Best Seed Catalog??

[farmerlor]

Baker's prices are almost double for some of the seed (based on what they have listed online) vs what I'm getting...

That would be interesting, see what costs where. For instance - Amish Paste tomatoes are $2.50/25 seeds at Baker, $1.85/50 at E&R. Detroit Dark Red Beets are $1.75/250 seeds at Baker, $0.75/500 at E&R. I think that's what turned me from Baker once I got turned to E&R (though no one's heard of E&R, no website, darn those Amish).

One thing I've noticed though....because I AM a tomato addict: I bought Roma and Amish paste seeds from many, many different seed catalog sources and nursery seed displays and sometimes the fruit was tasteless, sometimes it was shaped differently, sometimes it didn't produce very much fruit at all. So I started narrowing down the companies I chose my seed from (after almost dropping Amish and Roma from my garden altogether) and found that Tomatofest (for one) sent me seed that consistently tasted better, produced more and was disease resistant. The Martino's Roma from Tomato fest will literally out-produce any tomato I've ever grown. You actually cannot see the plant because of all the fruit on it and the taste is so good you could use that puppy as a slicer on a good hamburger. No, I don't have any affiliation with Tomato fest or any of the other places that shamelessly tempt me into buying their seeds but I do know quality tomatoes and can see good breeding practices in the consistency of my planting (since I plant nearly a couple hundred tomato plants every year and sell my tomato babies) and I'm willing to pay for that quality and consistency.

 

[Denim Deb]

Can you send me a link for them? I grow a lot of tomatoes since I make my own tomato "gravy" as well as stewed tomatoes, salsa, etc.

 

[booker81]

Baker's prices are almost double for some of the seed (based on what they have listed online) vs what I'm getting...

That would be interesting, see what costs where. For instance - Amish Paste tomatoes are $2.50/25 seeds at Baker, $1.85/50 at E&R. Detroit Dark Red Beets are $1.75/250 seeds at Baker, $0.75/500 at E&R. I think that's what turned me from Baker once I got turned to E&R (though no one's heard of E&R, no website, darn those Amish).

One thing I've noticed though....because I AM a tomato addict: I bought Roma and Amish paste seeds from many, many different seed catalog sources and nursery seed displays and sometimes the fruit was tasteless, sometimes it was shaped differently, sometimes it didn't produce very much fruit at all. So I started narrowing down the companies I chose my seed from (after almost dropping Amish and Roma from my garden altogether) and found that Tomatofest (for one) sent me seed that consistently tasted better, produced more and was disease resistant. The Martino's Roma from Tomato fest will literally out-produce any tomato I've ever grown. You actually cannot see the plant because of all the fruit on it and the taste is so good you could use that puppy as a slicer on a good hamburger. No, I don't have any affiliation with Tomato fest or any of the other places that shamelessly tempt me into buying their seeds but I do know quality tomatoes and can see good breeding practices in the consistency of my planting (since I plant nearly a couple hundred tomato plants every year and sell my tomato babies) and I'm willing to pay for that quality and consistency.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not strictly putting quantity before quality. I've quit tomatoes completely before because everything in the nurseries here tastes like watery mush. I can't remember where I heard of these guys, but I gave it a whirl, and was thrilled with what I got. Huge yield, easy care, great flavor, excellent canning and eating.

I also like that for folks like me who are tomato seedling murderers, I can buy started plants for $0.65 or less, and have them shipped here for cheaper than I can buy from a nursery. I also like their germination rates for any seed I buy (which hit home this last year - I bought seeds from the nursery, never again. What a disappointment )

They also have large discounted bulk prices. All no GMO.

Of course, I've never heard of TomatoFest before this, so now I have to check them out That's what I like about forums - you can spread the word on good companies without depending on their advertising (or lack thereof) to make sure good things are available and folks know about them.

 

[farmerlor]

Can you send me a link for them? I grow a lot of tomatoes since I make my own tomato "gravy" as well as stewed tomatoes, salsa, etc.

http://www.tomatofest.com/

 

[me&thegals]

Thanks, farmerlor!!

I often use Seed Saver's Exchange and Johnny's.

 

[yourbadd]

Thanks everyone!! I am now well armed to plan my garden and get all my supplies ready.

Now to see someone about this single digit weather we've been having. I'm ready to start my garden!!

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

heirloomseeds.com
haven't ordered fom them before. i'm getting like 95% of my seed from them this year though becuase it's all heirloom and/or organic and they have almost all the herbs i want.

 

[Denim Deb]

Thanks. I'll have to check that out soon.

 

[ThisIsFun]

I looked at tomatofest.com website after reading this thread, and the tomatoes sure do look great - I put a bunch on my wishlist. But the only thing is, you have to order $15 worth. That's a whole lot of tomato seeds, hardly seems worth it. Am I missing something here? I just can't see spending that much $$ on just one type of garden seed?

 

[chandasue]

Here's where I order my seeds from:

http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://www.victoryseeds.com/

I like the variety that Seed Savers Exchange has but I get better germination from my Victory Heirloom seeds. So I get some from each.