Monday, February 7, 2011

Look What I've Been Reading. . .


Since receiving this book for Christmas, I have been getting very excited for gardening season to begin! When I look outside at the mountains of snow, I can think that at least my garden will be good and wet this spring. J

But I have a question for my readers! What gardening/seed catalogues would you recommend? I know there are several avid vegetable gardeners who read my blog, and I would love any advice you have to offer or books you would recommend. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in becoming more self-sufficient on a small budget and limited space. As you can see, I have already marked it up with new ideas for my organic garden!

Please leave me a comment!


6 comments:

Amy said...

Dad orders most of our seeds from Stokes. They're based out of New York State (I think) and are tailored to shorter growing seasons, such as ours.

Technoprairie said...

We order most of our seeds from Burpee and Gurney. We order some of the more exotic stuff from Jung's, Cook's, John Scheeper's, and Seed Saver's.

7 Eagles said...

Thank you so much for your comment, Amy! I will be looking at possibly getting a Stokes catalogue. That would be great to have a seed company that tailors to short growing seasons! Have you ordered your seeds already? My book said most farmers order their seeds in January or February. I need to get moving! :-)

~Bianca

7 Eagles said...

Thank you so much for your detailed comment, Technoprairie! I appreciate all of the info! I will also have to look into some of the exotic catalogues. Your family always grows such neat varieties of vegetables, and I'd like to branch out and try some new things.

~Bianca

Sarah said...

Oh, I like that book! I've gotten it at our library before, and it is so inspiring.

There are so many seed catalogs that I like! Territorial, Seed Savers Exchange, R. H. Shumways, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, and Stokes.

Though, the ones I normally order from are Stokes and R. H. Shumways. We have used the former for many years and have been quite pleased with their seeds. The only thing I don't appreciate about their seeds is that most of them are treated and thus, you should wear gloves while planting them. The thing I do appreciate about them, though, is their low pricing and they offer seed in bulk for very reasonable prices! I always order our bean seeds from them as we use a lot of those and we can get them for so much cheaper there than anywhere else. And so far, we have always been so pleased with how well Stoke's seeds have done!

We used R. H. Shumways for the first time last year and I was very pleased with their seeds. We'll be ordering from them again! Their catalog is not as 'pretty' as other ones as it is black and white and is fashioned after an old-time catalog with line drawings, and old looking type, but I love that look. :) They also carry so many non-hybrids and heirlooms, which are what I am starting to get into. And again, their prices are very reasonable.

This year, I think we'll be ordering from Seed Savers Exchange as well, and I am looking forward to seeing how their seeds do.

Hope that helps . . . and have fun planning your garden! I am behind in getting our seed order figured out, and just started on it the other day. It's just about finished now, though!

7 Eagles said...

Thank you so much for all of the info on seed catalogues, Sarah! I appreciate all of your advice as I'm very inexperienced when it comes to gardening! One thing I will also be trying this year is square foot gardening. I plan to have several raised boxes in my garden, as I have read that this method reduces weeds and promotes better growth. I'm also looking forward to trying some new vegetables in our garden this year, and possibly some fruits and edible flowers. So keep your eyes open! I'm sure there will be many more gardening posts!

Thanks again for all your help, Sarah! I hope that your garden will be very fruitful this year!

~Bianca