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Dec 14, 2009

Recommendations?

Good Monday Morning to all! I am looking to my blogger friends to provide me with any recommendations for seed catalogs that they think go "above & beyond"! For a few years now, I have been ordering from Baker Creek (all Heirloom), Seed Savers Exchange (non-profit), Seeds of Change (certified organic), and Johnny's Selected Seeds (employee owned). I love all of these but am just looking to expand my horizons a bit! I do mainly Heirloom, but am looking to add a few hybrid types this year (to ensure production even if we get an "off" summer again, lol!)

My recommendations for you are the above, but definitely order a Baker Creek Heirloom catalog, the photography is amazing with glossy thick full page fashion magazine type photos, super eye candy in the winter, some photos are just about suitable for framing! And the veggies are great too!
So tell me, which catalogs would you not be able to make do without?

10 comments:

  1. I love Johnny's the best, but High Mowing is worth checking out as well, very small organic operation. Fedco also has a popular catalog.

    Can't beat the gorgeous photos in the catalog you showed, they have such a unique place in the seed market.

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  2. Botanical Interests has a relatively small catalog on line but what they have is pretty amazing. I like Fedco as well...they have a lot of what Johnny's has but are a bit cheaper. I do buy a lot of things from Johnny's but lately have been feeling a bit hesitant about it since I believe they get much of their seed from Monsanto (but I'm sure all seed companies have some ties to that company whether they like it or not).

    I've never bought from Baker Creek but have a list of things that I wanted to get from them. How do you like them?

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  3. The only thing I got from Johnny's last year was potatoes because I received their catalog late, so I haven't really checked them out thoroughly, I will do that this year. Thomas, I love, love, LOVE Baker Creek... every heirloom I got from them grew beautifully and their descriptions were spot on. I also received some free carrot seeds that I would not have tried otherwise, but they were my top performers! They were "Little Finger" muticolors, but of course they may do differently in your climate. Also loved their heirloom Giant Parsley, mine is in containers on my deck and is providing a beautiful tall backdrop for my Chard and pansies, seems to love the cold weather.

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  4. I love Pine Tree Gardens, Territorial Seeds, and Seed Savers Exchange. I order stuff all the time from these and Bakers Creek.

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  5. I turn to Johnny's to view the mass selection & helpful info, but if I recall correctly, the packets are too large for my tiny garden. I also want to buy "local" since we have such wacky micro-climates, so I purchased from "Peaceful Valley" last time. They have smaller quantities/more size options, mostly heirloom/organic seed. What I've planted has had ~99% germination.

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  6. My main "go-to" is Johnny's and I stick to 99% heirlooms. I have had wonderful luck keeping seeds from Johnny's. (Planted some radish seeds this year that were from 2000. They germinated and grew just fine.) Over the years I think I've gotten seeds from every outfit named in the comments but have not yet experienced Baker Creek. I'm definitely going to check them out.

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  7. Last year a friend gave me copies of Totally Tomatoes and the Vermont Bean Seed Company catalogues. They both have many offbeat heirloom varieties but also some hybrids. I ordered from both last year and was pleased. And they're both online as well.
    Judy

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  8. I have ordered from Seed Savers and Fedco with good results. Also from Seeds of Change. Fedco is definitely cheaper. I have not ordered from Baker Creek before but I have heard a few reports of their seeds not growing true to type.

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  9. Thanks everyone! I will be ordering some catalogs today! I FINALLY got my first catalog in the mail yesterday, and it was Baker Creek! I will admit I have not even opened it yet, I am waiting for my husband to take the kids to the park or something this afternoon so I can curl up with it and an Irish Coffee and read it cover-to-cover uninterrupted!!

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  10. I order from Fedco, Sandhill Preservation, and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Those all provide plenty of heirloom/open-pollinated seed choices.

    Fedco's catalogue is full of information about the seed industry (little guys vs. big guys like Monsanto) in addition to a great selection of seeds, many of which work just fine for me down here in Georgia.

    Sandhill Preservation is a "mom & pop" small business that includes heirloom breeds of chickens and a specialty list of heirloom sweet potatoes in addition to a wide variety of heirloom vegetables.

    Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is offering a Virginia Heritage Seed package that you might be interested in.

    One of my friends who is newer to gardening called last week and said something like, "now I know why you like this season so much!"---her first seed catalogs had begun to arrive, and she was loving it!

    Hope everyone else is having fun with seed catalogs, too.

    -Amy, NW of Atanta

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