Oddbean new post about | logout
 GM

I don't collect coins or baseball cards but I know many of you do. There seems to be a thing among Bitcoiners having a desire for scarcity in its many forms. 

Today I realised that I like to collect rare plant genetics. I get a kick out of possessing plants that are either scarce or hard to acquire. 

I did well at the local Sunday markets. 

This is my haul today & it looks like I've got a cutting of Tithonia Diversifolia coming!

Excited to be planting these out in my new #Syntropic row. 

https://i.nostr.build/INLegcwPcClbHQtu.jpg

#permaculture 
 Cool tree ₿risket, Pura vida 
 The 2 spikey cacti are Cereus repandus (Peruvian apple cactus). Something I didn't even know existed. 

They apparently produce a fruit that looks similar to pitaya but with more flavour. 
 Get into heirloom seeds. I’m saving an heirloom green bean, okra, pumpkin, butterbean, cowpea & watermelon variety. The old man I got them from was on one of his last years gardening. They would’ve died out if someone hadn’t carried them on. Best thing is, they’re suited to my climate cause they’ve been genetically selected for hundreds of years from other folks in my area who were also carrying them on to the next generation.

Most of these were pre-civil war seeds 
 I have a large bag of seeds I collected before I went carnivore. They're probably 6+ years old now I'd wager most are no longer viable. 

If you're not growing annuals each year & refreshing the seeds, they tend to become useless. 

I don't eat most vegetables now so it's not a huge loss for me. The good thing about the genetics I connect now is that they're stored living perennial plants. As long as the plant survives, so do the genetics. 

As I was driving back from the markets I couldn't help but draw similarities between genetics & information. We can share genetics with others infinitely. Like sharing ideas & information, it comes at very little cost.
 
 Information is matter and energy… in formation. 
 I love that! 
 I was racking my head for things I collect and realized maybe that's why I drive a now 23 year old vehicle. each year it's more rare and fewer exist. 
 I'm a sucker for old hand & garden tools too. They don't make them like they used to.