There was a rant earlier about the amount of seed that you get in a pack. I think that part of the problem is that the companies like Burpee, Ferry-Morse, etc. are not selling to the farmer, they are selling to the home gardener who wants to plant 6 tomatoes, 2 squash, a short row of beans. If you want large quantities, go to companies like Park Seed who sell in various quantities. And if you have any kind of farm store in your area, try them. Last year we bought 4 oz. packages of radish and turnip, 1 lb. packages of beans and peas. Do you have any idea how many radish seeds there are in 4 oz.? And prices have gone up too. Many years ago I could not put $5.00 worth of gas in my Chevy Nova station wagon.
I have ordered many packets of seed over the Internet this year. We now have space to plant many different kinds of vegetables and flowers and I am going wild. We started with the large packages of seeds we bought last year from Tractor Supply. Then bought some from the local home store. Then I went on the Internet and looked a many web pages and made a list of each thing that I wanted and what companies had it. Then start buying from the company that had the most of what I wanted. Then tried to combine items so that I did not order just one thing from a company.
In the last couple of days I have come across some bargains in the local stores. Tractor Supply carries a line of Sow 'N Grow seeds. They are priced at 99¢ a pack. The selection is somewhat limited but TS was selling them for 20¢ each. Today I went to Wal-Mart to look around while my husband was buying some things. They have Burpee seeds! I was under the impression that Burpee no longer sold in retail stores. Could not believe the prices. A 100 mg pack of Better Boy seeds was 97¢. I checked the price on the Burpee web page and the price for 30 seeds is $2.95. I opened the pack when I got home and without actually counting it appears that there are about 30 seeds. The price for Brandy Boy Hybrid in the web is $3.95 for 30. At Wal-Mart they were $1.34. Wal-Mart also has a line of American Seeds which sell for 10¢ a pack and 88¢ for packages they say has more seeds than 12 standard size packs.
I am not at fan of Wal-Mart, but I am even less a fan of paying exorbitant prices for seeds. I have found that the prices at Pinetree Seeds are very reasonable.
Now if someone can tell me where I can buy seeds for "Petit Pois" and Carmello tomatoes other than Renee's Seeds I would be most grateful.