Market Bulletins

I'm reading Elizabeth Lawrence's Gardening for Love, and discovering the world of market bulletins - I never knew these existed! Honey, goats, farms, equipment, you name it. And best of all, seeds, plants, and bulbs.

Here are the links to the state bulletins I've found so far:

Alabama: http://agri-ind.state.al.us/fcb.htm
Florida: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/fmb/
Georgia: http://www.agr.state.ga.us/mbindex.html
Louisiana: http://www.ldaf.state.la.us/divisions/marketing/marketbulletin/default.asp
Mississippi: http://www.mdac.state.ms.us/Library/Published/MarketBulletin/MarketBulletin.asp
South Carolina: http://www.scda.state.sc.us/marketbulletin/marketbulletin.htm
West Virginia: http://www.state.wv.us/agriculture/Information/Market_Bulletin/market_bulletin.html

It doesn't appear there is a bulletin for Tennessee - does anyone know?

If you know of any other market bulletins, please share their links or information here. What a great resource for gardeners!

Here is one for Market Gardening
http://www.marketgardening.com/

and

New Hampshire http://www.state.nh.us/agric/marketbulletin.html

I love that book - and Allen Lacy's prologue to it. what a wonder it is that all this goes on!

I have been getting the Market Bulletin for along time now. There are even a few GA members here that run their ads in there too! Pretty neat seeing what they have to offer actually in news print too!
I know I have seen tiG and Azalea and Stormy19 in there.
Also the fun thing is some of the ads will even say that they will ship the seeds/plants to you!!
Usually some pretty good deals in there too.

I'd say that 80% of the rural (non Atlanta) people in GA get the market bulletin in their mail every week. I know when I delivered mail, if they didn't get it on Wednesday, the office would be flooded with calls. And you don't dare deliver it early either!! people get really mad if someone gets it before they do.

I love the market bulletin, the only problem is I get bad cases of the 'wants' everytime I read one. They are fun reading.

Here is NC! http://www.ncagr.com/paffairs/class.htm

Terry, I love that book too! Mr. Lacy is one of my favorite writers. No, I don't subscribe to any of them, because I know if I do, I would be even deeper in debt than I am now.

I have been trying to track down another of Mrs. Lawrence's books, no copy seems to exist in any of Ohio's public libraries. It is 'The Small Bulbs' (I think). Have you read that one?

Ooooh, Kathy - lookie here (it's "The Little Bulbs": http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=181618944

and http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=211288216

I'll take one if you want the other!

Having devoured it, I can say Gardening for Love is a delightful little book; I also found it contains a cross-referenced list of common names and botanical names. I'm going through and adding some of these older names to our entries in the PDB so hopefully, they're preserved for the next generation of gardeners (who knows whether they'll be reading books as we do!)

Now for a favor...I would dearly love to have a sampling of these market bulletins. If any of you receive one, would you mind sending me a few old copies once you're done with them? I'll be glad to send postage to cover the mailing. Please email me, or post back here.

I'll save you the GA ones.

I haven't subscribed in yrs (since it became available on the 'Net). However, I just filled out their online form and started it up again...I'll send you one each month, if you like. (By the way, I checked...they are only free to NC residents, otherwise I would've put in YOUR address!)

Thanks, y'all! Gee, with all the southern DG friends I have here, I bet I can just about cover all the bulletins :o)

I was gonna follow Horseshoe's lead and subscribe so I could send the LA issues to you. Now I see that Louisiana's market bulletins aren't free, even to residents. You can't subscribe online, and you can't use a credit card. And it takes 6 to 8 weeks to get started. Gads, how cheesey. (Once again, I'm embarrassed for my home State)

Anyone from Louisiana already getting this thing?
If you can't get somebody's back issues, I'd be happy to send you a subscription. The cost is trivial, it's the principle of the thing.

Cheri'

I subcribe to Ms., Al. & La., I read
the Fl. online. Can't tell you how many wonderful plants & seeds I have found. In Ms. I found Crinum EB for $2.00 a bulb last year, they are now blooming. La. has great
recipes every month. From Fl. online
all sorts of great seeds.

PS
Send your address & I'll send you Ms. Bulletin
Honeybee

This message was edited Saturday, Jun 21st 8:32 AM

sundry, thanks so much for trying! I've emailed Louisiana and asked if they could send me a few samples, and offered to send postage to cover their expense. We'll see what happens...don't feel bad, at least they offer a bulletin! I've searched high and low, and can't find any hint that a market bulletin is still produced in Tennessee. I've emailed the state to see if anyone has information on when they were stopped.

