Here Come the Seed Catalogs

Well it's that time of the year again.  The seed catalogs are arriving daily.  Actually I started receiving them around Thanksgiving.

I have quite a few I receive and they are all good sources for seeds, supplies and general information.  So far this year I have received the following catalogs:


 

http://www.burpee.com/





http://www.johnnyseeds.com/





http://www.jungseed.com/





http://www.gurneys.com/





http://www.parkseed.com/





http://www.tomatogrowers.com/





http://www.harrisseeds.com/



I apologize as some of the above images aren't from the current year catalogs as I had trouble finding them, but none the less these are all good sources for your vegetable and flower seeds and supplies.  This year is my first year trying the Tomato Growers Supply catalog as I am a tomato lover, especially the heirloom varieties.  I will post more on heirloom tomatoes this winter/spring.

I use a combination of catalogs and shopping at my local farm store when purchasing my seeds.  I am usually able to get the ordinary "staple" seeds locally, but for specialty items I use the catalogs.

Many people wonder about the shelf life of seeds.  My general rule of thumb and one I have had success with is each year I discard any seeds that are 2 years old.  So for this garden year of 2014, I will toss any seeds from 2012 but keep those from 2013 or newer.

In the next post I will talk about garden planning and crop rotation, etc.  I have discovered some useful tools to plan your garden space and to keep track of what you plant each year and where.

Until next time happy garden planning and don't forget the bird watching.