It's the Thought That Counts

Well folks, here are the new additions to our little happy corner of earth. I'm posting multiple pictures not only because I am incredibly proud to have them in my humble homestead, but to also go off on a brief political tangent. I don't do this too often, so I hope you'll forgive me. (At least I'm in good company~ my pal Ohiofarmgirl is raging about Sam's Club right now on her blog.)

This year, we ordered seed from two companies, Burpee and Seed Savers Exchange. Seed Savers would have gotten all of our business, but they were out of some of what we wanted by the time I got off my duff and dusted off my credit card to order. So, alas, I had to give money to the seed Mega-Lo-Mart for a few things that were organic or heirloom if I had the option. Not only were we avoiding Burpee because they are a corporate behemoth and we usually like to spend our cash with smaller places that appreciate our gift of money and love more (and give better service because of that), Burpee was by and large more expensive than Seed Savers or other organic seed companies. (Try and wrap your head around why that might be. Please fill me in if you are successful at all. I honestly would love to know and understand.)

We picked out so many delightful, colorful, interesting and tasty looking things from Seed Savers! I am fairly sure it got close to $150 by the time shipping was included. We're still waiting on our fingerling potatoes that should ship to us next week, but just LOOK at all the cool stuff that was tucked lovingly in my mailbox the other day by my postman (who is a great person and truly a gift to the postal service, much like my friend Shelley):

WOW~right?!! (Notice the size of the envelope in the background.) I am particularly smitten over the Romanesco Broccoli, which I am sure has captivated lots of other would-be tree-hugging hippie types like me over the years. Don't they look yummy!?! And look at all the beautiful photographs of the the plants, the thoughtful design of the seed packets, which are average size. Lovely presentation, isn't it?

Here's what I got from Burpee:

Yep. That's the actual envelope size. The seed packets are relatively close in size, to give you an idea of scale. No wonder it cost me roughly $9 to have it mailed here from the next state over. I'm sure they are just as tasty and normally I don't care much about appearances or the shiny-ness of things but...really?!? Pass the cost savings on to me at least. Or don't use envelopes with the pull-tab at the back as the only real way to open it so I can reuse them. Or something.

And just so you aren't missing the really dumb part, because I wouldn't just waste my time ranting about pictures on the seed packets, check the two shipments out in a side-by-side comparison.

Oh. My. Lord. It's like the gardening equivalent of Amazon.com sending someone a flash drive in a 4 foot box. Seems just a little wasteful to this eco-conscious household. At least it was good for a laugh.

Anyways, Seed Savers, I would like to thank you for your efforts to not only preserve unique varieties of plants for future generations, but for being good stewards of the earth and putting thought into how your product gets to me. Even though I probably won't have to order as much thanks to techniques I learned from your website to save seed, I promise next year I will order earlier. And that $40 check for membership to support your organization? It's on its way the minute I get the work situation settled, in an appropriately sized envelope and with my heartfelt support.

Thanks for listening. Can't wait to show you pictures of the seed kids as they grow. If you are curious at all as to why I am so fired up and want to learn more about packaging materials and the environment, check out this article on Planet Green.