Ordering seeds

There is nothing like sitting in front of the fire with a big stack of seed catalogs to make me happy on a sunday afternoon. The colorful catalogs are filled with pictures and descriptions of the latest gadgets, sprayers, seeders, garden carts, soil mixes, shiny new clippers, pots and containers, hand forged tools, garden stakes, composters, row covers, and pest controls as well as a tempting variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers in every shape, size and color under the sun. Of course, I have every other page earmarked with notes scribbled in the margins as new varieties catch my eye and hope to compete for space in the garden.
I will order past stars, those varieties that year after year produce high yields of delicious produce, including Sugar Snap peas, Maxibel beans, Super Star onions, Early Wonder beets,and Bright Lights chard. But I am tempted by new names such as Pikant shallots, described as large, high yielding bulbs with mahogany skin and a reddish interior. Badger Gold beets, Purple Haze carrots, Minuet cabbage, and Black Prince tomatoes have all made the list this year.
I have ordered the bulk of my seeds from Johhny's Selected Seeds, an employee owned company from Maine whose informative catalog I carry with me and refer to on a daily basis during the growing season. Go to www.johnnyseeds.com to view their catalog on line or to place your name on their mailing list. In my experience, Johnny's seeds offers a nice selection of good performing varieties that are available in different sized packets for both the home grower and larger commercial farms. Their germination rates are true and their employees are responsive and helpful. But I do order smaller amounts from other catalogs, including Territorial Seed Company, Seed Savers Exchange, Tomato Growers, John Scheepers, Fedco, Baker Creek, Abundant Life Seeds, Botanical Interests, High Mowing, and Landreth's, among others. Check out Landreth's 225 year commemorative catalog that was issued this year. It is filled with replicas of their best covers from the past two hundred and fifty years as well as photographs, anecdotes and offerings of many heirloom seed varieties and good farming advice that was written generations ago and still applies today. It is a catalog I will keep on the shelf next to my favorite gardening books. In a couple of days I'll have most of the seeds ordered. In the meantime, I'm firming up some leads on greenhouse space that I can use and buying the ingredients for my seed starting mix so that when the seeds arrive, I'll be ready to go!
Cost:
Johnny's seeds 301.55