Friday, February 20, 2009

my favorite seed catalogs

every year, around december - i start hitting the websites of the seed companies to sign up for their next catalog. up until this year, i have never purchased any seeds from any of them - but just getting the catalogs in the mail would get my gardening juices flowing. i get quite a bit of catalogs each year, but there are four that stand out - head and shoulders above the rest.

the catalogs pictured are from tomato growers supply, seed savers exchange, totally tomatoes and baker creek. the varieties of seeds in these books are incredible - the layout, pictures and presentation is first class.

this year, i placed my first order and it went to totally tomatoes. i was looking for 3 particular varieties of cherry tomatoes and wanted a single source to limit my shipping charges - there is nothing worse than buying $3 in seeds and paying $5.95 in shipping.

totally tomatoes had timely shipping and reasonable shipping fees. in addition to the seeds, i also took the opportunity to purchase walls-of-water. i utilized their web interface, which proved to be reasonably layed out and serviceable. the seeds arrived within 10 days and included in the order were 2 free seed packets, 1 sweet bell variety and also another medium size tomato variety. i would not hesitate to order from them again.

my second seed order, which hasnt taken place yet, is destined for the seed savers exchange. specializing in heirloom varieties of all manner of seeds - their catalog is the best of them all - and i find myself reading it in the evening, just to survey the beautiful pictures that they include to highlight their produce.

i am still waiting for my 2009 burpee catalog - hopefully it will arrive soon!

2 comments:

  1. The Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog is a visual delight. Images that accompany the descriptions are cleanly integrated into the layout. Thanks for the catalog, this is now one of my favorites too. Can I suggest Purple Podded Pole beans -- sometimes referred to as Lavender Pole beans. We grow these often and they are great raw or cooked. Purple is a great color in a vegetable garden, and you know what they say about beans. So it's really a win-win situation.

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  2. yes, beans are vwery populer at hour house - in more ways than one!

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