I know plenty of people who love to thumb through garden catalogs. I especially enjoyed it when we had our farm in Ohio. I would sit on the sofa all snuggled up in a quilt in front of the wood stove with a stack of catalogs while the snow storms buried my car.
But now I live in a cabin in Middle Tennessee where there isn't much wind or snow and I have found that I have become more conscientious of paper usage. Somehow, it's not as cozy sitting in front of a computer, and over the years, I have pretty much narrowed down what I grow.
These three catalogs re my favorite, but there are a couple of honorable mentions at the end.
GARDEN VEGETABLES
(1) Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds
2278 Baker Creek Rd, Mansfield, MO 65704
www.rareseeds.com
This is my go-to for seeds and has been for years. They have perhaps one of the largest heirloom seed companies in the world and Jere and Emilee and their four kids travel the globe searching for more.
From our family visit to the 2019 Spring Planting Festival.
Here is their story:
https://www.rareseeds.com/about
Click here to order their free catalog of over 1,200 heirloom seed varieties:
https://www.rareseeds.com/requestcat/catalog It is148 pages this year (2020).
Click here to order what many You-Tube gardeners and homesteaders are referring to as Baker Creek's Coffee Table Edition -- more than 450 pages of heirloom veggie goodness with large, enticing photographs and detailed, historical and growing information (they refer to it as the "2020 Whole Seed Catalog": https://www.rareseeds.com/store/whole-seed-catalog/2020-whole-seed-catalog-usa-canada-and-mexico I personal refer to it as the ultimate in garden porn and is also available in some farm stores, book stores and places like WalMart. I have heard prices ranging from $7-$12 (which with my background in the print industry, doubts that it covers the cost of printing.)
If you don't get enough information there, try their You-Tube videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/BakerCreekSeeds
Even though they seem pricier than other seed companies, their packages contents are more than any other company I have dealt with, and I have always had ridiculously high germination rates, mostly 100%. They also support a LOT of community outreach programs and projects that I like, and I feel like I'm supporting all of them through my purchase $$.
P.O. Box 300, New Gloucester, Maine 04260
(mail order/internet only, no store front)
www.superseeds.comWhile Baker's Creek has large packages with a lot of seeds in them, Pinetree has smaller than average packages in much smaller amounts. There is definitely a market for this and this makes them a close second to being #1 for me.
I like to experiment with varieties, or even vegetables I've never tried before. And I HATE wasting seeds - I know what it takes to grow, collect and store them because I do a fair amount myself. This makes smaller packages ideal for some people.
Smaller packages are also great for people with small garden spaces. Another caveat for me is that I am the only one eating most of the vegetables; it is a well-worn joke in our family that Hubs would prefer to subsist on bacon and coffee. I like a lot of variety and would rather four rows of beans be four separate varieties.
Also for sale are soap making supplies, all kinds of garden supplies, herbs and spices ready to use, a page of items for knitters and a nice selection of books.
Pinetree clearly describes how many seeds are in a package, and many of their the packages are only $1.95. They do have some hybrids but they also have some certified organic. There are a lot of heirlooms.
This year's catalog is 130 pages.
3074 North Winn Rd, Decorah, IA 52101
https://www.seedsavers.org/
This year's catalog in the center with some of my past Yearbooks.
Yeah, I was one of those...
SSE was a true exchange, a catalog being sent with instructions on who had what available and how it worked but I was really grateful when they started printing a consumer catalog.
They have a lovely farm outside Decorah, Iowa and host an annual summer event at the farm. My husband and I attended one sometime around Y2K after we had purchased a few acres of my parents' farm. Hubs was a bit out of place at a vegetable event, but they SSE also has about 800 acres and a bunch of Ancient White Park Cattle, of which he was vastly interested since we also were researching heritage breed livestock. Sadly, I have no idea where my photographs of the trip are, having moved three times in five years, things are somewhat still in disarray.
See: http://blog.seedsavers.org/blog/ancient-white-park-cattle-new-babies
Here also is a brief description of the history of Seed Savers Exchange. It is a 501(c)3 and also has a very nice catalog both paper and digital as do most businesses today. https://www.seedsavers.org/story
HONORABLE MENTION:
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
P.O. Box 460, Mineral, Virginia 23117
https://www.southernexposure.com/
I especially enjoy Southern Exposure because of the biographies of their seed growers. They do not have a store front but they do have links to the retail stores they sell to. They specialise in southern organic and heirloom seeds from small farms.
