• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

Seed Buying – Method or Madness?

January 2, 2007 By Carol Michel 19 Comments

What kind of a seed buyer are you?

Do you carefully read all of the seed catalogs sent to you and then browse the Internet to compare and contrast all the options, then decide which seeds to buy?

Do you buy seeds from ‘bricks and mortar’ stores and get whatever appeals to you as you are browsing?

Do you buy vegetable seeds in bulk where they scoop them out of seed bins, weigh them and put them in hand-marked envelopes?

Do you buy seeds for just vegetables, or just annual flowers? Do you buy seeds for perennial flowers?

Do you know what stratification and scarification are? Have you done either or both with seeds?

Do you order seeds from more than one seed company to save on shipping or buy from whoever has the seeds you want, even if it means paying nearly the same for shipping as you do for the actual seeds?

Do you buy more seeds than you could ever sow in one season?

Do you only buy seeds to direct sow into the garden or do you end up with flats of seedlings in any window of the house with decent light?

Do you save your own seeds from year to year and exchange them with other seed savers?

Do you even buy seeds?

Do you have a fear of seeds? Some gardeners don’t try seeds, why not?

Do you understand seeds? I once bought seeds at a Walmart in January (Burpee Seeds) and the cashier asked me, “Do these really work? Yes, they do. “Isn’t it too cold to plant them now?” Well, yes, if you are planning to plant them outside. I don’t think this cashier grew up around anyone who gardened.

Do you list all your seeds on a spreadsheet, so you can sort the list by when you should sow them so you have a master seed plan of sorts?

Do you keep all the old seeds and seed packets from year to year, scattered about in various drawers, boxes, and baskets?

Do you determine germination percentage for old seed?

I suspect the answers to the above would tell us a lot about what type of gardener someone was.
I’ve got seeds on my mind, now that the holidays are past. I’ll be posting more on seeds in the coming weeks as I journey through seed catalogs, look for seeds to show up in the store, and decide which ones I will buy this year. And, I’ll answer these questions and more about my own seedy… um make that seed… habits.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: seeds

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Douglas says

    January 2, 2007 at 4:18 am

    I am much more of a perennial gardener myself, so I don’t deal with seeds very often. That said, I am a stats geek, so I could see myself doing nearly everything you listed in your post. I have been tracking the first bloom periods and dormancy for my current shrubs and bulbs to try and get a handle on what blooms when each year.

    What little seed purchases I make are usually an impulse buy at the home store or nursery, usually for something to please my wife. She hasn’t taken to the fact that our garden is mostly shade, so vegetables and herbs really aren’t going to work well, but we try in the brighter areas.

    You line about buying seeds in bulk reminded me of our yearly foray into the hardware store to get garden seeds. Just as you describe, they were scooped out of bins, weighed, placed in a small brown paper bag, with the name, weight and price scrawled on the outside. Of course, my grandmother always kept seed potatoes for the next year, so those were usually found in peck baskets or a wheelbarrow in the garage during the winter.

    All this talk of seeds has started me thinking, though. Hmmmmm…..

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    January 2, 2007 at 4:40 am

    I’m a seed trader and I trade on gardenweb, but I’m also a buyer. I’ll buy from any seed rack I can find. From the ones in Walmart to Martha Stewart. I can always find at least one thing I want to try.

    Except this year I won’t be buying from that guy that that sells at Target. 3-4 dollars for seeds that didn’t even come true.

    Won’t make that mistake again.

    Reply
  3. Colleen Vanderlinden says

    January 2, 2007 at 1:34 pm

    This is a fun post, Carol, and I look forward to hearing more about your seedy habits 🙂

    I love to grow from seed. I have a light setup in the basement for indoor sowing, and this year will be my first foray into winter sowing—I don’t have enough room under the lights or on my window sills for all the seeds I want to start. That said, I always start too many, and relatives end up with seedlings of annuals and vegetables, whether they want them or not. I get seeds wherever I can–seed exchanges, online, stores. Some purchases are well-planned, a good number are impulse buys. I love the potential, the rush of a new gardening season, the promise that this year my garden will be everything it is in my imagination.

    I loved this post. Hmmm. I may have to ruminate about seeds a little more over at ITGO 🙂

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    January 2, 2007 at 3:00 pm

    You gardeners get so inthused I’m a little jealous. However I feel the same about buying quilt fabric. If I see one I like I”ll buy it just incase I might need it one day for a quilt I haven’t even thought about making.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says

    January 2, 2007 at 3:43 pm

    Carol – What a great post! I’m surreptitiously reading at work, so I don’t have time for a good comment, but I think I’ll have to address this over at my own blog. This could start lots of threads!

    Reply
  6. Anita says

    January 2, 2007 at 3:56 pm

    Well, I guess I almost addicted to any kind of seeds. Since our garden is quite new (“founded” in spring 2005) sowing seeds was and still is the easiest and cheapest way to get it green and colourful. And it makes so much fun!

    What kind of a seed buyer I am? Okay, let me try to answer your questions:

    Well, I guess I have almost all seed catalogs from ALL German seeds companies, and even from French ones as well as the UK catalogue from T&M. I carefully read them, yes, but for me, there are more a kind of inspiration. Our brick and mortar or gardening stores offer quite a wide range of seeds over here so for 2007, one of my gardening resolutions is NOT to order any (very expensive) seeds from catalogues. Well, I hope I’ll accomplish that goal… ;-)))

    I have all kind of seeds: veggies, annuals and even perennials – even though the latter are more difficult to grow.

