Baker Creek Catalog

14 years ago

I just got this for the first time and am amazed. I can't wait to look through it. What fabulous pictures....know what I will be doing this afternoon.

I hate it that I have already received my seeds from them; should have waited.

glenda

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Comments (19)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
Glenda,

Lucky you. I love their catalog and love the color photos. I think I found Baker Creek when it was 2 or 3 or 4 years old and the catalog was much smaller then. It has been amazingly fun to watch them grow bigger and better year in and year out.

I probably order from them about 4 times a year and, with each order, I am sure I have all that I need but that doesn't stop me from ordering more seeds a few months later.

I certainly don't need any more seeds. I probably have enough just from the forum seed swap to last me 3 or 4 years, but you know that I won't let that stop me from ordering some more from them at some point.

I also subscribe to their magazine and enjoy it very much, and I've linked the current issue (with Sasha Gettle on the cover) below so that those forum members who like growing heirloom plants can check it out.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Current Issue of The Heirloom Gardener
helenh
14 years ago
I got my catalog today also. It is beautiful. It makes me want to order melons and I don't have enough water in summer for anything more than I grow now. I think I will order something just to support their effort. The silver beets look very pretty and moon and stars watermelons are tempting.
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Carol, I always have transplants standing by to a certain extent even if I just started them in small paper cups a week or two before I intend to transplant them. How old the transplants are will vary. I usually keep a few tomato and pepper transplants in 1 gallon pots on the patio where they get morning sun/afternoon shade well into June or early July so I can plop them into the ground to replace a plant that dies. If nothing dies, I'll eventually toss the unused 'backup' plants onto the compost pile. In a rainier year, they may send roots down into the compost pile and grow there, but since the compost pile is not fenced off from the wild animals, a deer or rabbit or something usually will eat them within a few weeks. For follow-on or succession crops, how I prepare succession plantings will vary, depending on which kind of vegetable we're talking about. For example, I often plant southern peas to replace broccoli and cabbage when they're done. So, when I see the little broccoli heads just starting to size up, I'll sow southern pea seeds in tiny bathroom-sized paper cups with the bottoms cut out of them. Then, when it is broccoli harvest time, I harvest the heads, pull up the plants (normally I don't leave them for sideshooting because I'm eager to get the new crop into the ground) in the morning and then in the cool evening hours, I'll transplant the southern peas, cups and all, into the garden and water them well. Then they have a little time overnight to adjust to being transplanted, but since I have transplanted them in their bottomless paper cups, there's rarely any transplant shock at all. It is not essential, obviously to start the seeds in cups as opposed to direct sowing, but I do it for two reasons. First, to get the succession crop to produce earlier a bit earlier. (Remember that everything I do is aimed at maximizing the harvest we get from our garden.) The plants from cups are a week old most of the time when I set them out. Secondly, to ensure no wasted space. If I sow seeds, I may have an empty spot here and there where seed didn't sprout. When I transplant young seedlings, there are no empty spots. It can drive my friends and neighbors crazy when they stop by one day and see a raised bed full of young pea plants that only yesterday had huge broccoli plants. I, however, love those fast transitions. For a long time, I assumed I was a garden wierdo (and maybe I am) because I preferred to start every followon crop in cups and transplant immediately after yanking out the previous crop. However, I then learned that some serious biointensive gardeners use a similar method--starting every single thing they grow from transplants and direct seeding virtually nothing for the same reasons I do...maximizing harvest and productivity, and then I didn't feel like such a weirdo any more. That's one way I succession plant, but there's another method that works really well too and that is to plant sprawling, rambling warm-season plants close to early season plants. You might be putting those sprawling plants into the ground in April or May when the cool-season crop was planted in February or March. Then, after the early cool-season plants are harvested, the warm-season plant that was planted much later will quickly spread and take over the recently-made-available space. For example, I might plant Seminole pumpkin near the potato bed. It will be starting to ramble and roam and move close to the potato bed, and then after I dig the potatoes, it will take over that area. Or, I might plant Sugar Baby watermelon in May somewhat close to the carrots that were planted