sechrest @orstcs.UUCP (sechrest ) (12/19/85)
The time is coming up to order seeds for next year's summer garden. Since I have my usual stack of catalogs sitting waiting to be picked over, I thought I would post the addresses and some comments about each of the catalogs. Tools: Smith and Hawken 25 Corte Madera Mill Valley, California 94941 (415) 383 - 4050 They have a lot of quality tools. The prices are a little high, but the service is great. They have a little store front in Mill Valley. If you are wandering north of San Francisco, it is worth the stop. I personal have enjoyed the japanese hand tools. Gardner's Supply Co. 133 Elm Street Winooski, Vermont 05404 (802) 655-9006 Gardner's Supply is an off-shoot of the National Gardening Association They provide a basic set of wonderful tools. They are not as heavy into shovels and spades as Smith and Hawken. They tend to lean more to the cooking. After all, what do you do with all of your vegies? I personally have the Sqeezo for tomato's.... It makes canning tommato sauce a lot easier. It works well for apples as well. Green River Tools 5 Cotton Mill Hill Post Office Box 1919 Brattleboro, Vermont 05301 (802) 254-2388 I have never ordered anything from Green River Tools. I have always been intrigued by the soil block builders, but I have not spent the money... yet. Their catalog has gotten much bigger and better in the last two years. By Hand and Foot PO Box 611 Brattleboro, Vermont 05301 (802) 254-2101 This is an interesting catalog of hand tools for hand hay mowing and simalar hand tools. It looks like some nice tools. Gardeners Eden PO Box 7307 San Francisco, California 94120-7307 This is an upscale catalog. I have recieved some gifts from this catalog that are very nice. Composts etc: Humboldt Composting Co. PO box 4288 Arcata, California 95521 They carry a lot of organic ferilizers and composts including worm casings. If you believe like most organic gardeners that gardening is a matter of building soil, these people provide some hard to find fertilizers and soil amendments that will give you a head start on building a healthy soil. I use the Bat guano on my house plants, it works very well. (I have a 5 foot (3 year old) avacado plant that thrives on it) Seed Catalogs: Territorial Seed Company PO Box 27 Lorane Oregon 97451 These Folks specialize in seeds that will grow well in the north west climate, west of the cascades. They spend a lot of time testing thier seeds in the thier test beds for the gray damp weather that the northwest has. They have tomato's that actually become ripe, before the winter rains set in. (Being from Illinois, I was terribly disappointed in the way Illinois tomatos do in Oregon) This is a wonder source for seed that need cool days and short seasons. Vermont Been Seed Co. Garden Lane Bomoseen, Vermont 05732 A wide varitey of basic seeds. Over 700 varieties. Shephards Garden Seeds 7389 West Zayante Road Felton, California 95018 (408) 335-5400 Specializing in European seed varieties. Alot of varieties that I have not seen anywhere else. Abundant Life Seed Foundation PO Box 72 Port Townsend Washington 98368 (206)385 - 5660 These folks are a non-profit organization to aquire, propogate and preserve seeds for plants of the pacific rim. They have many native plant seeds from flowers, vegetables and trees. A great source for heirloom varieties of vegetables and hard to find herbs. Nichols Garden Nursery 1190 North Pacific Hwy Albany Oregon 97321 (503)928-9280 These folks have a good collection of vegetables, but their strength lays in their herbs. They have a wide variety of herbs that I have found nowhere else. Kester's Wild Game Food Nurseries, Inc PO Box V Omro Wisconsin 54963 (414) 685-2929 Specializing in plants designed to support game animals, these folks have some seeds not available elsewhere. They have a perenial wheat seed, birdsfoot trefoil (a great ground cover), vetchs, and sainfoin. A great source for seeds that are the basis of a permaculture. Farmer Seed and Nursery Division of Plantron, Inc Faribault, Minn 55021 The catalog says: Specializing in northern grown hardy seeds. I have not gotten anything from them. Old Standards: W Atlee Burpee Co. Warminster Pa 18974 A wonderfull place to get flowers and other basic vegetables. I try to buy varieties specialized for may area. So I don't buy much from them. If I can't find a variety of something, I look here. Stokes Seed Inc Box 548 Buffalo NY 14240 A wide variety of execlent plants. Again, this is one of the last places I look. Gurney's Seed and Nursery Yankton SD 57079 A lot of good deal's on some plants. Still not nessecarily designed for your area. Need to be carefull about the variety. Flowers: I have not put much effort into planting flowers, a few bulbs and sweet peas are the extent of it, but here are some wonderful catalogs. White Flower Farm Litchfield Connecticut 06759-0050 A Great Catalog, just for the pictures and the narative. Brecks US Reservation Center 6523 N Galena Road Peoria Illinois 61632 A lot of bulbs from Holland, Some nice specialty flowers as well. Nurserys: If finding vegetables for the Northwest seemed hard, finding trees is harder. The following nurseries have some specialty trees and plants bred for the NW. ( Oranges in Oregon, they sell some.... I even saw them at the nursery) RainTree Nursery and Northwoods Nursery 391 Butts Road Morton Washington 98356 A great set of varieties of fruit trees. Especially disease resistant varieties of Apples and pears. Some wonderful varieties of asian pears and kiwi's. Having just written this all down, I notice that I have a lot of information about places oriented for the North west. I hope that you find them useful. I am particulary interested it what people find out about other sources of seeds. John Sechrest sechrest@oregon-state.csnet hplabs!hp-pcd!orstcs!sechrest
kjp@well.UUCP (Karen Paulsell) (01/06/86)
For those who are SERIOUSLY into flowers: Thompson & Morgan Inc. P. O. Box 1308 Jackson, NH 08527 The hundreds of color pictures will keep you happy through many cold winter evenings. Seeds for annuals, perennials, bulbs, shrubs, cactus, a few vegies. From packs of marigold seeds, to 3 Chilean Bellflower sprout-lets for $6.95.