US Department of Agriculture identifies Those Mysterious Seeds That Appear to Come From China

During the last month many people in all 50 states and Canada have been receiving envelopes in the mail that contained mysterious unidentified seeds. All envelopes appeared to have been mailed in China. The US Department of Agriculture quickly warned us not to plant any of the seeds until they could test them for  danger.

Now the USDA has released their first report on the tests. They haven't tested them all but so far the Feds have identified morning glory, cabbage, mustard and herbs like rosemary, mustard, mint and lavender. There were also rose and hibiscus seeds in some of the packages. Some were actually labeled as containing jewelry but they all held just seeds.

According to the feds these little gifts may not be free presents from the country that gave us Covid-19 but something different:

At this time, we don’t have any evidence indicating this is something other than a “brushing scam” where people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales.

While the USDA continues to test the seeds, they remind us NOT to plant any and to contact the state plant regulatory people.

Here in Indiana the person who's lucky enough to have that job is  Megan Abraham. If you get an envelope of seeds, here's Megan's email : mabraham@dnr.in.gov. If the seeds really speak to you and you want immediate action you can call her at  317-232-4189.

If you're in Kentucky and get the 'Chinese seeds" you'll want to email Joe Collins who is the designated official. He's at: Joe.Collins@uky.edu. Joe is sitting by his phone right now in Lexington at: 859-218-3341.

In the meantime, don't plant the darn things.