in March. Once the carrots are harvested in June, Sugar Baby rapidly takes over the space they formerly occupied. Most years, this works out really well. It may seem peculiar to some folks to start carrot seeds inside and transplant them outside, but it guarantees me a carrot crop instead of having to spend 2, 3 or 4 weeks to wait and see how well the carrots do (or do not) sprout in any given year. Some years, usually either in a drought year when soil is exceptionally dry or in an exceptionally wet, rainy year, I start carrots inside and other years when the weather is right in the middle--not too dry and not too wet--I direct sow them outside. If I am direct sowing carrots, I prefer to use homemade seed tapes made during the cold winter months, so sowing the carrot seeds outdoors takes only a few minutes and their spacing is pretty good other than maybe an occasional gap in a row where a seed didn't germinate. A Three Sisters garden is another form of succession planting where you can harvest 3 crops at 3 different times from one bed. I plant the corn first and let it get at least knee-high before I plant beans that will climb the beanstalks later. These beans need to be direct-seeded because I don't want to disturb the roots of the previously planted corn plants by using a trowel to dig a hole large enough to transplant beans started in cups. If it is an early corn with short stalks like Early Sunglow, I plant half-runners that won't overwhelm the stalks when they start climbing. A much taller corn can handle a bean that is more of a rampant grower. I will plant pumpkins and winter squash a couple of weeks later (it depends on soil temps) around the perimeter of the corn and bean planting. They'll ramble and roam and eventually spread all over that area. The corn is normally harvested first. Then, later on, it will be the green beans that are harvested and, when harvesting them, I have to be careful that I don't step on the pumpkins vines and crush them. Eventually, the beans are pretty much done and the pumpkins or winter squash are getting quite large and I'll harvest them last. That's a way to get at least three crops from the space generally devoted to one crop. I think I have grown virtually every single crop you can grow from seed in paper cups, except for carrots, turnips, radishes and beets. I have started carrots inside in the cardboard tubes from paper towels, wrapping paper, and toilet paper. I save all those cardboard tubes, cut the larger ones down to the same size as the ones from toilet paper, line them up in a seed flat, fill them with a soil-less seed starting mix, plant the carrot seets, and transplant them out into the garden within a week of the carrots sprouting. Carrot seeds will sprout much more quickly for me indoors in warmer temps under lights than they do outdoors, and if we have one hard rain while I'm waiting for the carrot seeds to sprout outside in my sloping garden, there won't be any carrots because a hard rain will wash the seeds out of the garden and down into the bar ditch or the woods. In order for carrots sprouted indoors to do well, though, you must transplant them outside almost the minute they sprout. They get really long really fast so you can't keep them inside more than a very few days after they sprout or they'll grow out of the bottom of the cardboard tubes. Another way I speed up the succession planting process is to pre-sprout seeds indoors in wet paper towels or coffee filters, and then transfer those pre-sprouted seeds directly into the ground where they are to grow. So, I'm still direct seeding them, but with the pre-sprouted seeds, the plants will pop up out of the ground in a day or two instead of in a week or two, and there won't be any gaps in a row where seeds didn't sprout, because I discard seeds that didn't sprout and only plant the sprouted ones. I even use presprouting for seeds I'm starting in flats on the light shelf sometimes, although that's more common in a year with few fires. In a year with lots of fires, I'm gone too mcuh to pre-sprout and just throw the seeds in the flat, put them on the light shelf, and try to remember to check them every morning and evening to see if they need watered. I use all kinds of tricks like that to make my garden as productive as possible. When people say they cannot understand how I can fill up a root cellar, 2 or 3 freezers and hundreds of canning jars from a garden "only" the size of mine, I think to myself that if they lived here with me for one gardening year and saw all the extra effort I put into keeping every square inch planted and producing something, then they'd understand how it is possible to get such large yields. I hate, hate, hate "wasted space" in the garden and do everything I can to avoid having any land sit idle for any period of time during the gardening season. Dawn
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soonergrandmom
14 years ago
I am anxious to get my catalog, but I HOPE I don't see something that I need to order since I have already bought about 100 packs from their store this year. At least now I can look at the pictures and see what I really bought. LOL
gldno1
Original Author
14 years ago
I spent a very enjoyable evening reading the catalog which is one of the best I have ever seen!

