A New Crop of Seed Catalogs

comments (2) December 3rd, 2009

Ruth Dobsevage, Web producer

11 users recommend

A turn-of-the-century poster by the Calvert Lithographing Co.

The seed catalogs are coming, and we cant wait! Post a comment below and let us know your favorites.

A turn-of-the-century poster by the Calvert Lithographing Co.

Photo: from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery

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If you've been gardening for several seasons, you probably have your favorites: a core group of trusted varieties you grow year in and year out for their reliability and their flavor. I, for example, always grow Chioggia beets and Sun Gold tomatoes. But if I grew only those, gardening—and dining—it would get boring. There is always room in my garden for something else, something weird, something I've never tried before. That's why I look forward every fall to the arrival of the seed catalogs.


	We're reviewing seed catalogs as fast as we can. See more catalog reviews at FineGardening.com

Well before the mailbox fills up with holiday sales flyers and cards, the seed catalogs start to trickle in. I don't have time to take a serious look until after Thanksgiving, when the leaves are off the lawn and the garden is put to bed. I'm in the habit of reading after supper, and the new seed catalogs, with their perfect photos and inspirational descriptions, are a treat to be savored, along with a cup of hot tea and a fire in the little woodstove.

For northern gardeners, winter is the dream season: no weeds, bugs, no blight, just visions of a perfect little vegetable patch. And the catalogs are the wish books. My current obsession is goji (wolfberry), the latest "superfood" from China. Do I really have room for another 10-foot-tall shrub? Do I really want to pick even more berries? These are the decisions we make in the cold season, when the garden is a blank slate and everything seems possible.

Here are links to our reviews of 2010 seed catalogs. More will be added over the next several weeks. Please visit the pages and add your own comments.

• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
• Renee's Garden Seeds
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (reviewed by Jodi Torpey)
• Burpee
• Fedco Seeds
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (reviewed by Chris McLaughlin)
• Botanical Interests
• J.L. Hudson, Seedsman
• Seed Savers Exchange
• Johnny's Selected Seeds
• Seeds of Change
• Totally Tomatoes
• Pinetree Garden Seeds
• Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co.

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Comments (2)

Ruth writes: good suggestion. My Parks catalog arrived well after the others, so it didn't get reviewed in the first wave. I'll see what I can do.
Posted: 9:05 am on January 25th