Friday, January 11, 2002

The seed catalog arrived! Actually lots of seed catalogs have arrived but Gurney's came via email. My wife and I have different last names so our house is a junk mail magnet. Seed catalogs are either junk mail or precious reminders of spring, depends on your mood. But when Henry Fields, Gurney, Shepherd's, Burpee, Park and Stokes hit your snailmailbox at the same time, each addressed individually (net two each equals a dozen) you're reminded of marketing run amok. Gurney's sent me an ad for apple trees. They must know that even Fang can't keep the antlered vermin out of the orchard and that each year we lose a few trees to buck rub and a lot of low branches to winter nibbling. Means I need info on trees, and I'm happy to buy mail order via the web or the catalog. Can't find Gala apples or multiple grafted trees at the local nurseries for these prices.

Yet, the scourge of push mail marketeers, the seed dealers, have found their way onto the web and are busy spamming their customers. What's a po' farmer boy to do? I know what Rageboy would do, but I don't have a 50 caliber sniper rifle with a starlight scope, much less the airborne firing position.

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