I first found them when I was searching for an heirloom variety of corn developed in Ohio and preferably not yellow. Amazingly, they had one: Ohio Blue Clarage. I also had planned to raise cotton in pots to show school kids how horrible a plant to work by hand but we moved out of the midwest the year after my personal trials. SESE has a lovely collection of heirloom cotton varieties and because it has a very long growing season, it's the perfect think to start during these dreary winter days. In a pot of course, in my south-facing bedroom window...
Now that I actually live in the south, I plan to purchase more seeds from them. It's kind of nice to have a growing zone longer than the 4b-5a I am used to :-)
I do not have a catalog handy but their website lists close to 1,000 seed offerings this year.
They attend many garden-homesteading events (https://www.southernexposure.com/events/) and teach seed-saving.
SPECIALTY GARDEN COMPANIES
Richter's Herbs
357 Highway 47, Goodwood, ON L0C 1A0 Canada
https://www.richters.com/
Richter's and Companion Plants have a large number of offerings. I tend to purchase my seeds through Richter's but my plants through Companion Plants and Colonial Creek Farm since Richter's is in Canada and it seems to take a long time to deliver live plants. The herbal section of this year's Richter's catalog is about 70 pages with another 25 or so of veggie seeds.
New Info About Receiving Richter's Products from Canada: Quote from their website: Most plant and plug tray shipments to U.S. destinations will be shipped from Buffalo, NY. We take care of all customs fees and paperwork free-of-charge. All U.S. plant shipments are government inspected and come with a phytosanitary certificate provided free-of-charge. End Quote. I will probably be ordering some hard-to-find plants now, ones not available from my other two favorites.
Companion Plants
7247 N. Coolville Ridge Road, Athens, Ohio 45701
http://companionplants.com/
Companion Plants does not have a catalog but has a decent website to order through. They have an enormous number of offerings and this is where I buy most of my herb plants. They have the best herbal descriptions of any company I have found and items are well-packaged and ship well.
Colonial Creek Farm
65 Modoc Lane, Swainsboro, GA
https://www.colonialcreekfarm.com/
Mail order only. I found them when I was looking for specific herbs I had not heard of before for the farmer I worked for when I lived in Georgia. I was specifically looking for a nursery within the state, or as close as possibly because of shipments in the hot temperatures of the state. I have continued with them because they have a lovely selection of mints and in case you didn't know, mint can be killed. Or at least I have a propensity towards forgetting to water them and actually have to occasionally replace them :-(
TOOLS
Johnny's Select Seeds
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/
A nice selection of seeds but what really stands out to me is their selection of tools and their Grower's Library.
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/
I don't know what thrills me more -- their selection of tools, or the fact there's a market for it. Y'all give me hope!
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/growing-center.html00
This alone is worth supporting them with your purchases. Internet infrastructure is not cheap. This section is a Grower's Library consisting of 16 sections of information containing: instructional videos • planning tools & calculators • hardiness zones • ask a grower • key growing information • vegetable library • tools & supplies library • flower library • herb library • farm seed library • fruit library • organic growing • disease resistance codes • cooperative extension • glossary of terms • farm visits & grower profiles.
Hoss Tools
P.O. Box 429, Norman Park, GA 31771
https://hosstools.com/
Hoss Tools has an awesome list of equipment and other things gardeners need. They have reached out to the homesteading community and this is how I ran across them -- watching some of my favorite you-tubers field testing (literally lol!) some of their equipment. They do have seeds available too, but I'm not sure of the source. I hope I get to meet them at a conference or something.
From their seed section: We offer a premium selection of heirloom and hybrid seed varieties that have been selected for performance, production and flavor. All of our seeds are non-GMO and free of any neonicotinoids. Each variety is tested for quality germination rates and those rates are posted on the back of each seed pack. Our seeds are kept in a climate controlled storage to ensure top-notch quality for our customers.
List of equipment: wheel hoes • garden seeders • garden tools • premium garden seeds • drip irrigation • pest control • fertilizers • food preservation.
You-tube videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/HossGardeningTools
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