I just may have to order the Seminole Pumpkin!

The one thing they aren't strong in is OP corn. I have found another source that I may try for the Reid's Yellow Dent, New Hope Seed Co.

Helen, I planted golden beets last year and threw them on the compost......didn't like them at all so now I am gun shy of anything other than red.
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
Glenda,

Another sources for Reid's Yellow Dent corn is Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, one of my favorite sources for heirloom (and a few hybrid) varieties that perform well in southern climates.

They just updated their website with their 2010 varieties this week, and I'm going to start another thread to alert everyone to that fact.

Dawn
ilene_in_neok
14 years ago
I had been watching their site because there were several things I wanted but had been unable to order because they were out of stock for 2009 seed. I ordered seeds off their website on November 24. They had the new seeds posted and my credit card was charged for the amount of my seeds immediately.

I almost forgot that I had placed the order, because I didn't get a confirmation e-mail from them.

Two weeks later, not having received the seeds or any e-mails, but seeing the charge on my credit card bill, I sent them an e-mail asking if they had been sent.

I got an e-mail back saying they were busy packing new seeds and getting the website updated, and that the new confirmation system wasn't working for some folks.

I responded that this was understandable and that I wasn't mad or anything, but I felt like they shouldn't charge a person's credit card till they were about ready to send the seed.

Their reply said they had been working extra shifts trying to get everything done.

I got my seeds yesterday, with a note and $2 cash refunding one package of seed I ordered that they weren't able to fill.

So I'm a little disappointed in their service after waiting three weeks to get my order. I hope this will turn out to be just an isolated incident, as otherwise I've been pleased with them.
elkwc
14 years ago
When they or any other seed/gardening retailer adds Illene's all terrain heavy duty crocs to their gatden accessories products I will then consider them a trend setting company with everything needed for successful, fun and entertaining gardening. Jay
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
Ilene,

I do cut SESE a lot of slack at this time of year because they are a small employee-owned type company and do a whole lot of the work themselves, such as the seed-packing, etc.

During the rest of the year when they are not involved in the annual changeover, they are very efficient. I usually get my orders within a week of placing an order and sometimes in just 3-4 days.

I've been watching the website for weeks, but I don't order from them (or anyone else) at this time of year until the 'official' announcement pops up that they've updated and are ready for the new year. I've found that almost everyone is slower to ship in November/December because they are so swamped with the changeover. Sometimes if you order too early, they don't even have the seeds yet because they've posted the update before the seeds have actually arrived and been repacked.

Another favorite seed supplier, Victory Seeds, is very slow to update in late fall/early winter for the next year too because they are busy conducting germination tests, packing seeds, updating the website, etc. For a couple of weeks now, they've had the heading up that reads "NEW FOR 2010", but when you click on it to see what's new, there is nothing there yet. That's pretty much how it is every year. I think last year they didn't have all the new stuff listed until sometime in January. The waiting drives me nuts, but I tolerate it because the rest of the year these companies are so good and their seed quality is so high.

By the way, others that are updated for 2010 include Renee's Garden Seeds (I ordered the Musica bean variety from her), Seeds From Italy (growitalian.com) from whom I ordered Garafal Oro bean and an interesting winter squash mix, and Nichols Garden Nursery (haven't ordered from them yet, but they have a gorgeous new morning glory I've never seen before).

In December, most folks are watching Christmas specials on TV or college bowl games and playoff games. Me? I'm watching seed company websites.

Jay, Shhhh! We don't want for the whole world to find out about all-terrain crocs because then they'll be hard to find. They are our little secret here on this forum.

Dawn
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
Ilene,

I guess you meant Baker Creek and I had SESE on the brain? Sorry.

I ordered from Baker Creek a few weeks ago when they put up the 'new shopping cart' but there was a notice there (or somewhere) that stuff ordered from the new cart wouldn't ship until mid-December so I wasn't worried about that stuff.

One thing about ordering now, though, is that we are beating the rush. I remember how frustrated many people were last year when seed orders soared by about 30% and all the seed companies were slow to fill orders from about late January onward. That's one reason I've been quicker to order this winter, unless I'm waiting for a specific variety to be posted. I want to be sure I get what I want.