Terry,

You should contacted your Tn. Agricultural Dept.??? Seens
like of all states Tn. would have a Bulletin, don't y'all have a lot of farms??

Honeybee

Honeybee, that's where I started. I can find a few oblique references to the existence of a bulletin (as in "this building is named for so-and-so, who edited the market bulletin for 25 years...") But when I try to find anything to indicate if it's still in publication, or if not, what date it was stopped, I run into a black hole.

If my email to them isn't fruitful, my next stop is our library's research department. Luckily for me, Nashville is within spitting difference, so if I need to pound the pavement to speak in person to some folks, I can. I'm guessing it may have been tied into UT's ag school in Knoxville, so I also may be spending some phone/email/in-person time up there :)

Terry,

Try calling your county agent. He
should know, might save you a lot
of time.

Honeybee

Terry,
Just saw your post, and have subscribed to the Florida Market Bulletin.
Thanks so much for posting that info! :)

grakay, I hadn't anticipated that members weren't aware of their bulletin, but I do hope that in those cases, they'll see this post and subscribe, and help keep up the tradition! (I think just about everyone's state-run bulletins are free to residents :o)

Today, I received a very gracious offer from Louisiana's office to send me a sampling of their bulletins, gratis. Merci beaucoup!

I also received a very prompt note from the Tennessee Dept. of Ag. PR person, who explained the last TN Market Bulletin was published in '88. He provided me with a place to go (in N'ville) to view the archives, so I've emailed them to arrange a time.

The Alabama folks were equally prompt and courteous to respond, and since their bulletin is a pittance ($5/year), I'll take out a subscription and see what there is to see.

And thanks to those of you who are subscribed, I think I'll be able to get samples from NC, MS, and GA. A few more to go and I'll have some from each. (Thanks again to all of you who have offered to send me some from your state!)

Now to pace myself to savor 'The Little Bulbs' and 'Gardens in Winter' - I have a bad habit of gobbling a book too fast ;o)

Terry,

Ms. Bulletin is not free either.
Fl. can be review free on line. Some of the states I wanted subscripions to, don't do out of state. Can't believe Tn. does not have one!!!!!! I mailed your Ms.
Bulletin today. Didn't even click
we me to also send Al. & La. too.
Sorry,

Honeybee

Hey Sundry,

Don't be so hard on Louisiana :) They have issues you can download/view for free from August 2000 to current. I'd actually prefer this way to getting it in the mail. If they're on my hard drive I know where they are and it's easy to print what you need. I get too many magazines already.

Also, the Mississippi site lets you download/view the latest bulletin for free. Only problem is it looks like they don't archive anything so you have to get it while its hot!

I didn't even know these bulletins existed 'til I read this thread. I have learned so much since I started coming to this site that it's unreal!


Mary Ann

lol, Zuluqueen504!

I didn't know they still existed, until I read it here. And, like you, I much prefer downloading. I wanted to get a hard copy subscription to send to Terry, and Louisiana made it sooooo hard to do.

Horseshoe had no problem doing it for NC, why must everything in LA be complicated?

Actually, I'm a native, life long resident of this weird, wild, wonderful state. I must love it. ;) Good food, good climate, good music, bad bureaucracy. You can't have everything ... I boggle at how things that should be simple are so complicated, here.

And I agree, DG is awesome. Well worth the price of admission.

Cheri'

Sundry, I agree that Louisiana is a whole 'nother country!
I was born in Natchez, MS but I've lived here since I was six months old (Ferriday, LA), left for 10 years (Houston) and came back in 1993 (New Orleans). I love it here in spite of the crime, corruption, poverty, pollution, and pests (mosquitoes, cockroaches, nutria, and formosan termites)! The food, the music, the friendly people, the different cultures, the flora and fauna all make it a great place to live. People who leave Louisiana always seem to come back!

I do wish our state and local governments could become a little more high tech ;-)

Mary Ann

Sundry,

I lived in New Orleans for 20 years
before moving back to Ms. Living in
N.O. was a Love-Hate Relationship.
I loved all the weird & hated the
traffic!! Moving back to Ms. was
"Culture Shock" at first. I love
living back in the woods. But the
Coast itself is just as Nuts as N.O.
now, with all the growth of Casinos.
I do miss City Park & the Zoo.

Terry, did you receive the Ms. Bulletin?????

Honeybee

Honeybee, I did receive your MS Mkt. Bulletin - thank you sooo much! I also received a sampling of Louisiana bulletins today, and I'm still going through them. Browsing through them is certainly a pleasant way to spend some time, with their interesting and varied offerings.

Terry,

Glad you recieve the Bulletin. It comes twice a month, DH & I fight
over who gets to see it first!!

Honeybee