"The Oldest Seed House in America"

I don’t see much evidence to support that snow advisory we’ve been warned about every few minutes for the past two days, but I’m playing it safe and staying home tonight. 

We are being so lazy around the Bicknell household; Chelsea’s sprawled on one couch, Robin on another-- me and Black Betty have each claimed a recliner, and Joplin is curled in the floor on a rug. 

We can at least pretend to be snowed in.

Tonight seems like the perfect time to study some seed catalogs.    

I did a Google search for heirloom seeds a couple of weeks ago and came across a website for the D. Landreth Seed Company.  The site claimed that it is “The Oldest Seed House in America,” which specializes in heirloom and vintage seeds.  They say they are struggling to stay afloat these days, so they have to charge $5 each for their catalogs. 

I ordered two.

Because? 

a)      They looked beautifully and artfully done on the Landreth website.

b)      It would be a shame for the oldest seed house in the country to close.

c)       I’m trying to avoid planting genetically-altered seeds. 

The catalogs came in promptly, and I thought they were well worth the price.  Filled with lovely vintage ads from decades past, glossy new photos of vegetables and flowers, interesting tidbits of history about some of the origins of these plants and growing advice, the catalog is as educational as it is beautiful. 

I learned that the founder of the business introduced the Zinnia to the United States from Mexico back in 1798. 

Who knew?  I can barely imagine summer without a few zinnias lining the edge of the vegetable garden.

I’m thinking this small American company is definitely worthy of our support, even if we do no more than look at their catalog on a potentially snowy--definitely lazy (yawn)--winter night.

Click on the blue highlighted link to order one for yourself!