Johnny's is driving me nuts. They are having trouble with the 2010 update and I've looked at the 2009 catalog repeatedly but won't order until they update for 2010 because there are a couple of varieties I am expecting to see there. There's nothing I hate more than to order before an update, and then have one or two things pop up on the update.....because there's no way I'll just order 1 or 2 and pay postage again.

Dawn
mulberryknob
14 years ago
Got my Baker's catalog yesterday and am wondering if anyone has grown the Litchi Tomato. I already ordered off the website and then in Mother Earth News read the article on Litchi T. I wonder how they would do in our heat and humidity.

Last year I raised African Horned Melon, which we ate a couple of green, then when George and Jerreth were here they said they can be used to juice when they are orange. Wish I had known as I threw a bunch on the compost pile because they were just too spiny to hold to peel. But I could have easily thrown them in the juicer or food processer. So much to learn.

Anybody here raise any other exotic plants from Baker's? I thought the little yellow cucumber from India was the best I had ever tasted and fairly productive. But was disappointed in the Michili Chinese Cabbage. Too loose leaf and too late to mature. I planted another one that was early and very compact, almost round. And now I can't remember the name or where I got it. Threw the pkg away as used all the seeds. I've just GOT to learn to keep better records, since my memory is not what it used to be.
p_mac
14 years ago
oh dear....I got on here to post that we got ours today ..seems you all are ahead of me! Haven't been able to get DH away from it! He called me at work to tell me we got it and started reciting all he had found. I had to remind him I was at work and it wasn't nice to distract me that way!

Several of the goodies I got in the Seed Swap were featured in here! Of course, there are going to be just a few things I'll have to order....I've been reading this forum long enough that I've got a whole list of stuff I want to try!

Also, I'm hooked on Owiebrain's and Ilene's blogs. I find myself checking in on them almost as much as I do here! Owiebrain had a great peice on a small town Christmas parade this last week. And Ilene - I absolutely LOVED your favorite things! I too have an old tried-n-true sewing machine that's older than my kids. I also own a newer fancier Singer....but my old Kenmore can't be beat! It's still in the cabinet I bought at the same time.

Can't wait for our Spring Swap!!!! Which works better for everyone else? the 17th or the 24th of April? No rush on an answer. We still have several months. Either would work for us. Just want you all to know we're still planning on being the "host" site!

Paula
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
Dorothy,

I haven't seen Tulsa Brian here online in months, but he grew Litchi this year and it did well for him. He told me he wasn't impressed with the flavor though and found it really bland.

I haven't tried any of their exotic fruits yet. I'd love to do it if I had room/good soil for that kind of experimentation.

One of my favorite non-edibles that they carry (although, years ago, I first bought it from SSE or someone else before Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds existed) is Queen Anne's Pocket Melon, aka Plum Granny. I like to grow it on the garden fence. You grow these for their delicious aroma which perfumes the garden. Sadly, the melons themselves don't have much flavor, but you can't beat the scent.

Paula,

It sounds like your DH has garden seed fever now. They should put a warning on the catalog cover that says something like "CAUTION: You will not have the space to grow everything we sell".

For the swap, either weekend is fine for us. We're looking forward to it, and y'all are so sweet to host it.

Dawn
ilene_in_neok
14 years ago
Well, that was the reason why I ordered as quick as the website would let me, because last year I missed out on several things I wanted because they already were sold out.

And I don't have a problem with waiting so long after I order to get the seed, it's just that I don't think they ought to charge my credit card for it till they're closer to ready to send out the seed. That's all.

Paula, I'm glad you come to Diane's and my blogs. They're fun to write, but since it seems like it takes the better part of a day, off and on, to write one, and then it's so durn long before I've said all I had to say on the matter (I'm such a blabbermouth) that I wonder sometimes if anybody but Diane sees it all the way to the end.

I enjoy Diane's blogs a lot. She writes a lot different than me. Mostly pictures - short and to the point. But I've enjoyed seeing how she and her family do things. Her kids are so cute.

