From Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools*:
“Gardening catalogs are the very epitome of dreambooks. Some are quite beautiful, all ripe with the promise of fulfillment in a slightly other universe, but here are the three that make late winter in the heartland a little less bitter…”
- Seedsavers Exchange
- Johnny’s Selected Seeds
- Gardens Alive
After the jump, check out three more grow-enabling catalogs, including an “organic” supplier that’s been doing green long before Wal-Mart.
[image via Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply]
*Disclosure: I’m currently the editor of Cool Tools.
Peaceful Valley = “the premier source for organic farming supplies…Here is your source for plastic deer fencing, the world’s best walk-behind Italian tillers, superlative hand tools, the best selection of drip irrigation supplies, and — my favorite — reusable foam seedling trays.”
Hortideas = “It’s sort of like a Cook’s Illustrated for your garden — the advice is based on scientific testing, and the tools born out of genuine need.”
Lehman’s Non-Electric Catalog = “Old-time farming and gardening tools (for old-time skills still viable)-on and on.”
I can’t help but be tempted by the empty lot opposite my house….
Testing comment preview
I love the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Catalogue for edibles. It’s glossy, full color – gets me all enthused about ordering my seeds even when the weather’s still lousy out.
Tony Avent’s Plant Delights catalogues are also awesome. Since Heronswood’s spiritual demise, it’s the best ornamental catalogue reading around. Awesome varieties, gorgeous photos, and good info on each plant.
Kitazawa Seed Company in Oakland, CA is also worth noting for asian vegetable seeds.
May I (highly) recommend Fedco Seeds, fedcoseeds.com , for an excellent selection of fairly priced seeds, tubers, etc. Please don’t ask for a catalog if you’re a window shopper, as they’re a small outfit, and try to keep prices down.
I always enjoy perusing old-fashioned catalogs. I even have a collection of Farmer’s Almanacs going back nearly 60 years. The pride of my collection is a Sears catalog from 1908! It includes full color wallpaper samples and paint swatches. Hard to imagine a company mailing out something this hefty nowadays.
It does my heart good to see ‘modern’ companies carrying on with this traditional style of marketing. It seems to me that gardening (farming) has always been a focus of the mail-order catalog business.
Amazing how far the catalog business has come in less than a century. At first, catalogs were tapping into a vast market of consumers who lived far away from cities and stores. Now catalogs are directed at smaller niche groups of folks who may live near retail areas but might very well live far from others who share similar interests.
Dave Tool