|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 11, 2013 20:45:22 GMT -5
It looks like you should just dump some seeds in some empty cigarette packs or spice cans. Or resort to the pumpkin of botanical sin.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 11, 2013 14:23:39 GMT -5
Really? I sent a crap-ton of seed to homegrower in December and he said he got it. I know I filled out the customs form with everything listed squash seed, corn seed, cowpea seed. I wasn't smuggling it in. Must have gotten lucky.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 11, 2013 7:09:39 GMT -5
I have Blackcoat if you want it Benboo.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 11, 2013 7:06:01 GMT -5
My PO has one full time employee and she still takes all my international packages with the customs form filled out by me. She in fact handed me a wad of them back when they changed the form recently so I wouldn't be inconvenienced. I think you are running into stink PO employees rather than real PO policy.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 10, 2013 13:52:14 GMT -5
Well that's too bad. I wonder what is going on?
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 8, 2013 21:15:11 GMT -5
Ever seen a Rhubarb Curculio? They kind of remind me of Panzer Tanks. Even they aren't really a big deal, the damage they do is cosmetic and mainly occurs at the end of rhubarb season anyway.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 8, 2013 7:20:28 GMT -5
I agree that for a single request the suggested prices are not out of line for shipping inside the US, even with the large seeds. But the disconnect happens when multiple items are requested. One bean sample at $4 can be shipped quite easily in a bubble mailer. But if I request 5 bean samples, it takes much less than $20 to ship. That's why I charge the suggested prices for the first sample and then 50 cents for each additional.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 7, 2013 13:24:03 GMT -5
Hudson Valley Seed Library has some non-GMO sugar beets.
I offer my seeds at different rates from the suggested ones, and a lot of other listed members do to. I also find that if somebody looks to be a cool gardener and is growing some interesting stuff like small grains or anything other than tomatoes and dry beans, it is worth calling them, emailing, or writing them and seeing if you can get more if you need it. You never know till you ask.
IMO the suggested prices are bullshit. The SSE Home Farm is by far the largest listed member. Way bigger than anyone else including ME BO W when he was still in. They've got a lot of staff and infrastructure costs and they use the suggested prices as an income generator to cover a lot of those costs. I also never resented sending ME BO W the full suggested prices because Scatterseed was depending on those requests to fund the project. But the suggested prices go way past the cost of shipping as soon as you request more than one item from anyone. If I order three corn varieties as a listed member that's $12. I could get three 2 oz corn samples in a padded mailer to anywhere in the US for way less than that.
I only to use the request form/suggested price if I am requesting a single item from somebody. Then the seed + shipping is pretty close to going rates. If I want multiple items from somebody or need more than the minimum amount of seed I contact them first to see if we can work out a deal, especially a seed trade which is my preference. Most listed members only get a handful of requests a year and usually they have a ton of seed of whatever it is. THey also usually like to talk shop. The other thing that it helps to do is break the ice and tends to prevent the black hole of lost seed requests.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 6, 2013 20:28:17 GMT -5
I had to Google it. I'd never heard of Rosary pea or abrin.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 5, 2013 15:28:25 GMT -5
Least she's inflated. Not the tightest stretching job, but I had to do it solo, even though I promised myself I'd never do that again, but they were calling for a dead calm day. I couldn't pass it up. If I had to do it over again I wouldn't attach it to the shed this way, it made attaching the plastic hugely more complicated.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 5, 2013 6:41:25 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 5, 2013 6:32:42 GMT -5
blueadzuki, sifter of coriander, seeker of the strange bean.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 4, 2013 21:20:37 GMT -5
No, NO NO! All you need is a bottle of "Nitro Seed Starter Solution" absolutely free of charge. What this amazing product does is allow you to jump start your crop by simply soaking your seeds in this solution for a few seconds before you plant. When the Nitro soaked seeds hit the ground... it's over. The seeds grow like crazy!
Tremble before their science! The mysteries of agriculture have been crushed by the mighty intelect of Dr. Huizenga and his Junior Botanist Lackeys!
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 4, 2013 20:55:22 GMT -5
I believe spaghetti squash are in general great keepers. They have the hard shell rind that aids in long storage vs squash with a leathery rind. There aren't a great many varieties yet, Squisito and Orangetti are the only ones that come to mind beyond standard "spaghetti squash". I personally consider all spaghetti squash utterly disgusting non-food so I cannot actually give you a recommendation.
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Feb 4, 2013 18:11:19 GMT -5
I've got a copy of the Mushroom Cultivator by Stamets, even though I've never yet attempted mushroom cultivation. The rec's for Oyster mushrooms are for pasteurized straw or woodchips and bran as substrates 75% moisture. But I bet you can get away with a lot . Fun experiment.
|
|