Post Holiday Catalog Crush

I haven't ordered plants or seeds or really anything from a printed catalog in years. Because of this, I have stopped receiving them. Until just this passed week. I was away for the holiday at my father-in-law's place. My wife and I came back just after New Year's day and our mail box was stuffed with catalogs. About 7 catalogs; all for seeds. At first glance these catalogs, both color glossy and black-printed newsprint, offered a world of dreams. I sat down that evening and started to peruse the one promising heirloom vegetables next summer.

But I barely made it through that first catalog. I suspect that there are a few reasons for this, but the most important that comes to mind is the Internet. I have become an Internet plant and seed shopper (when I can't go to nurseries). The benefits of this are obvious, but I'll lay it out anyway: I can look at color photos, I can research items I'm thinking of buying, and I can easily comparison shop. The printed catalogs felt clumsy to me and maybe this was because they were folded and stuffed into my small, shoebox-shaped mailbox. A minor complaint pre-Internet, but today I was annoyed by flipping folded pages.

Another thing that comes to mind is that I feel like 7 salespeople have just tried to sell me something. I guess the reality is that I always have found catalogs lacking although I have had good and bad catalog shopping experiences. The difference may be that when I go online to shop I have something in mind. The printed catalogs beg me to look through them with no sense of direction. Besides, hum, I guess the real reason is that I have no space left to plant and this unsolicited garden porn highlights the fact that I ain't gettin' any anytime soon.

Funny thing, but one catalog looks just like the old Shepherd's Garden Seed catalog I remember ordering from 10 years ago. But the name is John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds. The illustrations, layout, and typeface all remind me of this old catalog. With buyouts of companies rampant over the last 10 years, it may be that this is the old Shepherd's. Or not. A little research reveals that they do not have any relationship, although Shepherd's is now Renee's. Shepherd's and Scheepers are based in Connecticut, but the Shepherd's brand seems to belong to White Flower Farm. I don't think White Flower Farm sells Shepherd's seeds anymore.

Its worth noting that all the companies I have received catalogs from also have web-based catalogs. I think I am receiving these print catalogs because I have ordered from some of these websites, but certainly not all of them. I guess my address has been sold by one or all of the companies I have ordered from. I already knew that my email was sold to every plant and seed company possible. Now my physical address has too. I'll try not to take it out on the catalogs, but they're all headed for the recycle bag.