Posted on 01/06/2012 9:53:54 AM PST by JustaDumbBlonde
January is not the most hospitable month of the year to be sure. If you're like me those cold dreary days are best spent curled up in a chair (for the guys that don't *do* curl -- sit there very manly) with a cup of tea (insert the manly beverage of your choice) and a stack of garden catalogs that you need a front-end loader to move (got you with the front-end loader, didn't I?).
I've got to hand it to the catalog people, the covers are exceptional this year and, by golly, with all of the $25 to $100 coupons right there on the front ... I saved $475 just walking in from the mailbox!
Your first five minutes spent thumbing through will tell you something, regardless of which catalog your choose: Prices. Are. Up. Must be that ol' supply-n-demand thing, because I choose to believe that MY favorite seed suppliers would never take advantage of a market that is growing by leaps and bounds as people discover that you can feed your family the highest quality foods and save money at the same time. Not to mention, you know exactly how your food was handled and by whom. It must be said -- produce from Mexico just doesn't have the same tropical appeal that it once did.
These are the catalogs I've received as of this morning. I've put these in the form of a link that you can take to that company, if you so desire. You can request a catalog of your own or, do what I do, which is peruse the paper catalog and then place an order online.
Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co.Please let us know about your favorite catalogs and gardening-related companies. I know that we all love to discover something new that will further our fun in the garden.
Musser Forests, Inc.
Michigan Bulb Co.
Agri Supply
Growers Supply
Stark Bro's Nursery
The Greenhouse Catalog
Gardener's Supply Company
Totally Tomatoes
The Cook's Garden
Burpee
Henry Field's Seed & Nursery Co. *
Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co. *
Jung's Seeds & Plants
R.H. Shumway's Illustrated Garden Guide* Henry Field's and Gurney's are one and the same group. I suspect that Burgess is also owned by them, but haven't confirmed
Please add me to your ping list...thanks
I am in OR and prefer Territorial Seed catalog as well. Just received ours last weekend and so far have just skimmed over it.
Kale is high up on nutrient rich foods.
There’s only broccoli and onions in the garden now. I haven’t tended it in months so am surprised anything is growing. The tomatoes at the grocery were so bad this week that Mr. B said I needed to get back to the garden. Oh, for some homegrown tomatoes!
And I get jealous of your zone because you can do much more with cole crops that I can in Louisiana. But, if you start your seedlings indoors in March, you should have some nice healthy plants to put out around May 1. Until then, you can enjoy the triumphs and tragedies of us Southern gardeners. :)
My favorite BIL lives in Bozeman MT, and I've had to coax him along on getting his garden going. He grows cukes, tomatoes and speckled butter beans with little hassle. Has to choose short season varieties, but that is no problem whatsoever.
Welcome to the list! Look forward to seeing you regularly.
Thank you! I like that one.
I noticed the price of cookies have also gone up. Well, make that the package size has decreased with the price remaining the same. Good grief, who ever heard of a 9 oz package of cookies? But I saw more than one brand has reduced to 9 oz. Heard the same from a Walmart clerk. Better get those transplants started and increase the size of our garden areas to keep up with rising prices. Hey, anyone know of a good high yield cookie seed?
For me, it is easier and more pleasant to sit down with a few catalogs. For instance, I can turn to the cukes section of each one and look back and forth, comparing varieties and prices. I can lay several out on the coffee table at once.
I will admit that Windows 7 did make it easier online by allowing you to put two panes up side by side, but then you are limited to 2.
I am fond of going through my catalogs on the road while my husband is driving. The screen on my smartphone is not quite big enough to show a whole web page and I don't have a tablet or notebook.
Those are basically my reasons. I'm sure somebody else will chime in with other very good reasons.
Hope that you have more time to tend your maters this year. It was a scorcher last year and the maters needed lots of help.
LOL! Let’s do one signup per screenname, just to be sure :) LOL
I will look at Heirloom Acres and add them to the list of links. It is my intention to begin each weeks’ new thread by summarizing the last thread ... hope that will be helpful.
Tuna isn’t cheap. Drain it and then weigh the meat without the water. Then figure how much it is per pound. You’d be surprised.
I somehow know that you will wear Hubby down. :)
Wow. I just saw that Nichols is shipping Mason bees this year. Gotta be quick though, they stop shipping Feb. 15th
My best to Peggy. We all know she'll be great!
Thank you so much for that link!
“Tuna isn’t cheap. Drain it and then weigh the meat without the water. Then figure how much it is per pound. You’d be surprised.”
No I won’t be suprised. I know it is expensive. However, we set up our 6 month emergency supply to include fish once a week. Tuna and salmon in cans fits the bill. And I like tuna noodle casserole twice a month. Of course, I did buy them on sale too.
Good thing hubby and I like beans. LOL.
You've got that right ... especially the solid white albacore tuna that I buy. If it weren't for the 8-packs sold at Sam's I wouldn't be buying it at all. BTW, it now takes 3 cans to make a tuna cassarole, where it used to take 2. I think they are 5 oz. now, instead of 7 oz. Grrrrr.
I have enough leftover seeds from last year that I will not need any new ones this year, though I am looking for a few Creole tomato seeds for this year.
Creole is a great variety that has performed well for me the past couple of years. That is the actual Creole seeds, vs. the kinda generic creole tomato that people in the Deep South talk about.
Thanks, JADB!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.