN” seeds to them and even ship them for free. That way I could get even with all the idiots that are happily transporting their “noxious” weed seeds along with their lovely and so prized Pansy seeds.
It’s time for the United States Dept of Agriculture to step up to the bat and start fining these idiots that are polluting the earth with weeds, among other things.
How about the lady that bought four trees off of a seller on that four “****” letter internet auction site, lovely trees they were. Nice full rootball with plenty of dirt still attached. Little did she know that she was also buying an entire family of “Fire Ants” . Have you ever tried to rid your property of “Fire Ants”?
Those are indeed shocking examples of bad consequences of ignorant seed and plant exchange. Myself, I’m not too sure how you would miss a fire ant nest in a rootball, but then almost all the trees I’ve planted have been bare-rooted dormant specimens. As for weeds among the seeds, again, I tend to sow all seeds in trays or pots, especially those I am experimenting with, maybe growing for the first time. That gives me a chance to select among the seedlings and to discard anything untoward. But I do that regardless of the source of the seeds; public, private, large, small — makes no difference to me.
Cassandra does have a point, but I also think that her ire is misplaced. The kind of people who would use seed exchanges to broaden their experience of agricultural biodiversity probably have a wee bit of indigenous knowledge. Is there any way to stop the spread of invasive weeds? I doubt it. All we can do is be vigilant. And careful.
So if your truly interested in some “AWESOME†Dahlia seeds, they have been in my family for generations please just ask me for them. Be prepared to have your request denied. I don’t even know you and care more about the wellness of your state and property than you do.
Actually, I’ve never grown a dahlia from seed, so yes, Cassandra, I would be interested. You can use the contact form to let me know how I can get in touch, as you forgot to leave an email.
