Fall tomato transplants for gardeners in southern regions will be available this year from the Natural Gardening Company. Here are the details, from the company’s news release:

“In response to many customer requests for fall tomato transplants, the Natural Gardening Company will begin offering certified organic tomato transplants the week of Aug. 16, 2009.

These transplants will cater to the needs of gardeners in the most southern part of the United States. While most of the nation’s gardeners will be in the midst of the late summer/early fall harvest by the middle of August, southern gardeners, especially those in the Gulf States, have a fall planting season. Because this season is on a different schedule than the rest of the nation, sources of supply for tomato transplants are scarce.

Choosing from among its popular varieties, the Natural Gardening Company will offer a dozen varieties of tomato transplants, including early varieties, main crop varieties, cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes. The list includes the following:

• Big Beef
• Celebrity
• Costoluto Genovese
• Estiva
• Juliet
• Ramapo, the New Jersey Tomato
• San Marzano
• Stupice
• Sugar Snack
• Sun Gold
• Sun Sugar
• Zapotec

Plants are sold in groups of six, 12, 18 or additional multiples of six. Customers may mix varieties in any quantity as long as the total is divisible by six. The plants are delivered in 3-inch pots, ready to plant. Six tomato plants plus shipping costs $29.65. A dozen tomato plants plus shipping costs $49.95.

Gardeners may order the tomato seedlings through the Natural Gardening Company website, or by calling 707-766-9303.

Sometimes it can be quite difficult to locate a company that sells the particular variety of beans you've been wanting to grow or the odd garden tool you remember you used to love so much. Well, we can help. We have developed customized search engines that can make your life a little easier.

The Seed and Plant Finder 

Search the online catalogs of more than 500 mail-order seed companies. Just type in the variety you're looking for, and you'll get a list of links to the companies offering it.

Organic Pest Control and Garden Products Finder 

Search the websites of about 30 mail-order companies that carry the best selections of organic insecticides, tools and other products.

Chicken and Hatchery Finder

Quickly search the online catalogs of nearly 70 mail-order hatcheries to find rare or unusual chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas or geese using this unique tool. 

Sometimes it can be quite difficult to locate a company that sells the particular variety of beans you've been wanting to grow or the odd garden tool you remember you used to love so much. Well, we can help. We have developed two customized search engines that can make your life a little easier.

The Seed and Plant Finder 

Search the online catalogs of more than 500 mail-order seed companies. Just type in the variety you're looking for, and you'll get a list of links to the companies offering it.

Organic Pest Control and Garden Products Finder 

Search the Web sites of about 30 mail-order companies that carry the best selections of organic insecticides, tools and other products.

What if someone could come to your door to sell you organic gardening products and offer demonstrations the same way a make-up sales rep could bring a catalogue and a guide to applying mascara? The Happy Gardener is a three-year-old company that does just that. By giving demonstrations and lectures at community events and garden shows as well as private parties, Happy Gardener distributors do more than just push a product: they inform their customers about the benefits of organic gardening.

This month, the Happy Gardener is a part of the Forbes.com Boost Your Business Contest, which will award $100,000 to one deserving business to help it expand.

Mother Earth Living spoke with Annette Pelliccio, founder of the Happy Gardener, about her (pardon the pun) grass-roots approach to sustainable living and organic gardening education.

Q: The direct sales model of your business (like those used by Avon and the Pampered Chef) facilitates conversation and education between distributor and customer. Why is education so important in organic gardening?

A: Most Americans do not realize that the average product used to fertilize their lawn is detrimental to the groundwater, wild life and community around them. The average person still doesn't know about organic alternatives; why would you change and use something that's more Earth-friendly if you didn't know it was out there? Our distributors can offer that information to their customers.

Q: How can people already practicing organic gardening benefit from your company?

A: We supply people with easy and affordable organics. I've been an organic gardener for 15 years and I used to have to do a lot of mixing and measuring myself; our products eliminate that problem. We also offer instruction in birding and composting, it's not just pest control and gardening. In addition, we offer them a way to have a part-time or full-time career opportunity in a career they're already passionate about.

Q: Why is organic gardening important to you personally?

A: I've always had a big vegetable garden, fruit orchard and have grown herbs. When you have children and pets and you love gardening you really start to wonder about the effects of using conventional products on the food that you growing and, in turn, feeding your family.

The Happy Gardener would use their prize money to expand their customer service department, increase sales representative training, and register their products with OMRI (Organic Measures Research Institute) so that the whole product, not just the ingredients, can be certified organic. Click here to vote for Happy Gardener and help it reach the final round of the Forbes competition. Voting ends Aug. 31.