Seed Catalogs and Dave's Garden

So now that my guilt has been assuaged, back to thinking about the garden.  As I said in my blog about tomato cages, now is the time that I'm planning the garden, plotting and scheming about next year's garden, including the seeds I will purchase and from what company.

My daughter turned me on to Dave's Garden Watchdog.  It has helped me tremendously in assessing what seed catalogs to keep and which to ditch (recycling of course).  You may already be familiar with Dave's Garden, but if you aren't, here the skinny: it's like Angie's list for seed catalogs.  You can find out which companies have great reviews on their merchandise and customer service and which do not.  I have tossed many a seed/plant catalog after looking up the reviews on this site.  It's my go-to guide for what I keep and what I toss from my mailbox full of catalogs.

My personal favorites for seed catalogs are:
1) Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
2) Seed Savers Exchange
3) Bountiful Gardens
4) Territorial Seed Company

But some charge an arm and a leg for shipping so be sure to consider that when you're costing it out - I found that Territorial charges quite a bit more than most.  Unless you are buying a lot from them it just isn't worth it.  Baker Creek charges $3.50 for shipping whatever you order.  Seed Savers Exchange charges in a tiered pricing system based on how much money you spend, the more you spend on seeds the more you pay in shipping: $3 for a purchase of $10 or less, $4 for $10-20 etc.  Bountiful Gardens does the same, but shipping costs are less than Seed Savers at $2.50 for up to $10 and $2.95 for a $10-20 order, etc.  Territorial is the most costly, especially if you are ordering a small order.  No matter what the order total, the shipping is $7.50.  So if you find two packets of seed that you want from Territorial you're going to pay more for shipping than you did for your seeds - so just keep an eye on that.

If you're growing your own food because you want to save money (not only because you know what you are eating, you can keep your family safe from toxic pesticides and herbicides, and you enjoy maintaining biodiversity while growing your own food) then you have to consider those shipping costs.  They add up.  I grow my own food for all of those reasons - so I consider return on investment in my garden, and shipping costs are taken into consideration.