Mail Order Seeds Getting a Bit Expensive

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Mail Order Seeds, Plus Postage, Getting to be a Bit Expensive
This was the first year I didn't order very many of my seeds through mail order although I still seem to get a lot of catalogs and always enjoy skimming through their pages to see what's offered. But as I skimmed the pages this year, and zeroed in on some of the prices for seeds, and then figured in the price of shipping and handling, I lost my appetite for the whole process. The reason, cost.

For example: there was a variety of watermelon in one catalog that sold 10 seeds for $7.25. Ten seeds, at about 72 cents each. Thank goodness I don't crave watermelon. And if the company thinks I'm going to buy some of the plants offered, I'm afraid I have to say, "No thank you," again. There were three hybrid tomato plants at $12.50. That's $4.16 per plant, not including the shipping. Certainly not all tomato cultivars are created equal. But are those plants really worth that price? Not to me. And if times are as tough as the newspapers, websites and television commentators have suggested over the past year or two - who the heck buys these things and why? Is the flavor so great that you can't live without it or is it the idea that you're growing something your neighbor isn't? My neighbors don't garden and all I want from a tomato is that it grows and actually has genuine tomato flavor.

This year I placed two orders from catalog companies, on-line, at their websites. When postage and handling was added, one order cost an additional 15 percent and the other was a whopping 25 percent because of the weight of the product. The additional postage and handling cost can really mount up if you order from several different vendors. So, if you can get the products locally, sales tax doesn't sound so bad at eight percent.

I'm not sure I even need that catalog if the company has a terrific website, that's simple to navigate, and easy and safe to use when ordering. Yes, many gardeners like to hold that catalog and thumb through the pages on a cold winter's night curled up next to a fire sipping a hot chocolate. (I put a gas log in my fireplace so as not to pollute with burning wood and found that the cost of gas can mount up quickly when it's heating up the chimney. Now my sitting next to the fire is limited to maybe once or twice a year and I'm actually all right with that because I'm grateful I can still afford the hot chocolate.)

The point is, I don't really need the seed and plant catalog any more. And certainly some of the companies are not sending quite as many as they used to because they want and need to cut costs as well. They save money and the U.S. Postal Service loses money because they aren't delivering as many catalogs. As always, if there is a winner, then there's bound to be a loser.

A few years back a small company that had a seed catalog sent me a letter to say there would be no more catalogs. If I wanted to purchase seeds, I'd have to go to their website. That was okay with me and they did sell a particular basil seed I planted every spring. I bookmarked the site on my computer, and never went back because I found the same basil in another catalog. A year or so later, that company started sending out catalogs again. Guess people didn't visit their site unless they had something to look at in a catalog.

And please don't even get me started with the seed companies that put you on their email list and start sending you notices until you opt out of the mailing. I shouldn't have to opt out, I should have to opt in. Please don't assume I want to hear from a retailer every couple of weeks about a sale they're having.

Yes, I'm still going to order seeds on-line from mail order catalogs. I have to, if there is a specific cultivar that's not sold locally. But I'm no longer going to place several orders from different vendors. It'll be one or two orders combining as much as I can from a single vendor so the postage and handling doesn't put a crimp in my gardening budget.

It'll be interesting to see if the catalogs stop coming from all the vendors I don't use. I've noticed some of the catalogs do stop after a year or two of not ordering, which is fine by me. I'm sure I can find them on-line if I really need a gardening product I think I can't live without.

Most of my seed purchases for the coming year came off the freshly stocked seed racks at Home Depot and Lowe's. They weren't newly introduced cultivars but more along the line of an old reliable. They had worked for me in the past and they'd work for me again. My plant and seed catalogs have been sitting on a shelf for a month or two where they'll probably gather dust for another ten months until new ones arrive to replace them. Then the dust covered ones will be placed in the recycle bin and I'll have to decide where I'm going to purchase my seed for 2011's gardening projects.

If I had more gardening space I might grow only the heirlooms where I could let the plants fully mature and go to seed. Then I could collect the seeds for next year's plantings. I don't grow my plants that long. But if overall seed pricing continues to increase along with the cost of water and soil amendments I might have to start collecting seed or maybe trading with someone that does. Or, I could give up gardening, but I'm not quite ready for that. (2010)

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