Seed Ordering

With the cold damp weather I've had a chance to finish my seed orders and just now clicked the last of the "confirm order" buttons. I ordered from 4 suppliers, the majority of which are organic seeds. "High Mowing Seeds" has a special on free shipping so that saved me a bunch, "Johnny Seeds" had free shipping for orders over $200 so I caught a break there also. If you are looking to peruse a couple seed catalogs those are the best for organic seeds and great variety selections. With organic certification, I am required to use organic seeds to the max extent possible. The exception is if a specific variety I use is not available as an organic seed then I can use untreated nonorganic seeds. Typically we only see seed treatments on sweet corn seeds. If you open a packet of sweet corn seeds and the seeds are pink those seeds have been treated to help with germination in cool soils. The pink stuff on the seeds is an  antifungal treatment that is disallowed by the organic standards. 
  Seed farmers have the same issues as regular gardeners, some times a crop fails. The cabbage I have grown for years is "Copenhaven Early Market". Not this year though since the seed is not available due to one of those crop failures. That may be a blessing in disguise as it will force me to try a different cabbage this year. So while I'm experimenting I'll try two cabbage varieties and see which make the best crop for me. Speaking of cabbage, those are the first seeds I'll start in 2 weeks for the upcoming season.
  There are lots of really educational seed catalogs out there chock full of hope and inspiration. A few dollars spent on a packet of seeds combined with sunshine, fresh air, and a bit of exercise returns an abundance of healthy eating and comradery in the community garden.