I'll be ordering from Fedco pretty soon. How would this work? Do you want to send me your list and then send me a SASE? How is this usually done? Happy New Year to all.

Crispy is bad. I couldn't quite tell everything that might be going on based on your description, but if you have left the lid on your flats for longer than about a day after your sprouts started to appear, that could be the problem. Take the lid off. Also if your system has a heat mat to warm the soil, turn that off when some seedlings appear. Even if not all the seeds have germinated. Once seeds start to germinate, you're finished with the mat. TJ, I always end up having to juggle different types of seeds in the same flat because of space limitations, but the truth is that most seeds will tolerate quite a wide variety of germination conditions and a little compromise here or there won't make a difference. One thing I'm thinking, though, is that maybe cupid's dart needs to be cold stratified. If everything else comes up except those, chop out those cells from your tray, put them in a plastic baggie, and stick them in the freezer for two weeks. Then take them out and see what happens. As for the mold, since nothing has sprouted there, you could spritz the soil surface with full strength alcohol, peroxide or garden fungicide. Or just let the soil dry out completely.

I've ordered plants several times from Burpee's. Just ones that I can't find in the local nurseries because they are a bit expensive with shipping charges. I've actually had very good luck with my orders. They've been very nicely packed, any problems, they took care of. And, the plants flourished well once I planted them, nice root systems. I order seeds frequently from Burpee's and have good germination rates with them compared to other catalogs.

Interesting comments so far, and I agree with most of them. Zach, I’ve also heard about the crops that are being “engineered” to make them more nutritious, and at first glance I tend to agree that that could be a very positive thing. But then you wind up back in the Potato Famine World, where, if major portions of those countries are in production of that one specific crop and “something” goes wrong, you have the same monoculture culture problem that created the two famines you mention. It would seem that the world didn’t learn from those catastrophes! Check out the bottom part of this page under the heading “Ignoring History.” It tells about incidents in the 70s and the 80s with corn and grapes, and that was before the “modern era” of genetic manipulation like we have now. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/agriculture_02 So if nobody ever learns from the Epic Fails of a monoculture, and now they’re creating a “super duper rice” that’s gonna feed millions of people if they can get enough people to grow it, and then IT fails, ultimately “they” wind up creating an even bigger problem when instead of people not having “rice” that’s nutritious enough they wind up with nothing at all to eat. Another thing I wonder about when it comes to these big areas where it seems people are suddenly malnourished, how is it that they lived, and thrived, for thousands and thousands of years growing the rice and whatever else they ate, and then “suddenly” they aren’t getting enough nutrition. Is it possibly something “we’ve” already done to change their diet that has changed it for the worse? Something happened to change the status quo from those thousands of years past! So, yes, I basically do agree that “good/helpful/useful things” are possible with genetic engineering, but I guess in most cases it’s the “intent” of those doing the engineering that creates so much skepticism in me! Are the people creating the “healthier rice” doing it to help Humanity, or are they doing it to help their pocketbook—and in the process creating a whole new monoculture that will ultimately do more harm than good. And when that monoculture crashes, as they all eventually must, will they be using the dollars out of their own pocket to help the starving masses, or will they be moving on to the next profitable development! I hate negative people, and I hate even more to have negativity in me, but from my “observations of Modern Man” over the last 20 years or so I just seem to have trouble seeing much Milk of Human Kindness in most “corporately involved” people! I want to believe—I really do, but I’m Olde, and I’ve seen a lot! And eating Roundup Ready grain—or anything else—really does scare me! It doesn’t scare me right now, today! It scares me 10 or 20 or 30 years down the road—when “they” go OOPS! I’m olde and it’s probably pretty much too late for it to do much damage to “me,” but for the generations growing up now, and the generations yet unborn, that’s gonna be one helluva OOPS! [I think about that in terms of all the prescription drugs that are advertised on TV over and over for several years, and then they “disappear” for about a year, and then all the personal injury attorneys show up on TV with class action suits for the “drugs that disappeared!” When “somebody” finds something they can sell “us,” we’re all the guinea pigs until something goes wrong.] Seed Savers is actively working to “have a cure” when the monocultures crash—at least with the apple trees they are. They have over 900 varieties of “old” apple trees they’re preserving, and I don’t remember exactly how many, but it was at least a couple hundred varieties of grapes. They’re also “preserving” some of the “old,” and “unmodified” poultry breeds. They’re not “getting rich,” but they are doing something good in my opinion. [And if anybody’s interested, they do sell some of their apple varieties too!] Jali! “Diversity. Moderation.” If you made it around to this thread I sort of figured you’d be The Voice of Moderation! I would have to disagree with this statement, however! “Not that my little personal protest will matter one whit.” I believe every single “little personal protest” helps! The only way we can really “fight back” against the things we disagree with in this “current world” is with our Dollars! And when enough people decide to fight against any one “cause,” it eventually reaches Critical Mass and really does make a difference. I guess that’s what impressed me so much about Fedco’s “protest!” They’re “voting with their dollars,” and standing up for what they believe in! And I so, sososo, agree with you on the Pinterest Effect! OMG! The blind leading the blind! Yeah! Go ahead and dump a bunch of salt in your garden and see where that gets ya! Insanity Squared! [No! I never heard about the Roman legions doing that! Hmmm! Agent Orange of the Roman Empire, huh?] And, do they really still make Malathion??? I basically agree with you that “homeowners” are probably scarier in the “stuff” they saturate their yards with, and wash off into the gutters, and pour down their drains, but if I had my druthers I like to see the farmers using less “stuff” too. My primary “garden cure all” is Palmolive dishwashing soap, but I do still use chemicals when there seems to be no other option. But my association with American Indians for the last several years, and seeing the reverence they have for the Earth, both historically and currently, leads me to use less and less and less “artificial stuff.” I don’t think I’ll ever quite get to a half-life of zero, but I have definitely cut back significantly. And my garden still grows! Moderation in all things! Yes! Skybird