Preparing for garden season: Seed catalogs 101

SALT LAKE CITY — It might be the beginning of a new year, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be time to prepare for your summer garden.

During the latest KSL Greenhouse Show, hosts Taun Beddes and Maria Shilaos shared tips on ordering from seed catalogs to prepare for garden season.

 

Where to start

Beddes advised listeners during the podcast episode to start by planning what they want to grow in their garden and don’t order too many seeds.

“You can get suggestions from the seed catalogs, but you don’t want to go in and just go crazy because it looks pretty, it sounds fun,” Beddes said. “Because you can easily buy too many seeds.”

When ordering seeds, Beddes said if you are planting a larger garden with 15 tomatoes, order the smallest amount of seeds possible. He also added to plant 10 to 20% more than is needed because not all of the seeds will germinate.

“That usually gets you enough to plant into your garden,” Beddes said.

“There’s so many seed companies…”

So, you have a plan set on what you are growing, how many seeds you need and now you just need to actually order the seeds… but what company should you go to?

“There’s so many seed companies,” Beddes said. “I know that I order too much because probably 90% of my emails that I get on a daily basis are from six or seven different seed companies.”

Shilaos said she ordered some special cucumber seeds from Park Seed. Beddes said he also gets a lot of miniature tomatoes from Park Seed.

Beddes advised listeners to stay away from eBay and Amazon.

“A lot of the seed people on eBay and Amazon, especially Amazon, have really low ratings,” Beddes said. “There are a few that are fine. Like, I’ve ordered [peanut seeds] off of Amazon and been just fine there.”

If a person is brand new to seed catalogs and wants to grow vegetables Beddes said Burpees, Gurney’s, Totally Tomatoes, and Johnny’s Selected Seeds are good to order from.

Park Seed, Harris Seeds, Territorial, Ball Seed, and True Leaf are also good companies to order from. Looking for something local? Beddes mentioned how True Leaf is located in Salt Lake City.

Looking to grow vegetables? Johnny’s Selected Seeds only does vegetables. Beddes said the company is intended for commercial production, so they’re usually very productive. Even though they sell to the general public, it’s intended more towards the serious producers as well.

With so many seed catalogs out there, Shilaos and Beddes said to look up good companies to order from online. They advised you to make sure to read reviews and do your research to see if the company fits your needs.