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  • From: Sojourner <sojournr AT missouri.org>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Seeds not so cheap
  • Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 18:02:32 -0600


"Lawrence F. London, Jr." wrote:
>
> On Thu, 27 Jan 2000, Rose & Fred Lieberman wrote:
>
> > I get most of my seeds from Johnny's and Fedco. Fedco for prices.
> > Johnny's
> > for whatever Fedco doesn't carry.
>
> Could you post contact info for Fedco?
>
> I hear Park Seed is good and carries many heirloom varieties.
> I'll post some of my seed company adresses after I put the catalogs
> in a pile to read from.

Here are some of my favorite garden/herb/seed suppliers:

Le Jardin du Gourmet: Sample Herb Seed Packets Price: US$0.30/each

They used to offer a very reasonably priced introductory package of
garlic and shallots, don't know if they still do that anymore or not.

http://www.kingcon.com/agljdg/INDEX.HTM

Another good and very reasonably priced seed source is Pinetree
Gardens. Normal size packets (and sometimes slightly larger than usual)
for usually under a dollar, often 60 or 70 cents or so:

http://www.superseeds.com

General seeds, flowers, veggies, good prices on quantities larger than a
packet (quantities of an oz, 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb, and 1 lb and up, often a
pound of seed for say, beans or peas, costs less than a packet from some
suppliers). The best price I've found on the Earthway Garden Seeder and
its accessories (which I bought). They charge actual shipping but no
handling fee. Also carry packing equipment for small to medium scale
growers. They don't have a web presence but here's their address:

Morgan County Wholesale
18761 Kelsay Road
Barnett, MO 65011-3009

I USED to like Gardener's Supply Company but when I went to their web
site recently they had gone yuppie. More than half their stuff now
seems to be cutesy garden statues and expensive flower bowls. But they
do still sell capillary matting and soil blockers. They're at

http://www.gardeners.com

Mellinger's is a perennial favorite (and annuals and supplies too).
They have the Automator for the best price I've ever found. The
automator is a little plastic "well" you put around tomatoes and
peppers. It has 4 "spikes" sticking down into the ground. You put
water in the tray and it is dispensed through the spikes. Makes a huge
difference in plant growth and health and yield. They carry other
stuff, like 12" to 15" trees for very low prices, and tropical
houseplants, orchids, jasmine, even edible ginger and stevia. They
carry a pretty good pressure canner though I think Lehman's is actually
cheaper for that. They carry some trellis netting with a lifetime
warranty. Seed starting trays, peat pots, etc. for pretty good prices.

http://www.mellingers.com

Gurney's, carries weird things like sugar beet and mangel seeds.
Carries trees and shrubs, including 4 varieties of disease resistant
apples: Jonafree, Goldrush, Carefree Liberty, and Freedom. They only
have a catalog order form on their "website" but at least it saves you a
stamp.

http://www.gurneys.com

Gardens Alive sells just about any beneficial insect you can imagine,
and loads of organic pesticides like BT and pyrethrum/rotenone,
insecticidal soaps, etc. for not necessarily price-gouging prices. I
don't know any other source for this stuff except I've seen lady bugs in
Burpee's catalog, but given the fact that EACH and EVERY year they give
me $20 or more off my order it looks pretty cheap to me. I don't know
why they keep doing that but they do. This year, if I "buy" $35 worth
of stuff I get a discount of $25. I don't know, I guess most people buy
loads of stuff because every year there's more and more interesting
stuff in their catalog. So I guess they're not losing money doing
this. This year their catalog has 18 pages of color photos and thorough
descriptions of common diseases and insect pests. That alone makes it
worth your while to send for the catalog. No website that I know of.

Garden's Alive
5100 Schenley Place
Lawerenceburg, IN 47025
(812) 537-8650

And finally, a newcomer to my list: Walt Nicke's Garden Talk. I don't
know how I got on this guy's mailing list but the introduction alone
(entitled Think Globally, Rest Frequently: The lazy mans' guide to
saving the Earth) make me willing to buy something from the man. There
are some very, very nice tools in this catalog, REAL tools. Felco
pruners. The big ones. Well made, might I say, finely CRAFTED, garden
spades and forks, not the stamped metal crap at the lumber yard that
comes dull and won't hold an edge anyway. And there's a wee little bit
of the obligatory cutesy stuff - a face made out of leaves to stick on
your lapel, or a larger version to hang on your wall - but by and large
this is a vendor of Quality Tools.

Walt Nicke Co.
36 McLeaod Lane
PO Box 433
Topsfield, Massachusetts 01983
(978) 887-3388

--
Holly ;-D
Contrary Peasant
sojournr AT missouri.org




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