Hello!

Well, good old Paunxatauwny Phil went and did it! He did not see his shadow, and so we will have an early spring! Yippee! Yeah, right! All of the thousands of spectators that all crowded around him were probably blocking out the sun just so he couldn’t see his shadow!

Keep in mind, he’s only been right 37% of the time, so I imagine his approval rating is just about the same as W’s! Actually, with all of this weird, wacky weather we’ve been “enjoying”, Mother Nature has an even lower approval rating at this point!

Yes, just picture it – an early spring – just 6 more weeks of winter… Try to remember that picture next week when the thermometer dips once again to below 0! Yes, good old Paunxatauwny Phil – he’s almost as sadistic as Mother Nature!

But – hey – today is Saturday! Just for today, let’s be idealistic as we continue to think about new spring seeds for our new spring gardens (whenever spring does happen to arrive!).

So, have you gone to any of those local stores to ogle at their new seed racks? You know, many of these stores are even offering some pretty discounts on their new seeds. And some are offering some really tempting deals – like 10 cents a packet! So please do check them out!

Now as far as the mail order seed catalogs go, now is a great time to browse through them. 99% of them are beautiful full color – colorful enough to lift the heaviest, grumpiest heart. So let’s take a look at some of them right now.

There are those regional catalogs that specialize in specific varieties that are adapted to specific growing regions. There are Johnny’s in jolly-olly New England (actually Maine), Fedco and Pinetree in Maine, and Vesey Seed in Maritime Canada. They feature seeds that are all born and bred in the cold north country, practically guaranteeing our successful gardens in our cold North Country. There’s Garden City Seed for the Northern Plains. There’s Territorial Seed for the Pacific Northwest Territory. There is High Altitude Gardens for all of the high altitude gardens in the high altitude Rockies. (Hmmm, I wonder if the folks living in the high altitude Tug Hill should get their seeds from them?)

And then there are those general seed catalogs listing endless varieties of every vegetable ever invented! Consider Park’s, Jung’s, Ferry Morse, Shumway’s, Gurney’s, Burpee’s, Stokes in Buffalo, New York, and Harris Seeds from Rochester, New York. Keep in mind these seed companies get their seed from any and every seed supplier all over the United States and beyond.

Many of these mail order seed companies have money-back guarantees if their seeds don’t perform as promised. Some of them even have help hot-lines for gardeners with problems (no, not marital problems – gardening problems!). Some companies offer free handling and shipping, and even discounts for larger orders.

As I have said before, all of these mail order seed places put out really super catalogs which make for really super winter reading – super enough to lift your spirits while you try to rid yourself of that chronic cabin fever so rampant this time of the year. Most of these catalogs are free. And sometimes, when you are on their customer list, you will be receiving these catalogs each and every year, even if you don’t order any seeds from them.

So, just pick up any of the gardening magazines out there; they’re loaded with the names and addresses of every seed company imaginable. And many of these seed catalogs even list 1-800 toll-free numbers to call for your very own catalogs. And many of these seed companies even have their very own web sites that you can access from the comfort of your very own computer. And, if you give me a call, I can even send you out a listing of these seed places.

So, you decide where you want to get your seed from – local seed racks or mail order. Or you can always trade or swap seeds with your gardening friends, relatives, and neighbors.

Remember – Eat Smart New York!

And – Bye – Talk to you soon!
D