They start showing up right after the solstice. Taunting me with full-color photos of prize tomatoes; fantastic dahlias; and firm, bulbous garlic heads. I’m talking about seed catalogs—every gardener’s weakness.
There are dozens of seed companies in the United States. Some focus on vegetables, some specialize in flower bulbs, some offer bare-root trees and bushes. Some just grow mushrooms, some just garlic! Below is as comprehensive list as I could muster.
I tend to buy from the companies that have their test gardens in my same region and growing zone. That way, if something works well in their garden it should also work well in mine! I usually order from Territorial Seed Company, and when I was in the Gorge I also liked Irish Eyes, based in Ellensburg, Washington—their climate was closer to mine than temperate Roseburg, Oregon.
The internet is full of videos that show you how to plant starts, space your plants out, and anything else having to do with gardening. There are also a number of garden-planning software packages appearing. I rely on gardening to keep me away from my computer, so I will never use anything but a pencil and sheet of graph paper to plan my garden beds. But some people find it helpful to be reminded when to plant what and so on. And having a computerized record does make it easier to track plantings and yields from year to year.
I would be remiss to talk about gardening without putting in a plug for saving seeds. You can use them the following year, or trade some with a friend for seeds you don’t have. This only works with “heirloom” varieties, i.e. plants that aren’t hybrids. Hybrids are crosses of two different types of plant to emphasize one or more traits over others (big fruits; sturdy stalks, etc.). They are great, but the seeds their fruits produce will not grow another hybrid plant. So, you have to keep buying more seeds.
Some large corporations have taken this marketing basis one step further and try to prosecute farmers who save their seed from a “trademarked” crop, or even who are affected by cross-pollination they don’t want! This mostly affects commodity farmers of corn, soybeans and rapeseed (canola), not food farmers.
Those interested in heirloom seed-saving and -trading should check out the Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa, Native Seeds/SEARCH in Arizona, Conserving Arkansas’ Agricultural Heritage, Organic Seed Alliance in Washington, International Seed Saving Institute in Arizona, Hudson Valley Seed Library in New York, and the National Gardening Association.
Many nurseries and gardening companies sell tools and resources as well as seeds—if you don’t see Get Your Pitchfork On! in your favorite catalog or store, please ask them to carry it.
Garden Seed Companies by State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Food Bank of North Central Arkansas
California
Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Florida Backyard Vegetable Gardener
Georgia
Hawai`i
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Earl May Nursery & Garden Center
Kansas
Kentucky
Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
New Hampshire
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
South Carolina Crop Improvement Assoc.
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Washington
Backyard Heirloom Seeds & Herbs
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Here’s a few more, for mushrooms:
Back to the Roots, California
Gourmet Mushroom Products, California
Mushroom Adventures, California
Southeast Mushroom, Florida
Fungi Perfecti, Washington
And for garlic:
Garlic World, California
Charlie’s Gourmet Garlic, Ohio
Hood River Garlic, Oregon
Green Mountain Garlic, Vermont
Mushroom kits and garlic bulbs are offered by many of the seed companies as well. If you have others to recommend, please share them in the comments section. Happy Gardening!
getyourpitchforkon 