Last year around this same time, I entertained ya’ all with The Battle of the Seed Catalogs. Well the war continues, once again we were flooded with seed catalogs, and once again we spent many hours contemplating on what to purchase and from who. I am happy to say that we narrowed down our seed selections to just three catalogs – Seed Savers, Baker’s Creek, and R.H. Shumway. All the catalogs are fun to look at, but honestly, a seed catalog is a seed catalog, but with a few exceptions. As mentioned last year, Baker’s Creek is absolutely beautiful to look at – great photography, good descriptions of the plants, and even better, the damn prices!! By far Baker’s Creek offers the highest quality seed for the best price! As always, I also made seed purchases from Seed Savers, but not quite as much as I have in the past. I still whole heartily support them and their cause, but their prices are higher, and you definitely don’t get quite as much per packet. The dark horse candidate, and my new favorite seed catalog is R.H. Shumway. Their prices are totally reasonable, they offer some really neat varieties (some hybrids, some heirlooms), and their catalog is really fun to look through and read! It is hand illustrated with old-timey drawings and makes shopping for seeds quite fun!
A big difference this year concerning our seed purchases is how we plan on gardening. We are hoping to make the transition from just backyard, hobby gardening into a small urban farm that will be offering produce for sale to the public. With a few exceptions, we are planning on growing more of what we are really good at, and less experiments. Our main for-profit focus this year is going to be salad mix and other greens, braising greens like collards and kale, garlic, radishes, turnips, tomatoes, zucchinis and whatever else that we have a good season with. We have gotten to the point that we have excess amounts of certain crops and want to parlay that into a small home business on the side. Eventually we hope to turn the farm stand into an urban CSA, and make more of a living off of our passion for growing food.
Due to these grand dreams and aspirations of becoming a high-volume producing urban farm, we have had to change the amount of seed we order. Instead of just small packets of radishes, we ordered a few varieties in the quarter pound packs. The same goes for salad mix, carrots, and beets. Along with the added amount of seeds and plants we hope to grow, we are also going to need a little bit more space to actually garden in. We are lucky, we have space to grow into, and if time and energy allow, we will be adding just shy of a thousand square feet of garden space this spring. These garden expansions will consist of an addition to our side garden (approximately 200 square feet): two terraced raised beds in our back garden (about 60 square feet), and the big project – raised bed gardens equaling about 650-700 square feet of new garden space. These new raised beds will be in our “new” side yard that we purchased a few summers ago and will become the main work horse for the urban farm project. Other hurdles we are going to encounter are successive plantings and crop rotations to make the most out of our available space. The good news is this – these are the best kinds of hurdles to have, ones that you can plan for, ones that fall within in your capabilities and talents, and ones that are inspirational – not just for yourself, but for others. This world is not getting any easier to feed, we just welcomed our 7th billion citizen and most of us live in cities and first ring suburbs. We are the farmers of the future – citizens taking their food security into their own hands and providing our families and our communities with healthy, fresh food. I am really looking forward to this upcoming growing season – a chance to get even more calluses on my hands, less sleep and a sorer back, and the chance to provide something that is truly positive to my community and the world. Cheers!
Congratulations on the grand plans! I think you will find the whole endeavor very rewarding. Of course the biggest hurdle is making the beds themselves but as you will find that’s a singular event. Are you planning on literally having a farm stand, or have you conscripted your friends into purchasing your stuff? The latter is how I started (and am staying).
I am going to have to look into Shumway. I haven’t had much luck with Baker Creek though I do agree their price tends to level the playing field.
This is all very exciting for you. Now of course you need to be looking into new sources of compost and fertility: the chickens sure help, but…what are WSP’s rules on little dairy goats? hah!
Great to hear from you El! Yes, we are planning on having a farm stand! Using Craigslist and the bulletin board at our local co-op will be the main ways we plan on advertising (also word of mouth to friends, family, and the neighborhood). It is not confirmed yet, but I do believe that we will have at least one CSA share going this year with some friends of ours.
The raised beds are most likely going to be built out of old oak fencing lengths that are at my in-laws. It should be more than enough to get us started, and should last for a few years before we have to start rebuilding them.
