2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

Just arrived in the old mail box: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog.

I'll have my first order in by January 1st, with a follow-up in mid-February.

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

Pros, Oh boy, I hope this isn't the seed co. with all the happy family in western attire in the catalog...from MO. or ARK,??
If so just a heads up because there was a lot of negative reveiws of some of their seed's viability and even complaints of insect contamination in the seed packs.
I hope I'm wrong and you have a bountiful garden this year.

A side note...I've ordered from some very good seed companies, but last year some of my best production was from bulk seed green beans from the hardware store and cheapo "off the rack seeds" , summer squash, cucumbers.
I understand the heirloom idea and use it for some garden plants and next year's production.
Good luck

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

They are in MO, but don't know if that is the same company you are speaking of. You have a link to such negative reviews?

I've never had a problem with their seeds and I've grown quite a few varities. Some friends of mine know the guy that started it (IIRC started it up when he was around 18). He is really serious about keeping the seedlines uncontaminated from GMO crops and tests the seeds for viability regularly.
This is the site: http://rareseeds.com/

I would be interested in reading those reviews you speak of.

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

This is where I got my seeds from. I started my garden late because I didn't get my raised beds built and set up on time. Even with the late start I had several successes.

Cherry tomatoes. Two plants grew. Not only did they grow, they took over the entire 4x8 foot bed. They also grew up the side of the house, over the wire screen to the adjacent beds too. It was mind blowing and I couldn't imagine what these plants would have done had I started them on time! The tomatoes were awsome!

Snow peas. They grew quick and produced tons of pods full of thick, green peas. A wind storm came through and trashed them, but I got a lot out of them.

Congo watermelon. I never grew watermelon before and was told that it was impossible by several people. I ended up with 7 30+ pound watermelons. Two were ripe, the others weren't ready. (started them too late). I fought rust almost the entire time. I did my best to remove any affected leaves as soon as I spotted it. It seemed like the plant could grow faster than the rust could spread.

Asparagus. It'll take a few years before they're ready, so not much to report.

Dill. Holy dill batman. If you plant this dill, make sure you never move it. I harvested what I wanted and let the rest go to seed. I then harvested the seeds. As careful as I was, seed went everywhere. It's good to have a dill spot, so any seed that drops to the dirt will regrow in the same spot. The dill was big and wonderful

Parsley. This stuff took a while to reach it's full potential. Ended up growing quite large. Very flavorful.

All in all, it was very successful. The rust on the watermelon was frustrating, but it survived. I used zero pesticides, chemicals, etc. Only water and my hands. Lots of good insects and animals moved in and around the garden and helped take care of it. It was a great experience and I can't wait for next spring!

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

I have no links for the negative reports about Baker Creek seeds.
The info was from some homesteading/gardening websites.
The info I had was 2 seasons ago, so perhaps they have improved.
Good to know you folks had a productive growing season with the seeds from Baker Creek, and I hope the same for this coming season.
Good luck

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

I bought one of the large variety packs of "cold climate" seeds from them (the other option was warm climate). I had good success with some of the seeds, and poor success with others. I am an experienced gardner and all seeds were treated equally to fine soil, regular water, organic fertilizer, etc.

A lot of seeds had poor germination, some varieties of carrots were almost inedible (at least compared to my favourite Nantes style of carrots), and some plants grew poorly.

On the other hand, the cabbages were excellent, the squashes were phenomenal (won 1st place in the fall fair), the beets were prolific, etc.

I believe they get seeds from many sources, and they don'[t have the resources to field test them all, so some are really good, and others are poor to mediocre.

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

I just glanced at their online catalog.
Is the price shown per seed or per pack of seeds?
Tomato seeds are what I was looking at and 2.00 a seed I don't need....:15_1_70v:

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

Yes it is per pack. :) And it says on the page how many per pack. Although from my experience they do tend to put more in the pack then it says, so that is really just a minimum.

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

Thanks Specs. That's what I thought but I didn't see the amount of seeds on the online catalog.
:15_1_70v:

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

Mojo, you'll have more seeds in that $2.00 pack than you'll be able to use! (Unless you have one helluva garden)

That's good to know. My carrots (which they threw in for free) sucked! They tasted awful. I'm not an experienced gardener, so I figured I had the wrong soil or something. The onions didn't do very well either. Maybe got to the size of a large marble. (smelled good though and still used some in cooking). The various pepper plants failed due to my rabbit getting into the garden. On the plus side, the Georgia Collards were absolutely huge!!

Re: 2010 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog
 

I looked at the site again and the tomato I looked at was the only
one without the seed quantity on the page.....:banghead:
guess I should shop more before I ask questions....
Thanks for the replies.... I think I'll give them a try.