Seed Catalogues Are Arriving!

My first seed catalogues arrived recently. On the same day I received the Stokes catalogue and Pinetree Garden Seeds catalogue. It is kind of ironic that these showed up on the same day because these two catalogues couldn't be more different! In my opinion, Stokes seems to be more oriented towards large scale and commercial operations. Their seeds are sold in larger quantities and they sell mostly hybrid varieties. Pinetree Garden Seeds on the other hand sell small quantities of seeds (better for most home growers who don't need 50 plants of the same tomato variety) and sell many heirloom varieties (which I prefer).

Although I receive catalogues from probably 10+ seed companies, I always end up ordering from Pinetree. Their seeds are very affordable, with most regular sized packets costing less than $1.50. Although you get fewer seeds than some other companies (which is reflected in the reduced price), I have never found myself needing more than one packet of anything. I generally only grow a few plants of any one tomato or pepper variety and a packet of lettuce or carrots seeds stretches surprisingly far. Since the seeds are so inexpensive, I can try more varieties each year. In addition, since I only buy heirlooms, I can save the seeds. This means I'll never have to buy that variety again...for the rest of my life!