Last night, I wrote to a large supplier of organic, non-hybrid seeds (they have a large catalog on the internet. Here is my email to them, followed by their response.

Hello:

We are trying to plan our garden for next spring, anticipating that Y2K may spell problems for food distribution within the U.S. If we wish to buy seeds from you prior to Jan 1, that will still be good for planting in the spring, when would be the best time to buy from you? Do we wait until December, or do you believe you may have a rush of orders and thus be out of seeds by then?

Thank you!

Claudia O'Keefe

----------Response-------------

We will have plenty of seeds in December. Year 2000 seeds will be available right after Christmas and we will have plenty in stock through March.

Dave Smith
Seeds of Change

Yes, they evidently will have seeds in December, but he wanted to sell me on his Y2K seeds which will be available after Christmas and then goes on to tell me they will be available through March. What this says to me is that a company I would expect to have a heightened awareness of the Y2K problem either doesn't have clue, or else isn't seeing any increase in Y2K related purchases, or both.

-- CD (CDOKeefe@aol.com), August 05, 1999

Answers

Claudia, I emailed them about 2 weeks ago with similar questions, (I didn't mention Y2K concerns) but I told them I wanted to beat the rush since they sell "first come-first served. You must remember two VERY important things. "Seeds Of Change" is located in New Mexico which is also known as the "Land Of Manana", and they are more specifically located in Santa Fe which is so bizarre as to defy description. I got a similar response, although he sounded a bit more spaced out that early in the morning. However, I do have a crazy neighbor lady who I have built several out-buildings for over the last 2 years and she uses them exclusively for her seeds and fertalizers, and her garden is always "magazine cover" quality. So I guess their stuff is top quality, but maybe ordering should be the earlier the better.

Good luck!

-- Roger (pecosrog@earthlink.net), August 06, 1999.