Sooner or Later…

The first garden catalog of the season has arrived!!  Garden season is just around the corner!!

It seems odd to be thinking of gardens and seed planting before December arrives, but moving to the south as changed the garden planning in ways that I’m still trying to learn.  We have just been rezoned into 6b/7 meaning earlier starts.  For instance tomatoes need to be started about 8 weeks inside before being ready to plant outside.  Most people in this area set their plants out around April 1st–some earlier.  Back up 8 weeks and that means starting  seeds around February 1st.  Back up for ordering & shipping and that is January.  Wow, that’s quiet a difference from my zone 5 days.

I have several seed companies that are favorites, but am willing to browse new catalogs too.  One site that is very helpful for gardening is the Dave’s Garden site. 

The section I reference the most is the Garden Watchdog.  I have been saved much frustration by checking a company’s ranking & the reason for the rank.  I knew from experience to avoid Michigan Bulb Company like the plague.  It is good to know that I was not the only one to have a poor experience.  Reading has let me learn that the problems are not a ‘bad year/poor crop’ one time event, but are on going and chronic.

It is important to read through the comments to understand why a company earned its rank.  A good example is Pinetree Seed Company, one of my favorite companies.  Looking at the Garden Watchdog page for this company it would seem to be a somewhat iffy company.  Read through the negative comments and the same areas are complained about.  One is the live plants.  The second is ordering online. 

The Pinetree catalog clearly states that their plants are very young and small, thus the cheap price.  It also offers a refund if the plant does not grow.  People have been disappointed by the puny size and have complained.  Some have had good results with replacements and others not so good.  I have decided to avoid the hassle and stick to seeds and merchandise.  The second area of complaint is using the on-line catalog for ordering. This is not a problem for me as I use mail, but something to consider if you prefer online shopping.

So why is Pinetree still a favorite?  The seeds.  Their bean seeds packages are some of the biggest I have purchased from garden catalogs.  I love having smaller packages = which means smaller number of seeds and cheaper prices.  Having smaller packages means less seed to try to store over the winter.  It means I can try several varieties of a vegetable in the same year without going broke.  It also means I have to be more careful so that the seedlings don’t die because there may not be any backup seeds for replanting.  Over all not a bad trade off.

Garden Watchdog also provides information on which company is owned by which company.  For instance I have had poor results growing seeds from Totally Tomatoes. The page lets me know that they are owned by Jung’s Seeds. Jumping to that page lets me know that there are several other seed companies in the same corporate family:

This company is affiliated with 8 companies:

• Totally Tomatoes
• Roots and Rhizomes
• Vermont Bean Seed Company
• Edmunds’ Roses
• McClure & Zimmerman Quality Flowerbulb Brokers
• Seymour’s Selected Seeds
• Horticultural Products and Services (HPS)
• R.H. Shumway Seeds

So now I know that these catalogs will be appearing in my mailbox sometime in the future.  I also know to check their rank & comments to see if they are worth buying from.

So my favorite companies are:

• Johnny’s Select Seeds. 
• Territorial Seed Company. 99% satisfaction!
• Tomato Growers Supply Company
• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange 100% satisfaction!

Just a note that Tomato Growers sells more that just tomato seeds, though that is their specialty.  Southern Exposure sells seeds that I have not seen offered anywhere else.

Looking forward to what is in the mail in the days to come!