In an effort to find out why the EU is banning the sale of packets of mixed varieties of vegetable seeds, I had a word with Paolo Arrigo from Seeds of Italy. He tells me that the ban is having an impact throughout Europe, not just the UK, and seed companies are totally mystified as to why it has been introduced. Apparently the only seed mixtures that are now permissible must consist of a single species e.g. brassicas, bean, onion or lettuce varieties. If a mix of species is wanted, each must be in a separate packet within the outer packet which will naturally result in more expensive seeds. This is particularly relevant for salad mixes. Given that the gardener who likes to grow mixed salads will then mix the seeds together, it’s hard to understand why the Eurocrats are not prepared to let the experts do it for us. Unless they want us to buy our salad mixes from the supermarket instead of growing our own. Grrr!
