response 1 of 11:

Jun 13 14:46 UTC 2006

You can probably find the distribution of teak and rosewood on the internet.
If they grow anywhere here, it would be Florida, and I have never heard of
them growing there, where it occasionally freezes.  Lavender is sold here as
a plant, not seeds.  Giant pumpkin seeds are sold by seed companies and if
you have a way to send them payment they can probably send you seeds, assuming
India allows them to be imported.  A friend of mine from the Netherlands
wanted giant pumpkin seeds which she grew and entered into a contest.  

I am growing out some seeds from an Indian food store - moth beans and green
and black channa (chickpea).  Next spring I would be willing to trade you some
seeds from here for seeds from there that don't need a very long season.  Do
you have skinny eggplants?  You can ask an American seed company to send you
a catalog.  Try Jung's Seeds of Wisconsin.  Or look at online catalogs.

What sorts of beans do you have besides channa, moth, and urad?  We have some
25 year old mung bean seeds that still germinated (50%).

response 3 of 11:

Jun 14 14:24 UTC 2006

I suggest looking at the website of Seedsavers (www.sse.org?), which is an
organization of people who save seeds from what they grow and sell them to
each other.  The prices have gotten rather high, I think it is $2/package of
seeds or $3 for large seeds, and you have to be a paying member (about
$25/year) to join.  We do not grow any hybrids, because the seeds do not run
true.

You can get seeds for the broccoli, brussels sprouts, or leeks, but these are
all plants grown primarily in cool climates, where they can tolerate low
temperatures, so if you have a cool season, plant them at the beginning of
it.  They have sulfur compounds which help keep them from freezing.

Asparagus is a perennial plant which goes dormant in the winter and it is sold
as bare roots.  I doubt it would grow without a winter.

Plum trees also go dormant in the winter, as do strawberries.  I don't know
whether they would fruit in India.  Which part of India are you in?

Watermelons need a lot of sun and I think also water and fertilizer.  We once
grew one about the size of an orange, but people around here with full sun
can grow medium-sized ones, and also large pumpkins.

How much land do you have, and when is your growing season?

Is it legal to import seeds to India?  All I have right now is some bean seeds
from commercially grown beans that I got in a store, but they may have been
grown in Mexico - field peas, lima beans (native to the Americas, these are
a pretty speckled red and brown), a Phaseolus vulgaris (common American bean)
that is dark yellow and white blotches, something similar that is speckled
pink and brown called October bean, and some cowpeas (originally from Africa,
came here with the slaves).  Beans are relatively easy to grow and don't need
a really long season, and you can eat them green or as dry seeds (if you get
enough) or simply admire their looks.  I also have some very old Chinese mung
beans that are still sprouting after 25 years (half of them).  Soy beans
(standard commercial ones used for feeding animals or making soy oil or
paint).  I planted and hope to have in the fall:  tepary beans from the
southwest (grown by native Americans - yellow and blue varieties), red cowpeas
from Burkina Faso, yellow ones from Venice, various other cowpeas, native
Michigan lima beans and crowder beans, three colors of runner beans (native
to the Americas) and I forget what else.

Some of these are vines and would need tall trellises to climb on (or tall
sticks or branches).

I also have Cherokee 'Indian' Trail of Tears beans and another black bean
and a couple of other vulgaris beans.

The American beans are all Phaseolus (not sure about tepary) and the Indian,
African and Chinese ones, other than the chickpeas and lentils (do you have
some of those you could send?) and fava beans, are Vicia - cowpeas, crowder
peas, field peas, moth and urad, I think also adzuki and mung.

response 5 of 11:

Jun 15 15:50 UTC 2006

Don't buy FROM Seedsavers, join as a member and then you can order seeds from
the other members if they are willing to pay the postage to India (and the
$2/packet ought to cover that too).  We get a huge catalog of what the other
members are offering.

How did you get such a large lot in the city?  Mine is 3700 square feet
including a house, and is mostly shaded.  There are much more interesting
things to grow than apples.  Look also at the NAFEX site (fruit explorers).

response 7 of 11:

Jun 16 12:35 UTC 2006

No I have not, thanks.  There are often rules against mail plants between
countries but seeds are probably okay.

response 9 of 11:

Jun 16 14:05 UTC 2006

Thompson-Morgan is one of the most expensive places, I think.  

response 11 of 11:

Jun 16 16:13 UTC 2006

I only order from Seedsavers now.  Someone in my state offered me all the
seeds I want at a discount price, to be nice.