Johnny's Phasing out Seminis!!!!

[klorentz]

Thought some folks would like to know. I discovered this a couple months ago but forgot about where I saw it till Seminis was brought on another forum.

It is true. I just confirmed this. The post is on the Garden Watchdog.Someone wrongly posted that Johnny's was owned by Monsanto. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I knew I saw it somewhere but could not put my finger on where.




On Jan 6, 2010 11:54 AM, Johnny's Selected Seeds added:
Johnny's is not affiliated with Monsanto. We carry 21 varieties of seeds from Seminis, which was bought by Monsanto. We are in the process of replacing all 21 varieties and will continue that effort as suitable replacements are found.

For more insight on this subject, please visit the following link: www.johnnyseeds.com/t-ownership.aspx

Ben Sturtevant, Public Relations
Johnny's Selected Seeds


Hope this helps any new gardeners and folks that have not gotten proper info.


Kevin

[spacecase0]

also, none of the 21 varieties are GMO,
Johnny's is still a safe place to order from.

[klorentz]

Yep you bet they are . I have always thought very highly of them. Even more so now.


Kevin

[sandbar]

FWIW, Johnny's has been "trying" to get rid of those "21 Seminis varieties" for around 3 or 4 years now ...

Soooo, they aren't making that great of an effort to rid themselves of those varieties.

I buy supplies from Johnny's, but not seed. Not for any reason other than they just don't carry what I'm looking for. They're a Hybrid pusher and I'm looking to save seed.

Those must be 21 very special and unique varieties ...

[littleminnie]

Johnny's, Territorial and Pinetree will give you a list of the 20-30 seminis seeds they still have. I have Territorials and Pinetree's but have misplaced Johnny's.
Territorial
BN028 Romano Gold
BN045 Etna
BR091 Packman
CF188 Cheddar
CN203 Senica Horizon
CN207 Passion
CU294 Pearl
CU295 Cool Breeze
CU302 Orient Express
CU312 Babylon
EG332 Fairy Tale
EG333 Twinkle
EG334 Hansel
LT387 Esmeralda
LT388 Simpson Elite
LT400 Summertime
ML456 Fastbreak
ML463 Ambrosia
ON559 Candy
PP663 Northstar
PP673 Holy Mole
PP674 Gypsy
PP689 Big Bomb
PU727 Wyatt’s Wonder
SQ792 Butterstick
SQ797 Gold Rush
SQ804 Sungreen
SQ825 Early Butternut
SQ831 Bush Delicata (Conventional Only)
TM870 Celebrity
TM871 Big Beef
TM896 Viva Italia
TM924 Super Marzano
WA989 Yellow Doll

Pinetree
44. PACKMAN BROCCOLI
48 EARLY DIVIDEND BROCCOLI
51 BUBBLES (DISC)
70 DANVERS HALF LONG CARROT
83 MINUTEMAN
8402 CHEDDAR CAULIFLOWER
133 SWEETER YET CUCUMBER
137 SWEET SUCCESS CUCUMBER
138 EARLY TRIUMPH CUCUMBER
142 SALAD BUSH CUCUMBER
151 DUSKY EGGPLANT
158 LAVENDER TOUCH EGGPLANT
20501 SIMPSON ELITE LETTUCE
215 RED SAILS LETTUCE
224 ALASKA MELON
22601 AMBROSIA MELON
230 FASTBREAK MELON
237 ANNIE OAKLEY II OKRA
239 CAJUN DELIGHT OKRA
257 MR BIG PEA
27101 BIG BERTHA SW PEPPER
274 RED BEAUTY
279 FOOLED YOU PEPPER
281 HOLY MOLE PEPPER
293 SPIRIT PUMPKIN
300 ORANGE SMOOTHIE PUMPKIN
340 AMBASSADOR SUM SQUASH
342 GLODBAR SUM SQUASH
34601 SCALLOPINI SUM SQUASH
347 SUNDANCE SUM SQUASH
348 GREYZINI SUM SQUASH
34801 PAPAYA PEAR SUM SQUASH
349 GOLDRUSH SUM SQUASH
350 LOLITA SUM SQUASH
362 TABLE ACE WINTER SQUASH
371 EARLY BUTTERNUT WINTER SQUASH
38001 AUTUMN CUP WINTER SQUASH
38202 HI-BETA GOLD WINTER SQUASH
389 ALPINE STRAWBERRY WHITE
390 BEEFMASTER TOMATO
391 BETTER BOY TOMATO
393 GOLDEN GIRL TOMATO
395 CLUSTER GRANDE TOMATO
400 CELEBRITY TOMATO
407 SUN SUGAR TOMATO
41401 POLISH LINGUISA TOMATO
446 SWEET DIANE WATERMELON
W120 STRAIGHT N NARROW BEAN
W130 COOL BREEZE IMP CUCUMBER
W479 THAI NIPPON TAKA HOT PEPPER