I got my Baker Creek catalog and gosh, it is a beautiful thing. The pictures are worthy of a coffee table book. But I wish they'd had pictures of everything instead of just certain things, because I like to see what everythng looks like. Plus I'm looking for something that I know by sight but I don't know what it's called. I think it might be zucchino rampicante, but that was the item that they didn't have in stock and sent my money back on, so I will not find out this year. It was something my mother used to grow, that she called an "okra squash". It was a long vine. It tasted like squash and looked like an okra pod. Some have said it might be cucuzzi and I've got some of that to plant, but the seeds don't look like what I remember, and I don't remember that they ever got that large, even when she left some on the vine to make seed.

Jay, I guess y'all will recognize me right off, if I'm able to make the spring swap as planned, but you'll be looking at FEET instead of FACES! LOL
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
Ilene,

I don't know how you find time to blog. How do we find your blog?

I wish Baker Creek had photos of everything too, but that's probably cost-prohibitive these days. I wish they'd at least have photos of each variety on the website if not in the catalog.

I remember when we 'hunted down' cucuzzi, thinking that might be the plant your mother grew. If you really want to grow Tromba d'Albenga this year, Seeds From Italy has it among the Franchi-Simenti seeds they carry. I'll link it below. Maybe the image on the seed packet will look familiar (or, maybe not). There's nothing harder than trying to find a variety that resembles something you remember from the past. I had that problem when I started looking for Devil's Claw....probably because my dad called them Spanish Fort Mosquitoes and no one else calls them that. LOL

Jay may be in trouble figuring out who is who if all of us show up wearing crocs. (And wouldn't that be funny!)

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Tromba d 'Albenga
carsons_mimi
14 years ago
I've already put the heavy duty ATV's on my Christmas list... he he
soonergrandmom
14 years ago
Ilene, I don't think that is what you are looking for. That squash is more like zuchinni. The neck has NO seeds at all and only the bulb contains the seed. When pulled young you can't see any seeds at all in the entire squash. The flesh is very firm and is a buttery yellow color although the rind is light green. I had three plants in one huge tub and that provided all we could eat. I also made 11 quarts of squash pickles using my extras and a few yellow squash. It is perfect for squash pickles because it is uniform size all the way down the length of the neck of the squash, much like a cucumber.

The vine is huge. It went up a 5 foot tomato cage, then down again, and across the yard about 15 feet in each direction. It was already a couple of feet above ground level.

I found one squash bug on it and the next day found a few clusters of eggs which I destroyed. Nothing else bothered it all year. The early squash were a little slow to pollinate, but they are so obviously decernable that they are easily hand polinated.

I know that some people say that if left on the vine they can be used like winter squash, but I don't think I would like that, and they would be impossible for me to store. In fact, I was beginning to get tired of cooking them. I stir-fried them, boiled them, steamed them, and made squash pickles.

I only have a few more commercial seed, but I did make an attempt to save some. I really kind of forgot about saving seeds until it was almost too late, but I let one stay on the vine a little longer, then cut it and saved the seed. Much of the seed looked too immature to me so I just destroyed it, but I did save a few. I haven't tested them, but they look like they will be OK. I promised some to another friend and I don't have many, but I can send you a few if you want to try them. You only need a few plants to feed the neighborhood anyway. Send me your address if you want a few. Carol
soonergrandmom
14 years ago
Dawn, I forgot to add the link to Ilene's blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ilene's Blog
owiebrain
14 years ago
Ya know, I read here, get ready to post to the conversation, get distracted by real life, and by the time I come back to finish posting, you all have typed up 20 more replies and moved on. LOL And I can never remember what it was I wanted to say so I start all over... and 'round and 'round I go, like a spinning, dizzy little top.

I so love this board! :-D

Diane
ilene_in_neok
14 years ago
LOL Diane! Ya gotta hit that "submit" button! So what if it's sat there for awhile, none of the rest of us let that stop us! LOL

Carol, thank you for your offer. You are such a dear. I need to correct the name of the seed I didn't get, though. It was Costata Romanesco. But I found out it's a bush, and what my mom had grew on a vine. So that's not it, either, and it's probably just as well Baker didn't have it in stock. It's not a big deal, really. I got the zucchino rampicante in my order. Glad to have the heads-up about only planting a few, though. I'm always looking for things that will climb because I have limited space.

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