We had a family of five, and my mom kept a very large garden, so I had been exposed to the cycle of pick varieties - plant - grow - harvest - preserve from an early age. I dreamed of the day when I would have a garden of my own, and get to choose my own cultivars. So many tomatoes. Purple carrots, wild! Potatoes come in purple, too! It was a long wait to adulthood. And then I spent ages living in a second-floor apartment, with nowhere to put anything in the ground. A sad cherry tomato, one pepper plant, and some herbs were all I could get to grow off the edge of my balcony.
in late 2020, my husband and I bought our house on several acres of land. 2021 was going to be THE YEAR. Before we had even closed, I was compiling a list of everywhere I could find that would send a free seed catalog. (I actually ordered most of them to the new address about a week before our closing date.) I wanted to recreate that childhood experience, but 100-fold! I know these days it's all available online, and most companies have even greater selection on their website than what is in their print catalogs. Some companies no longer even offer paper catalogs. (The environment is important, I get it.) But there's something so satisfying about sitting down in front of the fire on a cold winter day and flipping through glossy pictures of possibility. I had long since plotted out my future garden - I knew how many plants I needed of each vegetable and where I was going to put them. I just needed to choose my varieties. I spent weeks excitedly checking the mailbox for new seed catalogs, then slow-flipping through each one to see what each company was offering this year.
Here's a list of 50 seed companies and nurseries I found that offered free catalogs. I've highlighted the ones I felt were can't miss. I'll check these out every year. Several of the others had good offerings, and I ordered from some of them, but I may stick to online in future years. I didn't feel like the catalogs themselves had as much to offer.
Annie's Heirloom Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Bluestone Perennials
Botanical Interests
Breck's
Burgess
Burnt Ridge Nursery & Orchards
Burpee
Burrell Seed Growers
David Austin Roses
Dutch Gardens
Farmer Seed & Nursery
Fedco Seeds
Filaree Garlic Farm
forestfarm at Pacifica
Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co
Harris Seeds
High Mowing Organic Seeds
Honeycreek Nurseries
Hudson Valley Seed Co
John Scheepers
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Jung Seed
Kitazawa Seed Co
Maine Potato Lady
McClure & Zimmerman
Netherland Bulb Company
One Green World
Park Seed
Pinetree Garden Seeds
Prairie Moon Nursery
Rohrer Seeds
Seed Savers Exchange
Seeds from Italy
SeedsNSuch
Select Seeds
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Sow True Seed
Spring Hill Nursery
Territorial Seed Company
Tomato Growers Supply Company
Totally Tomatoes
Turtle Tree Seed
Twilley Seeds
Urban Farmer
Vermont Bean Seed Company
Wayside Gardens
White Flower Farm
Wildseed Farms
Wood Prairie Family Farm
