What's Your Favorite Garden Seed Catalog?

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I am wanting to get back into gardening in a big way after many years of not. I am looking for good seed catalogs to order.

What are your favorites? Could you please post a url so I could order a catalog?

Also, haven't seen anything about Henry Fields, is this company still around?

Thanks

-- Lynette (fear_the_bear@webtv.net), December 29, 2001

Answers

Hi, Lynette, I can offer two for you. I've ordered from Jungs Seed and Nursery since I was about 9 years old, and they are a great old company. Their site is Jungs Seed. The other place I order from and would always use is Johnny's Selected Seeds. I LOVE their 'Copra' onions. :) Their site is Johnny's . Johnny's is in Maine, Jungs is in Wisconsin.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), December 29, 2001.

Johnny's also gets a vote from me. Two other Maine companies are also among my favorites. One is Fedco and another is Pinetree, whose site I don't have handy. Pinetree specializes in smaller (and less expensive) packets of seed. (Who wants 300 cabbage seeds?). GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), December 29, 2001.

I'll second Johnny's Seeds, and add Bountiful Gardens to the recommedations. Their seeds are untreated, open-pollinated, and many are organically grown, and there are lots of heirloom varieties, but best of all, they are cheap. Website is http://www.bountifulgardens.org ....

-- Julia (charmer24@juno.com), December 29, 2001.

I have ordered from both Johnnys and Jungs and have been well satisfied with their quality and prices.

-- Rog (rw285@isoc.net), December 29, 2001.

All the above plus I still have favorites from Burpee.

-- DW (djwallace@sotc.net), December 29, 2001.


pinetree gardenseeds is one of my favotites www.superseeds.com Bakercreek heirloomseeds is great!! if your looking for heirloom seeds RARESEEDS.COM

-- Dave Coyner (dkoiner@webtv.net), December 29, 2001.

My favorite has to be Pinetree! They sell smaller size packets with a small price to boot - 50 cents and up. I find I can afford to try more varieties this way and not end up with so much left over seed. If there is something you plan to plant a lot of you might be better off looking at the other places for larger packets. But if you just want to try a little of this and a little of that, Pinetree is the way to go. Just to tell you how much I like this company, my Pinetree catalog gets put into a special drawer so I can reference it throughout the year. All the other catalogs are in a stack under my desk. I've had very good experiences ordering from these very friendly people!

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), December 29, 2001.

I love the Jung catalog. In fact, it is now in our "reading" room! Every April, we drive to their original store along with our DD and her family. Armed with our lists, we buy seeds and trees. When we leave, we take a picture of our grandchildren in front of the store. It's called making memories!

We also buy from Pinetree and Totally Tomatoes. www.totallytomatoes.com

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), December 29, 2001.


Pinetree gets my vote, too!

-- renabeth (renabeth@yahoo.com), December 29, 2001.

Pinetree Garden Seeds

Johnny's Selected Seeds

Tomato Growers Supply Co.

-- Jim (nosacredcows@yahoo.com), December 29, 2001.



I love The Cook's Garden and Johnny's for thier excellent tasting veggies. Taste first with both of them. You can find them with a search.

-- Marty in KS (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), December 29, 2001.

Another vote for Pinetree seeds, but Fedco seeds is my all time favorite. Great prices and selection, and their catalog is great reading. No color pictures; just great information. their site is www.fedcoseeds.com

-- Bailey Loomis (ebajalo@cs.com), December 29, 2001.

Shepherds seeds for sure. I just got it today. They have wonderful seeds that I have had sucess with, they are a nice company to deal with...and the catalog is beautiful, and laced with recipes and the like.

-- Jenny (auntjenny6@aol.com), December 29, 2001.

I just got an R.H Shumway cat. today. Never tried them before. Anyone have any experience with them?

-- Debbie in Mo (risingwind@socket.net), December 30, 2001.

