Make it so

I ordered seeds and plants for the garden today. A few weeks ago, I spent a day going through seed catalogs and cross referencing selections with recommendations from Eating on the Wild Side. Consequently, the to-buy list contained quite a few new varieties. I let the list marinate for a while before committing. Even though there is snow on the ground and another polar vortex predicted this week, I placed my order.

Most items were ordered from Pinetree. They upgraded their web site, making it too fancy in places, but generally okay. Besides garden stuff, they also sell soap making supplies, so if I ever decide to put my pseudo-training in soap making to work, I have a source.

Next up was an order from Seed Savers Exchange. As some may recall, the order I placed with them last year ran into issues. This time placing the order turned into a hassle. Since I was ordering plants AND seeds, I had to create two orders, presumably because of different shipping methods available to each. Maybe because they are a non-profit, they feel compelled to do it this way, but seriously? It's a pain.

The Abraham Lincoln tomato seed I want is available only from R.H. Shumway, so I placed an order with them where the shipping was more than the shipped item cost. This year sounds like a good time to try saving my own tomato seeds.

The last item to order was purple podded pole beans. Gurneys had them listed in their catalog, but when I tried to find them online, they were nowhere to be found. So, even though I was trying to avoid Burpee this year, I ended up ordering the beans from them. And paying a shipping charge greater than the seeds cost. Again.

Ordinarily, instead of paying the exorbitant shipping rates, I would have fiddled around with my selections, but I am already overwhelmed with decision-making for home renovations. So I am standing pat with the original list of seeds and plants. I hope they are worth the extra expense.