Topic: REAL SEEDS

[tim]

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/Newsletter09.html

[Flighty]

Thanks Tim, I'll enjoy reading that over the weekend!

[thifasmom]

What Next for Real Seeds?
(Answer: Small is Still Beautiful)
We've been having this discussion for some time now. Our seeds are really popular, and although more and more of you are obviously saving your own seed, there also seems to be an almost infinite demand for real seed from us, with more and more people requesting seed every year.

So, one option would to deliberately set out to become much bigger. Not huge, but not a tiny specialist organisation any more either. For an example of what we could do, "Reinsaat" in Austria is a really nice, ethically-run seed business that employs about 15 people and specialises in organic, open-pollinated vegetable varieties. They have a huge farm, and big shiny steel barns and an office and no doubt accountants and office managers and trial managers etc etc.

Real Seeds probably has the potential to become the UK equivalent of this - get a huge bank loan, buy a farm, employ some more people, do some high-profile publicity with a nice glossy colour catalogue, and end up sending loads & loads of orders out every year to pay for it all - but we've decided we don't want to.

We'd just end up managing all the employees - and not having any time out there growing and trialling and breeding vegetables any more. We don't think it would be the same; being small, we all know what is happening with every plant, and our seed shows it.

And the economic crisis, coupled with the looming catastrophe of climate change, has really put things in perspective for us. Thinking about it, why is there this expectation that all businesses should grow?

To be honest, the whole problem with our society is that we have been brought up to expect Economic Growth all our lives. The whole 'success' or otherwise of our country is measured in terms of its Economic Growth. Its drummed into us all the time - every news bulletin even tells us how much the Stock Market has risen (or otherwise!)

But if you consider it, this is really stupid. How can it be possible for more and more people to each make and buy more and more stuff , every year , year after year, on a finite planet?

In fact, with a rapidly increasing population, we should be consuming less and less stuff each year.

Can't we be happy with reaching a comfortable level of production, whilst doing something useful - or at least harmless? Why are we persuaded to follow this insatiable drive to do 10% more business every year, regardless of whether its a good or bad thing in the long term?

But that is a difficult message to sell to people who have been told from birth that all progress stems from 'growth' - increased personal and national consumption every year compared to the previous one! (Did you know that every year since 1976 the UK population has been more & more miserable - despite having more & more stuff every year?)

Ben keeps having surreal conversations with advertising salespeople:

Ad Salesperson (very cheery): "Good Morning Mr Gabel. Can I call you Ben? How are you doing today? Look, let me . ."
Ben (busy working on the Kale seed ): "What are you selling?"
AS (slightly thrown, but recovering quickly): " . . .um, yes. . Can I just tell you about this exciting new opportunity to . . "
Ben: "I'm really sorry, but if you're trying to sell advertising we don't want to do any extra."
AS (persistently): "Oh? No? Why not?"
Ben: "Well, we don't want to send out more & more seed each year. We're happy as we are."
AS (getting desperate): "But this is a great chance to grow your business! Look, we're launching this new . . ."
Ben: (resigned) "Sorry, we don't want to grow the business."
AS: (completely flabbergasted): "But - but, if you sell more and more things each year you can , you can - make more profit and employ more people, and, and, and .. grow the business and, and - become richer, and . . .. "
Ben: (sadly) "No, you see, I don't believe in economic growth as a, as some sort of over-reaching life goal. I think its wrong that we've all been trained to expect more and more, bigger & bigger, living on a finite planet."
AS: "Um, thank you for your time Mr Gabel . . . <click> . . . . "

So, we don't want Real Seeds to grow. We think its great as it is. If it got bigger it wouldn't be the same. We'll keep on searching out new varieties and making the old ones available - and no doubt we will slowly supply more people - but we're not setting out to deliberately 'grow the business' because we'd rather be growing vegetables.

now that a philosophy i could get behind, good for them.

thanks for posting tim its a great read :).

[Sholls]

*Locks credit cards away for their own safety.*

Thanks, Tim.

[Unwashed]

I met Ben last year at a blog-meet.  Interesting guy, very genuine.  It's all about genetic diversity and I knew very little about it.

[tricia]

Ben makes a great deal of sense - I wish there were more who would come down to earth and realise that economic growth is, indeed, finite. There have been so many boom and bust periods, surely it is time for governments to keep a tighter control on the risky expansionist tendencies in the business world.

I am no economist, but what Ben says is, to my mind, logical common sense.

Thanks for posting the link Tim.

Tricia

[Eristic]

It's a bit of a blow though. I am still looking for a sponsor for my website so that I can move to a dedicated server. Never mind, maybe Dow might be interested.

[Digeroo]

Was very pleased indeed with their green brocolli, first head rather disappointing but got more and more and more smaller side shoots.  Since I believe the environment affects the seed I think it is important that seed is grow here in the UK.

[plot51A]

Great idea to post the link Tim.
I discovered Real Seeds through this site (again, think I have Tim to thank) and buy quite a lot of seeds from them. Really really like what they are doing. I also now try to avoid F1s and don't buy from T&M! They really encourage you to save your own seed, you'd think it would put them out of business but can see now where they are coming from  ;D.

[electric landlady]

I love this site and their whole approach to seed selling and growing. I love them even more having read this. Hooray for Real Seeds!  ;D