Time to Order Your Fedco Seeds!
by Gayle
Anderson
It’s
January! Looking out at the snow and dreaming about next summer’s
garden? I
know some of you are, and I hope you’re working on your seed orders.
We’ll do
an Honest Weight group order with Fedco Seeds: if you are a Co-op
member, you
will earn your member discount by ordering with the group. The group
deadline
will be Groundhog’s Day, February 2! I will do earlier orders if
enough
come in to make the minimum, and of course you can place your own order
direct.
You can order well into March — even later online — but note that the
longer
you wait the more out-of-stocks you’ll get. I personally am working on
our
annual order of seeds to sell in the store. Last year we also carried
seeds
from High Mowing in Vermont,
but we’ve decided this year to go back to just Fedco. Fedco now has
some display
racks available which feature their organic and heirloom seeds —
something that
made High Mowing attractive for retail sales. With Fedco having this
available
we’d rather throw them our undivided support. Why choose Fedco?
1. Fedco
is a cooperative. It started in
1978 as a project of the Maine
Federation of Cooperatives. Consumers own 60% of the cooperative and
worker
members 40%. We and you are their consumer-owners. They exist to serve
us, not
just to make money.
2.
Fedco is a seed company that
specializes in varieties good for the Northeast. They test ’em and you
test
’em. They love feedback.
3.
Fedco provides the most information to
you the grower/gardener of any catalog that we have ever seen. Take a
look. We
have copies in the store for you to browse, and you can access them
on-line at www.fedcoseeds.com.
4.
Fedco seeds are not treated with chemicals.
No pink Captan! Many of their selections are organic or sustainably
grown, and
we’ll have some of these. You can have more if you order direct.
5.
Fedco does not knowingly carry
genetically engineered seeds. See their statement on page 7 of the
catalog.
6.
Fedco supports sustainable agriculture
and provides technical assistance for seed growers. Check out the info
in their
catalog, and note that all their growing advice is for organic
gardening.
7.
Fedco’s catalog is not only full of
information…it’s fun!
A few notes
on shopping our Fedco seed display Unlike other seed companies, Fedco
is not
really set up to sell retail. There are no glossy pictures, no
instructions,
and no pre-printed price on the packets. The store doesn’t get credit
for what
doesn’t sell, and there’s no big discount off the list price. In the
past,
we’ve priced each packet at 50% over the catalog price. This year we
may figure
some kind of average price and make everything the same-this would save
on a lot
of tedious pricing. Either way, you’ll find this is still a bargain
compared
to, say, Burpee or Johnny’s — and you’ll get your member discount, of
course.
For descriptions we have the Fedco catalog. The code number on each
packet
corresponds to the number in the catalog. And remember, you can always
access
the catalog online when you get home. Maybe one of you would like to
come up
with a special Honest Weight “Fedco Select” mini catalog with just the
descriptions for what we carry — Anybody out there want to work on
this?? How
about a beginners gardening handbook based on Fedco’s instructions,
with help
from Community
Gardens or
Cooperative Extension? Earn
your Co-op work hours now — before gardening season! We can have the
handbook
available this May in our Garden Shoppe. Members wanted! Besides
working on
this handbook idea, I wouldn’t mind having some help on the seed order
and the
maintenance of the display. There must be one or two of you out there
who would
like to get some hours in by helping neaten-up every week, and do an
occasional
inventory so we can re-order, and order better next year. Maybe even
set up our
order/inventory system on the computer…. Talk to me!
FYI: Fedco has more than just seeds! Watch
this summer for the Fedco Bulbs catalog, and in the fall for Fedco
Trees. We
don’t do a Co-op order for these, but you can order direct yourself.
Fedco’s
Organic Growers Supply catalog is part of the seed catalog. They sell
soil
amendments, cover crops, tools, supplies and books — and you can order
these
anytime, year-round.
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