Seed Catalogs…Winter’s Best Reading Material!
It is snowing today in South Carolina. How ridiculous. In fact, the College of Charleston has cancelled classes today and tomorrow because of the weather. (My daughter attends.) The state is practicably shut down. Snow and ice are not my idea of a great winter. I know, I know. Quit whining. Soooo many people have snow all the time. But, (I protest) I am a Southerner through and through. We don’t do cold!
So what’s my remedy? A fire in the fireplace, a warm blanket, a cup of joe, and…seed catalogs. What better way to become totally blind to the fact that it is below freezing and snowing? I prefer to think about this:
My all time favorite seed catalog hails from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. The catalog is beautiful. It qualifies as a coffee table book in my house.
It is 356 pages of full color garden porn. It claims to be the world’s largest seed catalog. I believe them. It has a Seed Index and a Story Index. You can learn about canning and drying as well as how to make Sunshine Parsnip Muffins. Who knew?
And with pictures like this and descriptions that read “The fruits have a bright, sweet flavor, and the color is vibrant fire-engine red with golden orange striping…” who wouldn’t want to order one of everything!
Along with Baker Creek there are many seed sources for your spring gardens. You may find what you are looking for from one of these:
Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. Be sure to check out their Garden Planne.
Johnny Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds claims their website has “scads of new varieties.”
And then if you are on the west coast, you may prefer Territorial Seed Company. They also have that handy Garden Planner tool and some planting guides on their website. I also like that they feature The Drunken Botantist Plant Collection. Author Amy Stewart of famed Garden Rant (one of my fav garden blogs) has put together a collection of cocktail-friendly plants.
That should get you started…if you haven’t already. I would love to hear what your favorite seed sources are as I will be building a collection of highly valuable resources to fill that blank Resources page.