Fortunately I have a cohort comprised of knitters/gardeners. These are the friends who I can call upon to make me a cup of tea when I can’t seem to make one for myself. They can turn a comment on when to dig in your cover crop into a debate. They can, and do, offer encouragement when I am faced with the daunting task of learning the Internet.
This cohort thinks nothing of logging onto the Internet for anything from knitting patterns to Reuter’s “Impossibly Prompt” News Service to garden supplies. I am the odd-woman-out. Our computer is 12 years old. It is, literally, falling apart; plus I have absolutely zero tolerance for the very slow technical aspect of this machine. So the thought of giving up my seed catalogs, with the accompanying cup of tea, is not something that I am looking forward to.
I really and truly enjoy looking through Bluestone Perennials (www.bluestoneperennials.com or 800-852-5243) catalog with the woodstove blazing and my fingers curled around a steaming cuppa. I have ordered and received some of the most lovely plants that I have ever seen. It never ceases to amaze me that I can mail in an order in February, give them the date that I would like to receive the plants, and lo, here they come in mid-May looking fresh and lovely.
And what about Veseys Seeds (www.veseys.com or 800-363-7333)? There are about 30 pages dog-eared. I keep pausing in my niggling chores to recheck the marked pages, to reconsider, to mull my choices. To think. How will I do that on the Internet? There are whole hours in the day when the Internet is not even accessible, when one has to wait for this technology to right itself. Good grief.
Then comes Pinetree Garden Seeds (www.superseeds.com or 207-926-3400). I love this source. Their little packets, just the right size for the home gardener. Sometimes I think most seed suppliers think we are growing enough in our gardens for the entire town. Whatever do you need 300 cauliflower seeds for? Yes, a market gardener will be delighted with that quantity. But me? No thanks. The Pinetree seed packet will contain about 30 which is still twice as much as I need for a season, but far more reasonable. Enough of these super-sized seed packets.
What about A.M. Leonard’s Gardeners Edge (www.gardenersedge.com or 888-556-5676)? Pages and pages of nifty tools, many of which you will never ever have a need for but are so cool to look at anyway.
McClure & Zimmerman (www.mzbulb.com or 800-883-6998) is devoted to bulbs. It is illustrated with the very most lovely black and white drawings. believe it or not, these drawings make me want to own each and every bulb that is offered.
These aforementioned catalogs are just barely scratching the surface of what is available out there. I must get 35 different catalogs, each and every one just luscious. There are those that are only organic seed, heirloom varieties, wildflowers, just peonies, nothing but clematis, roses, trees and shrubs, you name it and there is a catalog for it, and, I do believe, I receive it. And I want to continue receiving it.
Now, my cohort informs me, over knitting and dessert, that the sources for all of these lovelies are, multiplied by a gazillion, available on the Internet. That absolutely any gardening question can be answered by a search engine (or whatever).
Will my sense of well being evaporate when I no longer call in my garlic order to Filaree Farm (www.filareefarm.com or 509-422-6940) and the fellow who has been answering my call for the last five years says “Ah yes, Homer, how’s the weather up there? How is your garden coming along? You know, I really want to get up there someday.” Which makes me think he has seen the “B4UDIE” billboards. But when my heart is set on ordering Romanian red and he is out of stock and then he spends the time to find a garlic that will perform just as nicely as the Romanian I can’t help but think that something will be lost when I switch to the Internet. I will miss him.
I am one of those people who is overwhelmed by choice. I think that there should be four different cars to choose from, in four different colors and none of them should be capable of exceeding 55mph. I think that the cold cereal aisle in the market should have Cheerios and Shredded Wheat. Ever try to purchase a pen? Just exactly why are there so many different kinds of pens? I could go on and on but I will spare you.
It comes down to this: Gardening has existed for a very long time. There is only so much information that you really need. The point is go out there and do the deed. Turn off your television/DVD/cell phone/Ipod/Blackberry/whatever and go garden.
Rosemary Fitzpatrick has been gardening with gusto in Homer for 28 years.
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