A packet of seed today . . . a bountiful harvest
tomorrow.
About the only way most ardent gardeners manage to get
through the winter months—when most of last year's
carefully tended beds are buried in snow or mired in
mud—is by curling up with a bunch of garden seed catalogs
and dreaming about the coming spring's bigger and better
gardens. The whole family gathers around the supper table
and oohs and ahhs over the glossy pictures of early carrots
dug young and sweet, and shining greens fairly singing with
life from the stack of pristine garden seed catalogs received.
The backyard grower, thank goodness, can raise tomatoes
that practically ooze with flavor . . . melons perfectly
suited to an area's climatic quirks . . . succulent foods
that don't even exist in supermarkets . . . and even such
exotics as red carrots and blue potatoes! And, surely, half
the pleasure provided by such flavor-packed, site-specific,
and unusual varieties is the self-satisfaction that comes
with discovering them.
So, to ease your pregarden doldrums, we've prepared a list
of the major seed companies that supply garden seed catalogs. Then, for
good measure, we've added the names of some less well known
companies. Write to any of the firms in the list (don't forget to add the charge for postage if one is
indicated), and you'll receive a veritable book of dreams. (See the 1987 list of garden seed catalogs in the image gallery).
Then, once you've finished going through your catalogs
collection and laying out the umpteenth possible plan for
your 1987 garden, it'll be nigh onto planting time!