Seed Catalogs

The garden and seed catalogs started arriving in my mailbox a few weeks ago. In the past couple of weeks I have received several of them, and will certainly be getting many more in the upcoming days and weeks. There are many garden chores that will be coming up in the next few weeks, but right now, I have the time to peruse the catalogs and plan my veggie garden for this spring and choose the veggie varieties that I want to grow.

Of course there are seeds available at local garden centers and nurseries, and they are starting to get a better selection than they used to have. Those selections are starting to include more heirloom varieties. For the most part, I prefer heirlooms because they tend to taste better. Many of the newer hybrids have been bred for keeping/storage qualities, disease resistance, and quantity, but very often don't have the exceptional taste of the old-fashioned heirlooms.

This year's garden, much like last year’s, is going to have lots of heirloom varieties that I ordered from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and Territorial Seed Company catalogs. I ordered so many seeds last year that I only ordered a couple of selections this year and plan to use up the leftover seeds from last year (the seeds have been stored in my wine refrigerator and should be fine). Some seeds will be directly sowed into the garden beds, and some will be seeded indoors and transplanted to the garden sometime in April.

In addition to selecting the seeds I want to plant, I also decided to put in some perennial fruits and vegetables last year. Many of the catalogs offer a great selection of plants in containers or as bare roots depending on the species. My perennial selections included yellow raspberries, June-bearing and ever-bearing strawberries, blueberries, rhubarb, figs, and asparagus.

I receive many different catalogs and have not tried all of them, but I do have some favorites, which include Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Territorial Seed Company (the photos show last year’s catalogs). My most recent catalogs include the following:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com) claims to be the world's largest seed catalog and features over 1,500 varieties of rare, non-GMO seeds with beautiful photographs and tasty recipes throughout.

Territorial Seed Company (www.territorialseed.com) offers a great selection of vegetable plants and seeds, many organic selections, some unusual varieties, and a plethora of handy tools, supplies, etc.

Seeds of Change (www.seedsofchange.com) features a large selection of certified organic vegetable, flower and herb seeds.

Pinetree Garden Seeds & Accessories (www.superseeds.com) includes offerings of seeds with non-GMO and heirloom designations, plus symbols to identify sun/shade preferences.

The Cook's Garden seeds & plants for gourmet gardeners (www.cooksgarden.com) features gourmet varieties of vegetables, herbs, fruit, plus kitchen and gardening supplies.

John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds (www.kitchengardenseeds.com), which includes a nice selection of gourmet and heirloom veggies, flowers and herbs.

Gurney's (www.gurneys.com) has a vast selection of seeds and more, plus a 50-percent off coupon on the cover of the current catalog (expires 2/12/14).

Burpee (www.burpee.com) includes a nice array of vegetable, flower and herb seeds and plants.

Gardeners Supply Company (www.gardeners.com) has a great selection of unique supplies, tools, garden art, and more for use in the garden and in the house.

Botanical Interests (www.botanicalinterests.com) includes non-GMO, certified organic, heirlooms and untreated seed choices.

Totally Tomatoes (www.totallytomatoes.com) offers a huge selection of tomato seeds including the hard-to-find, heirlooms, giants, hybrids, cherries, open-pollinated, plus an impressive offering of peppers from the very mild to the hot and spicy and everything in between.

Irish Eyes Garden Seeds (www.irisheyesgardenseeds.com) specializes in organic seed potatoes, organic garlic, and organic early season vegetable seeds.

Tomato Seeds n Such (www.SeedsNSuch.com) offers a huge selection of tomato seeds and growing supplies.

Stark Bros. (www.starkbros.com) features all kinds of fruits including berries, grapes, hardy kiwis, peaches, cherries, apples, nuts, and more.

Vermont Bean Seed Company (www.vermontbean.com) has a huge selection of bean seeds -bush beans, pole beans, shell beans, runner beans, soybeans, dry beans and more.

In addition to the above catalogs, the following website offers links to over 100 heirloom seed suppliers - http://www.off-grid.info/food-independence/heirloom-seed-suppliers.html

Hopefully this list can help get you started on figuring out and ordering what you want to grow in your vegetable garden this year.