"Several Virginia residents say they received unsolicited packages of seeds that officials believe could be from China, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said Friday. They say they don't know what the seeds are or who sent them.

The seeds were sent in the mail and appear to have "Chinese writing" on them and could be an invasive species, the department said."

""Invasive species wreak havoc on the environment, displace or destroy native plants and insects and severely damage crops. Taking steps to prevent their introduction is the most effective method of reducing both the risk of invasive species infestations and the cost to control and mitigate those infestations," the department said in a statement.

If you receive a package with the seed, the Department of Agriculture is asking that people contact them at ReportAPest@vdacs.virginia.gov.

The department said people in Kansas have been getting the packages by mail. Some are labeled as jewelry and have Chinese writing on them.

They aren’t sure what type of seeds these are, but they’re asking people not to plant them.

Agriculture officials believe these seeds might be dangerous. They said they could be invasive species, could introduce diseases to local plants, or could be harmful to livestock.

People in other states across the country have also received similar packages, according to the department.

Lori Culley, who lives in Tooele, Utah, told Fox 13 that she found two small packages in her mailbox Tuesday that had Chinese writing on them.

“I opened them up and they were seeds,” Culley told the news station. “Obviously they’re not jewelry!”

In Utah, at least 40 people had received mysterious seeds, Fox 13 reported. It is unclear how many people in Virginia and Washington were mailed a package of seeds, but officials said “several.”

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/mystery-seeds-possibly-from-china-are-being-mailed-to-virginia-residents/2371404/

If they don't know what they are, how do they know they are invasive species?

Apparently they are looking the gift of the year of the horse in the mouth!

What's probably going to happen is that someone who doesn't like a neighbor is going to get the seeds and then cast them into that neighbor's garden. Then will come the Day of the Triffids!!!

But at least we'll see them coming.

Rainfall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If they don't know what they are, how do they know
> they are invasive species?

Please note the qualifiers "could", "aren’t sure", "believe", "might."

It's called "being cautious."

Here in NM, we have been instructed to forward them, unopened, to the local State Dept of Agriculture. Makes sense.

Rainfall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If they don't know what they are, how do they know
> they are invasive species?

When was the last time someone mailed you some organic pot seeds, for free, unsolicited, in the mail, labeled jewelry?

Now if someone sent you some really high quality, and valuable, jewelry, labeled seeds, one can choose what to do with it, but I wouldn't plant it.

They're obviously part of a ploy or plan and it's probably not decent and worth planting.

This would appear to have nothing to do with seeds and everything to do with selling items online.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2019/10/25/americans-are-still-receiving-unordered-packages-from-asian-e-criminals/

So, according to this article, they're sending cheap packages to us customers who've they've used to fake accounts so that they can then leave positive feedback for their sales stats to boost their ranking on SEO and sales platforms. Interesting. Glad I've never ordered anything from China.

This is a thing.
I read of it yesterday. Now today. I hope I don't read of this tomorrow. Yuck!

There must be an easier way to scatter seeds.
Like send them to Chinese students in the USA ant tell them to start broadcasting.

At lease we would know what we were dealing with if somebody planted them in an indoor pot, and then took it to a horticulturist to see what it was. Little Shop of Horrors anyone? FEED ME!

The parablel of the sower of seeds comes to mind.

I think we have the Chinese to thank for Kudzu. Or was that the Japanese. Oh. well, deserted houses look kind of nifty when covered with kudzu.

Cut that zudzu out, if you can.

Not a pretty picture.

Invasive species
Humans!

Edited: spell checker makes more mistakes than I. In fact, it even causes me to make mistakes. Of course that is saying more about it than me. We'll see-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2020 04:31PM by ufotofu.

So the Chinese are spreading more seed than Joseph Smith.

lmfao

ban seeds ~

Dave, I emailed you. Can u please take a look?
Thanks,
Hujo2

I read your mail. the answer is no.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Damn Crinoids!!!!

No need to go downstairs. Just be patient, and in a day or two they'll appear in your kitchen and bedroom all on their own.

And the bugs? They aren't insects.

Paul Tremblay, "Growing Things and Other Stories"? If not, that sounds so close!