My four favorites are:

Richters

R.H.Shumways

Totally Tomatoes

Vermont Bean and Seed

And Gurneys used to be a great one...they closed, but are getting ready to re-open. Check out the news at...

Gurneys

-- Jason in S.Tenn. (AJAMA5@netscape.net), December 30, 2001.



Peaceful Valley Farm Supply------

www.groworganic.com

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), December 30, 2001.


Hi Lynette, I love Territorial seeds. They're located in the Northwest. They have a large selection plus a long description and how to on each category of veggies. For instance, on onions, they explain short day and long day onions which is crucial for someone like me living in a warmer zone so I won't purchase the wrong kind. I also like Southern Exposure seeds. Will be getting my tomato seeds from them because they have a category on tomatoes that are the most disease resistant, and with our humid summers, I need all the advantages I can get. If you type in Territorial Seeds or Southern Exposure Seeds on a search engine, it should take ya right there. Have fun gardening this year!

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), December 30, 2001.

Nichols Garden Nursery (nicholsgardennursery.com) is good for herbs and rare seeds. If I had to pick just one, I'd probably go with Pinetree.

-- Katherine in KY (KyKatherine@Yahoo.com), December 30, 2001.

Yes...I believe Henry Fields is still around. Haven't received a catalog from them this year yet but I'm sure I will soon. My favorites are the Fedco also and The Cook's Garden, Shepherd's Garden Seeds and Totally Tomatoe's also. If you look in the MENS of Nov/Dec of 2001 you can get free packets of seeds to companies just for writing to the company. (Look MENS up on the web too...they are good about answering back quickly also). Get a hold of your local cooperative extension so they can help you with problems and solutions in your local area. Good Luck and Happy Gardening !!!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), December 30, 2001.

www.southernexposure.com

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Saving old seed varieties

-- carol (kanogisdi@yahoo.com), December 30, 2001.


I order all my tomato seeds from Tomato Growers Suppy Company. The other seeds I buy at our local feed store because we buy large qty. and they still carry lots of the old fashion varieties.

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), December 30, 2001.

Speaking of companies that have fallen under the radar, I was told on a major gardening site that Stark Brothers is no longer in business. Three weeks later, I get their beautiful, informative catalog in the mail. Go Figure! My personal favorites are Burpee.com Parks.com seedsofchange.com Peaceful Vally Farm Supply. (Especially for green manure crops. The shipping is worth it for the quality.)

-- Connie L (MykellSilver@aol.com), December 30, 2001.

WOW! My mailbox is going to be stuffed full after all this!

Thanks to everyone who has posted!

-- Lynette (fear_the_bear@webtv.net), December 30, 2001.


your catalog should depend on where you live. I live onthe cool wet west coast of Canada. Our growing conditions are different than yours may be .Cool summers. I love West Coast Seeds. www.westcoastseeds.com .Organic, open polinated, local. k

-- karen grandmaison (karengrandmaison@hotmail.com), December 31, 2001.

i love shumways! we order all our seeds from them and have had great success with every packet. and, no shipping charge! we've also ordered their asparagus and potatoes - asparagus growing great, and we're still starting potatoes each year from the batch we purchased initially from them! shepherd's is great, especially for some of the more unusual herbs, but they have high shipping costs, and since white flower farm combined with them, their selection of the things i, personally, liked has diminished. jung's is my 3rd place to order from for seeds. stark's fruit trees are excellent.

-- leslie in mo (whomestead@hotmail.com), January 01, 2002.

Try Fox Hollow Herbs. It has a wonderful selection of peppers, tomatoes, squash , herbs and flowers and other things. I order from them every year. Address PO Box 148,McGrann, Pa. 16236. I also love Bakers creek and they give generous sizes of free samples. They are also a socially active seed company and host spring and summer activites that I plan to attend this year. With these two you need no other sources although I do order from others

-- Terry Lipe (elipe@fidnet.com), January 01, 2002.

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