    Stratification and scarification? I do not really have a clue what you mean, to be honest.

    Do you buy more seeds than you could ever sow in one season? I am afraid, the answer is yes…

    In 2006, I started sowing the first seeds indoors in March, I guess, followed by sowing into the garden in May…

    Do you save your own seeds from year to year and exchange them with other seed savers? Oh yes, I LOVE this! I started my first seed exchanges in autumn last year, it makes so much fun!

    Oh, in 2006, I listed all my seeds in one folder and wrote down the date of sowing for each seed … Wait a second… let me check…. Ups, I just counted the lines: 97 entries! (I sowed some seeds twice or even tree times during the season). Furthermore, this folder includes a sheet for each different seed (and it’s empty package) I tried last year, in alphabetical order…

    Do you keep all the old seeds and seed packets from year to year, scattered about in various drawers, boxes, and baskets?

    Oh, I even printed my own seed packages (I used them for the swap). All I (still) need to do now is get myself organised with the swap seeds I received from fellow gardeners and the ones I collected from my own garden.

    No, I do not determine germination percentage for old seeds.

    Oh my good, I guess this was the longest comment I have ever written…. ;-))

    I really enjoyed your questions – so what do you think of me? What type of gardener am I? BTW, I intend to write at least one post about seeds on my blog very soon! And I’ll pass by your blog again as well, to learn more about your “seedy habits” (nice word).

    Reply
  7. Kathy says

    January 2, 2007 at 4:51 pm

    These are very good questions. I think I will answer them on my own blog, but probably not today. Today I hope to upgrade WordPress.

    Reply
  8. Unknown says

    January 2, 2007 at 10:45 pm

    Carol, like the others I think that I’ll just make a post to answer all of your questions–heaven knows I’m not a concise enough writer to keep my answers comment-sized rather than post-sized!

    I did drool over what I thought was your imagining of such a place where they scoop seeds out of bins and into handwritten packets, though… and then reading Douglas’s comment, I found out there really are such places. Utopia! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Carol Michel says

    January 2, 2007 at 10:53 pm

    All,
    I love that I am not alone in my love of seeds and seed sowing. I’m excited to read that some of you will be answering the questions on your own blogs. Please let me know when you have posted! I don’t want to miss your answers.

    I’ll also be posting again about seeds in a day or two, answering these questions and revealing my “seedy side”.

    Carol

    Reply
  10. OldRoses says

    January 3, 2007 at 2:56 am

    Carol, this is such a great post! I grow mainly from seed so I identify with a lot of your questions. I’m going to also do a post on this topic.

    Reply
  11. girlgroupgirl says

    January 3, 2007 at 10:31 pm

    I am a confessed seed-a-holic. I love this post. I grow as much as I possibly can, both here and at other places and teach seed starting in garden workshops. I think gardening with seeds has been the most satisfying aspect of gardening for me.
    Slowly I’ve learned to stop just trading for seeds willy-nilly and to sit down and organize everything, and create spread sheets. These are both helpful for seed sowing (I also use these as logs for seed starting with dates and germination rates) and seed buying.
    The whole seed buying “thing” is a balance. I write out lists of what I want from whom and cross reference for cost and postage costs trying to buy from as few seed houses as I can. I generally try to trade before I purchase.

    I save my own seeds and both trade them and sell them for a very low price in our Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin which is just the coolest place to find seeds.

    Since I winter sow (so yes, I sure do know what stratification is!!), the most frustrating part of “seeding” is having to wait until January to get so many seeds. I could sure use them in November sometimes!!

    I love your blog. Happy Seeding!

    girlgroupgirl

    Reply
  12. Anonymous says

    January 4, 2007 at 1:49 pm

    Hi Carol,

    I must admit, I am not a regular reader of your blog, but I noticed other people answering these questions. What a great idea! I’ve just posted my answers.

    Reply
  13. Anonymous says

    January 4, 2007 at 4:42 pm

    Carol:

    I posted about my own seedy side here: http://timberglade.typepad.com/outside/2007/01/seedy_questions.html

    What a great conversation you’ve started!

    Reply
  14. El says

    January 5, 2007 at 12:54 pm

    You’ve started something, whether you wanted to or not! Kathy asked me yesterday to answer your quiz. So I did, and posted it today. Have a great Friday, Carol.
    http://fastgrowtheweeds.blogspot.com/2007/01/seedy-questions_05.html

    Reply
  15. Ali says

    January 6, 2007 at 1:08 pm

    Carol, what a super post. In the blah days of non-winter here in Maine, I’m really enjoying reading your blog and all the comments from fellow addi –err gardeners. I’ll be posting about my seed habits on my blog, Henbogle, too!

    Reply
  16. Annie in Austin says

    January 6, 2007 at 6:33 pm

    Since you and Kathy from Cold Climate said you might be interested, I wrote a post on seeds on my garden blog, too – perfect subject for this first week of the New Year!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose
    [click on the highlighted Annie in Austin to get there]

    Reply
  17. Anonymous says

    January 8, 2007 at 1:53 am

    I’ve posted my answers at Zanthan Gardens. On this same topic, I enjoyed James Fenton’s book, A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seed.

    Reply
  18. Molly says

    January 11, 2007 at 6:33 am

    Great garden meme. I posted my answers at http://lifeontigermountain.blogspot.com

    Reply
  19. cyndy says

    January 13, 2007 at 12:17 pm

    Hi Carol-
    These were great questions, and I found them by way of Kathy at Cold Climate and linked backed to you.
    I answered them over at the riverrim blogspot!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,053)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT