Christmas is yet to come
By BILL DUNCAN The weather outside is still dreary. Snow and ice thick enough to crunch under foot. Christmas is over and my recycling bin is overflowing with catalogs of things I don’t need like traveling wine glasses that allow you to unscrew the stem for easy packing. But my wish books haven’t arrived yet from the post office. No, I am not talking about all the catalogs filled with bargains on left over Christmas items. I am waiting for the catalogs Katherine White found so intriguing that she wrote book reviews on them every year for New Yorker magazine. Seed catalogs. This time of year, for any one who longs to get their hands in the unthawed good earth, the seed catalogs that will trickle in beginning in a few weeks, will keep their sanity during days when the weather outside is frightful. I am not the only one waiting in anticipation for the catalogs that will refresh my soul. This year’s Christmas card from Dorothy Schattenkerk of Tenmile, Oregon told of her expectations of springtime when everything is renewed. Seed catalogs have long been that reminder of better times ahead during long, cold winters. In fact, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries have a unique trade catalog collection that includes 10,000 seed and nursery catalogs dating from 1830 to the present. Many of the catalogs were part of the Burpee collection donated to the Horticulture Services Division of Smithsonian by Mrs. David Burpee in 1982. Marca L. Woodhams, a librarian for Smithsonian, said the real gems of the collection date from 1830 to the 1930s. She described them as “both beautiful and important multidisciplinary historical documents. The seed catalogs document the history of the seed and agricultural implement business in the United States, as well as provide a history of botany and plant research.” She called them “a window into the history of graphic arts in advertising and as a social history through text and illustrations, showing changing fashions in flowers and vegetables.” Katherine White knew that when she startled her editors with the first review of a seed catalog. She caused a revolution in the way seed catalogs were presented to the public. The first two catalogs I get are home grown varieties from Oregon sources. The first to arrive is always my favorite, dating back to my years in Southern California when I dreamed of someday having an herb farm. It is Nichols Catalog from Millersville, Ore., one of the oldest family owned mail order seed companies. After 60 years, Nichols is still a family operated business and one of the original signers of the safe seed pledge that offers no genetically modified seed, plants or products. In 2004, Rose Marie Nichols planted a display garden at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show to promote a Garden Writer’s Association national program called “Plant a Row for the Hungry.” With today’s bleak economic news, that shows far thinking on the part of the Nichols family. The next catalog I devour is the catalog from Territorial Seed Co. in Cottage Grove. Since Territorial is sort of a half way oasis between my home in Roseburg and my daughter’s home in Eugene each year we meet there, shop for seeds, plants and accessories, then have lunch before we head back to our gardens knowing that there is a rich harvest just months away. This year, according to some advance notice I received from Territorial’s blog, the company is adding a Victory Garden to its list of seed collections. Victory gardens played a big part of getting the United States through rationing during World War II, but it actually had its origins in the Great Depression and for those of us who lived through those bleak times, a home garden was a necessity for survival. Territorial’s Victory Garden includes 30 open pollinated varieties, meaning the gardener can save the seed for another planting. Waiting for the arrival of the seed catalogs only extends the anticipation of Christmas and since I write book reviews as part of my writing career, I may pick up Katherine White’s idea and just start reviewing seed catalogs. At least that would be all good news. (Bill Duncan can be reached by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR. 97470)
The View From Here