Remember that Chinese seed brushing story? [gardening]

[rebeccmeister]

Well, this is a fun follow-up article about it from The Atlantic:

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/unsolicited-seeds-china-brushing/619417/

When you think you should stop reading it, keep reading.

This past March, I ordered some tomato seeds from that big online crafting marketplace. It took me two months to realize that the seeds I'd ordered never showed up. I was super annoyed because they were for a variety of tomato I was really excited to grow. (And while I'm thinking about it, I'm going to order some from a place that HAS actually shipped seeds to me before!). The big online crafting marketplace did, at least, honor my request for a refund.

File this article away with other articles about the trash heap that is online shopping.

Comments

[moodyduck]

I've been buying seeds from Territorial. Not only are they reliable but they started out very close to where my parents now live. Have to get the good seeds early though because popular varieties do sell out.

[twoeleven]

Territorial is one of my seed pushers as well. Though I've been buying a lot of seeds from some fancy outfit that sells heirlooms. But their name is on the tip of my tounge and I can't find one of their invoices to say who they are. :(

[rebeccmeister]

Looks like they don't have the variety I was after. Ah well! I did find it from another seed-seller; we'll see whether that shows up. One of the big conventional seed companies also carries their seeds, but that company's in the business of putting patents on seeds and suing anybody who dares save and plant patented seeds.

Fedco is generally fantastic for seeds for the northeastern US, but for some reason they don't have what I want, even though I've encountered websites that have said that this variety got its start in New York.

[moodyduck]

Territorial is pretty NW oriented, I think. So it would make sense not to have a New York variety.

[rebeccmeister]

But then I looked, and the company I DID order from is located in S Oregon!

Classic.

[rainswolf]

Read that seed article. How weird...

[rebeccmeister]

I think it's hilarious.

But also weird, yes, in terms of what can happen to how people think about things and how well they do/don't remember what they've ordered. The internet commerce mega-companies have done everything they can to help us forget, though, because they profit every single time we open our wallets on their sites. Kind of like how social media sites are more than happy to be repositories for birthday reminders...

[altamira16]

It was so funny!

[bluepapercup]

This was a profoundly dispiriting read. The combination of rampant xenophobia, utter unwillingness to engage in scrutiny of one's own online behavior, and the intentionally opaque corporate behavior of amazon is really just too much. The article really encapsulates the current American and UK moment.

[rebeccmeister]

These are really good points. Thank you so much for pointing them out. I do have to wonder what to do to counter these elements. Interestingly, the person from whom I got this article is South African (now American citizen) and has had a TON to say about the US on these fronts. Unfortunately what they have to say is also generally dispiriting, and that's coming from someone who was involved in rewriting the SA constitution that ended apartheid.

This was naive of me, but I only just realized yesterday that right now the rise of authoritarian regimes is a global phenomenon, which runs counter to any sort of "good guys/bad guys" narrative anyone might try to set up. This point really changes my thinking about things but I don't yet have a full sense for how. It is hard to exist and live in this world.