There are a few similarities. You can also find lists of specifically Semini or Monsanto bred hybrids online.

[littleminnie]

Also noteworthy is that Pinetree doesn't want to stop working with Seminis because they have a long relationship with them and care about the employees. But comeon, they are owned by Monsanto now. They have plenty of jobs since they have plenty of money coming in. I told Pinetree they should think about their own employees and people not wanting to buy any seed from someone who deals with Seminis. They didn't reply to that.

[klorentz]

I think something that should be noted is the link to Johnny's I posted. In the reply Robert (and this was last year)made he said they had 40 varieties at the time the letter and Roberts reply where posted. so that is down 50% or there abouts from what they did carry. I think that is very telling.

Also Johnny's does have heirloom/OP varieties. Last year they started to carry my favorite pie pumpkin Winter Luxury. And like other companies that carry that one sold out of it.


Kevin

[sandbar]

IIRC, Johnny's told me several years ago that they had 21 Seminis varieties to replace. I could be mistaken, though ... it's happened one or two other times in my lifetime ...

If they are truly making progress, that's great. No need to puff up Monsanto's coffers.

Minnie, good advice to PineTree!

[jonnyyuma]

This is an interesting thing to me. I saw the post over at another board. Pack-man has been around for 20+ years. I am curious why the hatred of Pack-man? Seminis does not sale strawberry, so you can keep buying that one. I think Ambrosia Hybrid might be older than I am. There are some great varieties on that list that predate even Seminis being a company. Most of that list are Peto origin.

Just curious,
Jonny

[sandbar]

Jonny, I don't think that it's folks hate the particular Seminis varieties, but we try to not purchase varieties that would flow money back to Monsanto. Monsanto is not popular with most heirloom gardeners. We are, primarily, seed savers on this board, so anyone or any company that wishes to restrict the saving of seed and/or promote GMO and plant patenting is very unpopular here.

That said, there are Seminis varieties on that list that I am growing this year that I was not aware were Seminis varieties. They are all ones that I was growing for the first time this year because of disease/pest problems last year that hurt my market garden, and I wanted to test a few hybrids to compare against my heirlooms. I will, however, be a wiser consumer next year and replace these varieties. That's a personal choice on my part to avoid financially benefitting Monsanto.

[klorentz]

Sandbar you speak for me on that one. I had to explain that one on another forum. If I could get them from a non Seminis source I would. I grew Celebrity, Better Boy and Big Boy for a long time and to be honest I do miss them. And then this year someone sent me both Celebrity and Better Boy seeds in a trade.Anyway I just wish Monsanto would get out of the seed market all together. I do not approve of their ethics and will never put money into their coffer or anyone else that sells and develops GMO crops which also includes Syngenta which owns Northrup King.

Kevin

[jonnyyuma]

Jonny, I don't think that it's folks hate the particular Seminis varieties, but we try to not purchase varieties that would flow money back to Monsanto. Monsanto is not popular with most heirloom gardeners. We are, primarily, seed savers on this board, so anyone or any company that wishes to restrict the saving of seed and/or promote GMO and plant patenting is very unpopular here.

Yes, I understand that, but Seminis did these same things prior to them becoming part of the "machine" as it is today. Seminis released GM squash around 10 years ago and patented many varieties over that same time. I have had this question before....where is the Rogers list? Nunhems? Western? De Ruiter? Paragon? Progeny? I would agree 100% if it was more than Seminis, because it is more than Seminis in the whole vegetable seed business these days.

Anyway, thanks for bringing this up. It is interesting.
Jonny