WHO'S ORDERING WHICH SEEDS FOR SPRING '09, AND FROM WHERE?

I believe there was some discussion just a short while back about where to order seeds these days. Seems a couple of the places I used last time weren't on the majority's "short list." I ordered seeds from TGS....

Please pipe up as to where the best (reliable) tomato seeds are for the Spring garden. I'm ready to start thinking about my seeds for my Spring veggie garden. Will sow 2nd weekend in January for staggered plantout the weekends of February 14 & 28, and March 14, 2009. I know I'm taking a chance -- but with staggering at least 3 plantings 2 weeks apart, I should be covered if a really freaky frost hits). Thanks!

Baker Seed - the only place I buy veggie seeds.

I rarely order tomato seeds anymore, but my top two favorite vendors for that have always been Tomato Growers Supply and Victory Seeds. Why? A combo of selection, dependability and quick and friendly service.

Honorable mentions to Marianne Jones (Mariseeds) and also Sandhill Preservation for a great selection that might be hard to find elsewhere. Sandhill doesn't process orders from Aug thru Dec (and may not start sending them out until mid-Jan or later), so us Texans will need to take that into account. They also don't take orders online either. Definitely still worth a look, though, as they offer a LOT of great varieties.

Seed Savers Exchange and Baker Creek are also good companies to do business with.



This message was edited Oct 14, 2008 3:09 AM

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

Hi Linda

I don't do vege's but I did just order flower seeds. Parks and Pinetree Seeds are who I ordered from. Pinetree offers more vegetable seeds than flower seeds and I think they have good Watchdog ratings. I know they are more reasonable in price than Parks and I've always had good germination with their flower seeds.

Patty

Gymgirl, I too am already dreaming of this spring. I order from Territorial Seeds Co., Baker Seed, Park Seed, and Tomato Grower's Supply. I try to get organic when I can. I'll have to take a look and Mariseeds, I've not heard of them and they sound like fun. Thanks for the tip, Suze_. I've just got a small greenhouse this summer so no more filling up the window sills with veggie starts this season. Woohoo! Now all I need is to get DH to hook up the disc so I can plow up more space for all I want to do. It may be crazy, but its cheaper than buying lettuce from the grocery store! I just got delivery on some Egyptian Walking Onion sets from Territorial. I've never grown them before and am exited to try something new!

You will enjoy the walking onions. I've grown some for a few years now. I am working up an order from Bakers and looking for heirloom seed. Not just tomatoes of course. 8)

Ok, I give up. What's a Walking onion and does it "Walk Like an Egyptian?"

Cool, Gymgirl, we think alike. I thought the same thing when I first saw an article about Egyptian walking onions in a magazine I used to get. I think it was called The Kitchen Gardener--or something like that.

As per the label on my packet: Egyptian topsetting onions is a smaller relative of the catawassa onion (whatever those are). The topsets (stalk bulblets) are a distinctive red color. A prolific producer of delicious green onions that you can harvest twice a year. I believe you also harvest the underground bulbs. The stalk bulblets a somewhat spicy and can be pickled. I've been told they add a nice garlicy flavor to stir fries. You replant the bulblets to keep the patch going. They are sometimes called walking onions because if the tops are alowed to flop over and take root another plant will grow up from that spot and "walk" accross the gargen.

They look kind of wierd and I just had to try them :)!

LOL on walking like an Egyptian. Terri_emory explained it well. I understand these tiny bulbs are sometimes pickled also.

Anyone here order from Bountiful Gardens?

I've not ordered from them before but I just went to their website and they look interesting. I'll bookmark them. Thanks for the heads up!

Does anyone have southern sources for heirloom vegetable seeds?

Marianne Jones/Mariseeds lives in TN and has a great selection of OP/heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and some eggplant. As far as I know, I'm fairly sure she still produces all her own seed stock - if that's important to you. Can't think of any (off the top of my head) that are in Texas.

Wilhite Seed is a great Texas based company to order from if they have what you need, but then they really don't tend to specialize in "heirlooms" per se. I've not looked at their website recently, but they carry a mix of hybrids and OPs that tend to have rep for doing well here.

Edit - Tomato Growers Supply is in Florida.

This message was edited Oct 30, 2008 1:21 PM

Thank you for the direction on these Suze_ . I am off to check them out.