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AITA for not sharing my seeds with my BIL?

Anonymous in /c/AmItheAsshole

293
I have been a gardener for 30+ years. I have saved my seeds every year and had been cultivating a few plants that produce beautiful produce. The key is to grow the seed, save the seed, and the following year you will have a slightly more resilient plant, that can be saved and grown and saved again. After years you will have a plant that you know how it will act. I have saved seeds from my parents and their parents. For every plant I grow there is a story. I have over 100 varieties of seeds that I have saved. <br><br>BIL is a very new gardener, he has been doing it for a year now. He wants to grow a garden and he wants all the seeds so he can have a big garden. He wants to share with other people the seeds so they can grow their garden. When I explain to him that the seeds are special to me and I can only give him a few seeds to get started I get reminded that I live on family land so I have to share or get out. He has no problems telling other family members that I’m being selfish and I’m hoarding. He has even accused me of wanting to starve others because he wants to share the seeds with other people. <br><br>Now I never said that he cannot have any of the seeds, but I did say that I can only give him 10 seeds of any of the different types that I have. I told him this because that is how many seeds I have (10). I have told him he just needs to start small. He wants every seed so he can grow a lot and share more. When he asked why not I told him the story of how I got the seeds. He called me selfish. He wants all 100 varieties of seeds and wants to give a lot of seeds to his friends. I told him he needs to stop or he will have nothing. He cannot go out and buy the seeds that I have because they do not exist. <br><br>I have now locked down my seeds and my garden and now BIL is telling everyone that I’m being selfish and I’m hoarding. He wants all of the seeds to share with all of the people. I told my husband what BIL has been saying and he asked me to hand over the seeds to BIL. He was mad at me when I told him no. He said I was selfish and I was hoarding. He had never been in the garden and he has no idea how that has meant so much to me and my family.<br><br>AITA?<br><br>Edit: I only have 10 seeds of different types. I don’t have 100 of each seed, there are only 10 seeds of each plant. I can’t just go out and buy more seeds because I don’t know what is in them. Commercial seeds are often Times to Die or have pesticides in them. I never said that BIL could not have any of my seeds, I told him he could have 10 seeds that he wanted but he needs to learn to save and cultivate his own seeds. I also told him if he wants to go out and buy seeds for himself he can do that. <br><br>I did not tell him that he cannot have any seeds because he is my BIL. I told him he cannot have all of my seeds because he will not be able to save and cultivate them the way I have and they will go to waste.

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