That's bizarre.
Just use a torch and burn the seeds.

~~~~iceman9090

The US sent these to China.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2007/04/05/business/soy600.jpg

Oh wait--since the inception of the trade war China has procured those from Brazil.

But they used to be American!

...fearing a reduction in estrogen American vegan/vegetarian diet.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-soybeans-exports-china/usda-confirms-big-us-soybean-sales-to-china-as-buying-flurry-continues-idUSKBN23I2CJ

" remain well below levels before the U.S.-China trade war that began in 2018."

US soybean global exports are up 2%. China is up 72% (2020 2 quarters over 2019), and will probably be more, as they are suffering major weather disruptions. Also, we're now exporting Alaska crude there in record amounts. There's a long way to go to reverse, or even reverse, our trade deficit but it's a start What if we exported NBA players?

China lied.
The economy died.

But her E-mails !

> There's a long way
> to go to reverse, or even reverse, our trade
> deficit but it's a start

Do facts matter? As a percentage of GDP, which is the right way to measure them, US external deficits have been

2013 4.0
2014 2.7
2015 2.4
2016 3.1
2017 3.4
2018 3.8
2019 4.6
2020 4.8 estimate (stripping out the COVID impact, which would take it to 17.9)
2021 4.1 estimate

Imagine that: those economists who showed how tariffs would worsen the deficit were actually correct. The spinners of fairy tales were wrong.

I don't know why we must live in an era in which mathematics is derided as a liberal hoax.

I think the important thing is to eliminate our dependence on China for our supply chain. Too many vested interests have bought (into) cheap Chinese goods for fat profits at the cost of gutting our production base. Checking over a few sites, LW, I have to acknowledge there hasn't been as much progress as I had thought:

https://tradingeconomics.com/china/balance-of-trade

Much needs to be done. Few people are talking about it, and even fewer are doing anything about it. Before the end of the year,we'll know if anything's going to be done about growing Chinese hegemony, or if it's back to the normalcy of easy profits.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2020 10:09PM by caffiend.

I realize that this isn't going to go anywhere, but trade deficits/surpluses are driven by savings and investment rates. If you shrink spending, your deficit will increase. If you cut taxes (forced savings) massively without cutting government spending commensurately, your deficit will grow larger.

The US could ban all imports from China if it wanted, and the bilateral trade balance would improve, but the overall balance would not change at all because American consumption would simply shift to the next-cheapest source. If you want the overall trade deficit to shrink, you need to raise American savings rates.

But that reality is too complex to serve as a bright shiny object. It is far easier to blame everything on China, with whom we have other very serious conflicts, and rest comfortable that the vast majority of voters will never realize your policies are damaging the international position--and the manufacturing base--of the United States.

Tell us again who lied and killed 150,000 Americans.

Well, if you plant them and the next thing you know you have a plant the size of your room saying "FEEEEEEEED ME!", I suggest you go to Utah to find good succulent, ummmm, plant food.

US soybean global exports are up 2% ... from what ?

Not your usual RR fare, but a bit of variety: sometimes, even diesels are beautiful!

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a135a27941382fa4e43f15047c9dbf1d969e3540eb5bae4efcdf1bf81b2d205a.png

I love the countryside for this shot, and the composition is lovely.

I love old ironwork, like truss bridges. Here's one of my favorites, in Cache Valley, over the Bear River. It's an auto bridge, not rail, but noble and old and lovely.

https://bridgehunter.com/ut/cache/5034C/

I guess this makes a change from blaming the Russians for everything.

Who needs these when you've got kudzu vines and giant hogweed already?

Either way it's the commies fault!

I was told that if you step on Kudzu, it won't grow there anymore.

We joked that to make Kudzu a stronger plant, to plant it under a 6 inches of asphalt.

If we could plant it on Mars, Mars would be green.

Don't nap anywhere Kudzu is, cuz, you know it's Kudzu.

True, and funny, about kudzu.

It's not a joke though.

It's like Dendrocalamus Giganteus (Giant Bamboo). Grows up to 30 centimeters (12") a day, and 80'-100' per season.

I imagine you turn around and next thing you know it lifts you off your feet. What a feat!

Jack & the Beanstalking KUDZU. Watch out!

"May we have a minute of your time to share a message about...seeds?"

The seeds will grow election ballots.

Why is this reminding me of Little Shop of Horrors? "Feeeeed Meeee...."

A black-and-white thriller from 1951. A research crew in Antarctica is beset by a humanoid predator which turns out to be a carnivorous plant-creature!

Same thing right?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2020 02:25AM by ufotofu.

Man in the Boonies - in Booneville, in fact - planted his mysterious foreign SEEDS.

There is Booneville, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Texas, and, coming to a Boonie near you.

A man from Booneville, Arkansas, planted unsolicited mystery seeds he received from China weeks before government officials issued their warnings not to, and now that plant has been “prepped for incineration,” a spokesperson from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture told Flocks News.

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/man-plants-mystery-seeds-china-arkansas-usda-destroy.amp

The plant in question grew white fruits and orange blossoms that reportedly looked similar to a squash plant after having been grown for two months.

“Department staff performed an unofficial identification of the plants and determined that it was Benincasa hispida – common name: Wax Gourd, Winter Melon, Chinese Watermelon. Out of an abundance of caution the plant material was incinerated,”

The Booneville plant is one of the few if not only confirmed instances of the questionable foreign seeds being planted in the U.S. Though, thousands of Americans have reported receiving unsolicited seed packets largely from China and sometimes from Uzbekistan.