Sourcing Seeds While Boycotting Israel, Part 2

I'm following up on my original Sourcing Seeds While Boycotting Israel post which shared research conducted by my friend Mary Dunn and has 6,000+ views to date. This is clearly a topic of keen interest in the days before spring arrives in the northern hemisphere amidst ongoing genocide in Gaza.

I am thrilled to share that my husband reached out to the farmer who starts our seeds for us -- a necessity for many veggies here in central Maine with its short growing season. She was happy to grow the seeds we provide rather than using seeds from Johnny's, a Maine seed company that has not pledged to boycott Israeli seeds. I am relieved because growing our own starts required a lot of work and still never achieved robust ready-for-planting seedlings that support better harvests.

A somewhat outdated article in the Bangor Daily News caused confusion for some of us as it seemed to contradict what Mary found about Maine seed company Fedco. But her contacts with Fedco are more recent and found this:

Hi Lisa,

Fedco has not pledged to stop carrying Israeli seed and personally, I doubt they will. 

6 months into the genocide they posted on their Insta page that they supported a ceasefire. It took them 6 months to say that. They have said they did not buy Israeli seeds this year. (They had enough in stock). They have not said they will never buy Israeli seed again. 

They have never called for the liberation of Palestinian people. 

I emailed again two weeks ago. No reply.  I call them the worst form of BS. Presenting themselves as a company with a social justice bent when in fact they aren’t. 

Time for an LTE. 

Thanks for sharing.

Mary

PS- Johnny's has never replied to anyone.

 

Finally, I call your attention to a blogger I respect who addresses a burning question of the 21st century: Can We Feed Ourselves Just Out Of Our Vegetable Gardens? Kollibri terre Sonnenblume has returned to this question several times over the years sharing the result of many cooperative attempts to do so. The short answer is "No" but the long answer is fascinating and can be summed up by his subhed: "Anything helps and what you learn will be valuable." I would say this is true of his blog overall as he approaches subjects like climate change and sustainable growing with deep philosophical understanding.

(All garden photos mine. Here are a couple more to say, I'm also very thankful for food crops that don't need replanting each year!)