True. True.
Posted on 07/10/2004 10:36:34 AM PDT by EggsAckley
A week or so ago I ordered some farm supplies off of the internet. My county is so business-loathing that I usually have to go out of the county or out on the net to make certain purchases.
I ordered a small portable greenhouse; it arrived a week later. I ordered a gallon of dog/cat repellent; it arrived yesterday. But the fifty pounds of orchard seeds, a grazing mix, has NOT arrived. My UPS driver tells me that it's being "held" at UPS because the county needs to inspect it. He said he saw the box and it was open, but the "inspection lady" hadn't seen it yet.
Now, this is NOT the first time they've done this to me. A couple of years ago I ordered fifty root starts for a tree called Paulownia. THOSE plants, the county CONFISCATED! Yes, confiscated! The Florida company who sold them to me was outraged, and agreed to send me my plants to another, out-of-county address, at no charge. In other words, my county ripped off the Florida company for several hundred dollars.
I WANT MY SEEDS! I want to get my land seeded before the rainy season, and these mental midgets here in Santa Cruz County are preventing me from doing that.
Since I found out about this on late Friday afternoon, of course I'll have to wait till Monday to start making phone calls. Other counties don't do this. Next time I'll have the shipment sent to my friend in Sunnyvale and avoid these Nazis.
/rant off.
They're not a problem when they're in your yard. Most people keep their lawns mowed and new trees don't appear. However, the seeds blow for miles like dandelions, and they spread prolificly. The feds and some states are spending money (read that as tax revenues) to control and eliminate wild paulownia. Do a search on the internet and put in "Paulownia" and "invasive."
If we had businesses here that would sell them, of course I would buy them locally. Either that or drive 150 miles to other counties. I'm trying to avoid the driving.
I have a neighbor who owns a piece of property where the house had burned down 40 years ago. Like many folks at that time, the house had eucalyptus trees around it. When it burned down the eucalyptus seed spread for a quarter mile. Now those trees adjoin my property, even hanging over it in places. Why should I have to pay the time and money to deal the consequences if those trees burn and the seeds sprout all over my land?
I have no love for the police state tactics of the County of Santa Cruz, but if someone had been paying more attention to imported plant material we wouldn't have blackened, dying madrones or sudden oak death. America would still have chestnuts and elms.
I feel much better now.
...not that this helps you at all, but you get the picture.
I'll stop now.
Most of my paulownias died from lack of water, and the four or five I still have DO NOT have any seedlings springing up. They are propagated through root stock primarily. Yes, the seeds CAN sprout, but take much longer to grow.
Try digging up some of the root stock; I think that will work. And no, they have NOT become the spreading mess that we are led to believe. They are beautiful and refreshing in the landscape. I DO believe, however, that if they get into waterways they WOULD be a problem. I don't have any waterways on my mountain.
That's disgusting! You should just let him take you to dinner first like everybody else.
Aren't those things related to kudzu?
First class mail through the Postal Service is protected from inspection by anyone except the Postal Inspection Service. Mail other than first class, and 'mail' carried by other carriers (like UPS) enjoy no such protection.
It's just grass seeds; fescue, blue grass, etc. Nothing exotic. I want to find out where there is a LIST in this county of things we cannot grow. I realize the danger of exotics, and this is NOT the case.
I don't have any waterways in my desert either. lol
We are very pleased with these trees. There are only 4 in my little town that I know of. 3 are ours, 1 is a neighbor's. Strangers knock on our door to find out where they can get one of these amazing trees.
If I had 2,000,000 seeds....hm....
Shoot, boy, everbody no's y'all can't grow Palwonyee in Californyee.
Yikes! So would I. 150 miles for a few seeds?
Ok, more then a few but still that is a lot of driving.
You obviously failed to bribe someone.
Sounds doobyous.
I can see where Santa Cruz County might get concerned about these spreading into the redwood forests. It's similar to kudzu, ivy, and wisteria. They tend to take over any environment, even destroying foundations in some cases.
Let's just say that asking him for a mere 5 pounds won't put his nose out of joint.
Grazer Orchard grass Blend - Early, Medium, and Late Varieties
We have blended together three different orchard grass varieties to give you a pasture that will develop at three different stages. This blend of Amba, Progress, and Athos orchard grasses make a winter hardy and drought tolerant blend.
Amba is a very winterhardy and thoroughly proven orchardgrass sold to many countries in the world where early abundant forage production is important. A key benefit of Amba is that the digestibility is higher than many other early maturing orchardgrass varieties. Amba is resistant to diseases such as Mastigosporium and rust. Amba has the ability to tolerate hard night frosts after spring growth has started. Amba has been trialed with good results as it has outperformed older varieties such as potomac. Amba performs well in mixtures with other grasses and legumes, making it a vey desirable item for blends with other grasses and legumes.
Progress is a medium maturing cultivar with strong resistance to stripe rust and moderate resistance to scid. Progress has produced good forage yields and has persisted well under difficult environmental conditions. With excellent disease resistance and winter hardiness along with long stand life and excellent stand density make this orchardgrass excellent for continued cutting and grazing.
Athos is one of the latest maturing varieties available on the market, with a heading date that is usually about a week later than Pennlate. The excellent disease resistance and good winterhardiness of Athos combine to give long stand life and good stand density. Athos is also noted for having good fall growth, which translates to an even yield distribution the entire growing season.
Here is a website. Maybe you already have it but it might give you some contact information. Good luck!
http://www.invasivespecies.gov/geog/state/ca.shtml
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