Goats!! How small are you talking!!?? Unfortunately where I live goats are not really allowed, but you know what, I am already breaking the law with the hens, so we will see what the future holds! Cheers!
That’s fantastic! The twin cities need more urban farmers. I hope you make it work.
Speaking of catalogs- I’ll put in a plug for my favorite- Fedco. They’re a growers’ co-op out of Maine and send you a lot of seed for the money. They’re more generous than most and have a lot of organics, no GMO’s. And their catalogs are full of original woodcuts and drawings too. The editorializing within the seed descriptions and at the beginning of the catalog makes it worthwhile reading even if you don’t ever plan to buy seeds from them. You won’t regret requesting their catalog.
I’m not an employee of or a shill for Fedco- I just think they’re a damn good company.
Thank you Jeff for the encouragement! You are not the first to recommend Fedco to me. Another reader and internet friend, Steven who writes the blog http://turkeysong.wordpress.com/ , has spoken highly of them also. I meant to request a catalog from them this year and just never got around to it, maybe next year! Hope to meet and see you this summer at the farm stand! Peace and Cheers!
I just adore the Baker Creek catalog…just gorgeous. Best of luck on your new venture!
I would highly recommend Fedco. We have been buying from them for years and have found them to be a great resource for quality seed. I have also found Johnny’s Selected Seeds to be good.
I was wondering why you chose R.H. Shumway when there are so many great seed companies out there. While the R.H. Shumway name has been around since he started the company in 1870, that company went out of business in 1952. They name was bought by J. W. Jung Seed Co. of Randolph, WI.
Be aware when you by from Jung you might be getting Monsanto seeds. Monsanto sells seeds under the name Seminis , a product line carried by R.H.Shumway.
Hello Chip – Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate the info that you dug up on RH Shumway. The reason I purchased some seeds from RH Shumway was stated above …
“Their prices are totally reasonable, they offer some really neat varieties (some hybrids, some heirlooms), and their catalog is really fun to look through and read! It is hand illustrated with old-timey drawings and makes shopping for seeds quite fun!”….
Here is a link to Rh Shumway’s website …
http://www.rhshumway.com/Policies.asp …
At the bottom of the page they say they don’t knowingly sell GMOs. I would like to believe them, but if they have ties to Seminis and Monsanto, than I guess we can’t be sure. This is a great example of why we/I need to do more homework when we make purchases. As much as I like their catalog, I am not sure that I can give my money to them knowing that it will find its’ way into the pockects of Monsatan! If I purchase anymore seeds this year, I will try out Fedco! I checked out their website, and I like what I see. Cheers!
Just a follow up- yes- Shumway’s is a Jung catalog. I get it too, and was really enthralled by it- until I started to notice that they carried all of the same seeds as the Jung seed catalog. When I checked the addresses on my catalogs, I found at least four separate catalogs came from Jung- maybe more.
It’s kind of funny why they’d have to do that and waste that much paper. Maybe they’re trying to reach different audiences? But why did they send so many just to me? Don’t know. Their seed is good, and I agree about the prices, and they’re local- in central Wisconsin. Most seed companies do get some of their seed from Monsanto. Fedco is the only one that refuses to, that I know of.
What turned me off about Jung seeds though, was their ‘recommended cultural practices’ booklet that came along with some fruit trees and shrubs I ordered from them years ago. I’d need a full chemical arsenal to follow their instructions. I wondered how they thought that fruit trees had survived before the pump sprayer was invented.
Jung’s not an evil company, just one still stuck an earlier, more chemical-dependent era- think the 1950’s, more than the 1850’s that the Shumway catalog portrays. I occasionally will order from them still, but most of my money goes to Fedco.
A pretty good list of Monsanto brands to avoid
Chip – That is a great list of products to BOYCOTT! I will make sure to pass it on to others who will appreciate the info!!
It is apparently impossible to get a Shumway’s catalog now. You get Jung’s or Jung’s. I was heartbroken to discover this a few minutes ago. For the first time in 10 years, I have a place and enough time for a garden, and I so loved immersing myself in their catalogs. The pen and ink line drawings were beyond fantastic, and I’m going to miss them.