Mamma mia, those are BIG & HEFTY seed packets!

I love Italian seed packets because there’s so much to love. The graphics are huge, the packets  are huge (5″ x 8″) the contents, again, huge, and the brilliant and thorough cultivation information cleverly done with idiot-proof symbols  and signifiers requiring no language skills ( and I’m not just talking about italian language skills, I mean any skills at all, in any language) are pure genius. I thought the company called FOUR was unique in its packaging pizzazz and seminal largesse but today’s delivery of seeds from Bavicchi in Perugia indicates otherwise. Gigantic! Tremendous! Fantastic!  Is there more to love? Oh yes there is…seed viability dates and germination rates.  I have never seen a packet of Burpees seeds that indicates its contents’ viability dates. They usually print something like “Packed for 2009” or “SELL BY 2009” but that could easily lead one to think that the seeds lose viability after that date  and must be discarded and replaced with fresh seed the following season (call me a cynic but I believe that’s the idea). Well, there are, in fact, some seeds whose germination rates decline after one year or even lose viability entirely but they are the exception, not the rule.  My Bavicchi seed packet for Eggplant tells me that it was packed in 2009 and remains viable through 2012. It also tells me that the seeds will do best in a ph5.5 – 7.5, the distance and depth by which to plant them, the rate of germination, how much ground this packet will cover and that 100grams of this particular eggplant provides 18 calories containing Vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. Were these the most expensive seeds I purchased? Not by a longshot. In fact, there are so many seeds that I may be giving some away as gifts. Bravo Bavicchi!!