This year they started arriving in November. I can remember—not many years ago—when the first arrival occurred shortly before New Year's. I think they're trying to tell me that the garden should never ever be out of mind, even in the cold depths of winter.They're right, of course. Because I had barely finished freezing brussels sprouts and the last batch of butternut squash soup before the Seeds of Change catalog arrived. That one's my favorite, mostly because I trust the purity (read: organic purity) of their products more than anyone else's.
A couple more showed up before the end of the month, and by the time I'd returned from our post-Christmas trip south on January 9, another dozen had filled the mailbox. I finally sat down with them late in January, since there was no denying that the Time Had Come.
I must receive about 20 catalogs, which really isn't all that many, I'm guessing. I actually don't mind getting ones from new suppliers, as I'm hardly ever completely satisfied with any one company. For instance, Seeds of Change has pretty high prices, and the selection seems to be smaller than it used to be. Fedco has low prices and I'm learning to trust them a lot, but the catalog is ugly. The content is clever and lively, but not my style, I'm afraid. Nevertheless, I order more from them than anyone else. Abundant Life Seeds is a nice new supplier I found a year or so ago; they seem mostly decent for organic seeds, and the variety and prices are mostly decent. I'm not sure how much longer I'll order from Johnny's, as it's really hard to find organic seeds for the varieties I want. Some suppliers I've tried and still use for a couple hard-to-find varieties are Pinetree, Territorial (but not this year), Totally Tomatoes, Scheepers, and Cook's Garden. A few years ago I received catalogs from two different flower seed suppliers—Select Seeds and Wildflower Farms. Both have done well for me in price and variety and quality of seed, and I do rely on them for many of my flower seeds.
And of course there are the catalogs from suppliers I don't use anymore: Shumway's and Jung and Burpee and Gurney's. And the garden supply and perennial flower inevitable Michigan Bulb catalogs hop on the bandwagon, too. The stack this year was close to a foot high, fercryingoutloud!
But I have to admit that the excitement builds as I review each cover, leaf through the pages, and sort them into the "yes" and "no" piles. Once I've made the piles, the first big chore of the gardening year commences. It's my seed selection and purchasing chore, and it goes like this:
- identify what I need by checking my existing supply, kept in an airtight bucket in the freezer;
- look through all the catalogs to find the varieties I want or need;
- transfer the names and prices to my Excel chart; review all prices to find the best price for each variety;
- order all of them online, which can be tedious, depending on how the sites are set up and how good their search tools are;
- sit back and wait for the packages to arrive.
