Seed catalogs out already?
 

Wow. :dizzy:

First it was the Christmas music playing in CVS [I]the day after Halloween[/I]. I cursed them repeatedly under my breath for playing it as I made my way through the aisles. I doubt they heard me but it felt good to do it, I thought to myself. :twisted:

I opened my mailbox yesterday and there they were. Johnny's 2008 catalog and Harris Seeds 2008 catalog, staring me in the face.

Johnny's [B]"new for 2008"[/B] tomato? [I]Japanese Black Trifele[/I]. WTH? I grew it two years ago so it's not new to me. :no:

Is the [I][COLOR=indigo]"shove Christmas down our throats as early as possible"[/COLOR][/I] syndrome spreading to the seed houses?

I hope so! Gives me lots of extra time to mull over the over-saturated color images and dream about spring. :yes:

Interesting because Johnny's is one of the last catalogs I get here. I believe they had some problems last year because last year my Johnny's was VERY late and there was some note of apology I think I recall.

The only catalog I have gotten so far is T&M.

I asked when the Valentines's merchandise/decorations are coming out at my grocery store. I told them I am sick of the Christmas stuff because it's been displayed WAY too long already! LOL

Mischka,

Your Totally Tomatoes catalog and two other of our catalogs will be in your mail box in about 2-3 weeks. Saw the proofs from the printers on Monday.
I just finished putting the new for 2008 items on the website yesterday (no pictures yet) I was going to PM you this morning to tell you this very thing.

We have a radio station that plays Christmas music 24/7. They used to start the day after Thanksgiving. This year they started today. They claimed there wasn't enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to make sure everyones favorite Christmas song was played, so they were starting early. I think the sponsors are worried about not enough Christmas spending!

Ruth

No one ever sends me seeds catalogs exept for TGS. I was in H/D the other day and they played jingle bells over and over again non stop all day long.:evil:
I feel for those poor devils that have to work there.:(

I do believe I would go mad and run around naked with my hair sticking straight up if I had to work there.

With an axe in my hands.:twisted:

Worth

I got Pinetree's catalog in the mail on Monday, T&M about a month ago. I remember getting most catalogs shortly after Christmas, this year its much earlier.
Alberta

Alberta, I thought you were right, so to see how much earlier the catalogs were going out, I pulled out my oldest catalog mailing schedule (2003). It shows we have "in home" dates as follows:
4 catalogs with dates 12/1 - 12/5
2 catalogs dated 12/15-12/22
one dated 1/12-1/15.
Well, we are going to be late this year on one of the 12/1-12/5 catalogs. The rest should stick to this schedule pretty well.
Yes I know that only makes 7, the other one is a commercial catalog that goes out in August, and we didn't own the 9th catalog back then. (Ignoring fall catalogs)
I really was only wondering about the relationship to Christmas and if we are also pushing it like the retailers.

That sounds about right to me. I usually start getting catalogs right around Thanksgiving and the last ones usually in February, with most arriving in December and January. I have recently ordered seeds and some of them have arrived saying "packed for 2008," so I guess that makes sense. Not sure if it has anything to do with Christmas. I'm sure most people would put that off until after the holidays, except for those of us who are gardening fanatics. :lol:

It's a federal law that all seed packets now be stamped with "packed for" year. Most of us don't change our packaging "look" over the years, so people could have been selling seed that had been sitting in that packet for years. Now you'll know. If you get a packet that is not marked, I'd be wondering what other federal laws they are not following.

I like the dates on the packets. I was just a little surprised to see seeds for 2008 already. I guess the end of the year is sneaking up on me.

M.

The only catalog I’ve received so far is from Dixon Dale Farms (onions).

Like [COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Michele, I appreciate the dating on the packets but I wish the requirement went a step further and required a “year seed saved date”. I think this would be a whole lot more meaningful.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Ruth – how would his effect folks like yourself? Inquiring minds know[FONT=Book Antiqua][SIZE=3].:wait: [/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR]

We would love to see it changed to actual seed manufacture date instead of packed for date. It would mean more to the consumer. Although you are NOT supposed to re-package seed to meet the date requirement regulation.
We would also like to see batch germination rates printed on the packages. If you look at our packages, they have color codes for this. We test germination when seed comes in and again for every batch that is packaged. Even if it is the same seed we packaged the month before. It gets tested again. Strange things can happen to seed, even at a seed company where we claim to know what we are doing with the storage of seed, bulbs and roots. (hint: we call it crop failure, which happens to everyone dealing with live goods)
So for us, it wouldn't matter. Only the fly-by night operations would have problems. But I don't think they follow too many regulations anyway, so I guess it wouldn't matter to them either.

[quote]They claimed there wasn't enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to make sure everyones favorite Christmas song was played, so they were starting early.[/quote][IMG]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_15_61.gif[/IMG] LOL, that was funny Jung.
Let me be the first to use a Christmas emoticon in honor of
[QUOTE][I][COLOR=indigo]"shove Christmas down our throats as early as possible"[/COLOR][/I] syndrome[/QUOTE][IMG]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_15_62.gif[/IMG]

[quote=jungseed;79051]Mischka,

Your Totally Tomatoes catalog and two other of our catalogs will be in your mail box in about 2-3 weeks. Saw the proofs from the printers on Monday.
I just finished putting the new for 2008 items on the website yesterday (no pictures yet) I was going to PM you this morning to tell you this very thing.

Ruth[/quote]

Awesome - I will be watching for them! :roll: I received a couple of PM's today from folks that would like to get a copy of the 2008 Totally Tomatoes catalog, too.

Would it be possible to add them to your mailing list if I forward their addresses to you via Private Message? For anyone else here wanting one, would it be ok if they PM'd you their address directly, as well?

I'd be happy to enter the catalog request for anyone that would like a catalog. PM's will work well.
Doesn't look like I'll get the website update finished today. I'm only on page 38 of 55 and only one more hour to go. Maybe I should stay at work until it's done, then I'd have to miss dinner with the in-laws tonight.
Anyone want to write me an excuse???

Who is T&M? :? Don't want to miss a catalog ya know.:lol: