How Complicated Can Seed Ordering be?

The answer: very very complicated.

I'm not the most organized person, but I do have a system for ordering seeds that I've used for years. This year that system failed me. I go through my seeds and write down what I have and what I need. I than go online and order my seeds and the process usually takes me two or so days. This year two sites kept emptying my cart and I couldn't remember what seeds I had. I finally decided as long as I have some of each vegetable I'm good. Next year I'm going to make a spreadsheet of all my seeds. The only problem being is I order 100's of different seeds so it's going to a very long process.

This year I decided to boycott my favorite seed company because their shipping and duty charges are outrageous. That meant I would have to go without my favorite pumpkin. A very nice and reliable pumpkin. Well in the midst of ordering seeds I found that pumpkin with a company I've never ordered from and they have free shipping, I might get dinged with outrageous duty, but hopefully not. Suddenly math became very important because they only sold items in bulk. I had to figure out the cost of one seed from Company A vs Company B. Very complicated, but I'm determined to get the most bang for my buck. I did find a cool app that allows me to convert between US to Canadian dollars and has a calculator so it's making things a little easier.

I typically order from 3 or 4 seed companies. This year I'm ordering from 6 companies. The reason I'm doing so many is because of me boycotting that one seed company. I'm thinking ordering from so many companies is what is increasing my confusion. The other thing that makes seed ordering difficult is some companies are in US dollars and some are in Canadian dollars. Each company has their own type of packaging so one company might sell seed x at 2,000 seeds for $50.00 and the the next company will sell the seed at 3,000 seeds for $55. Confusing, but I do like working with numbers.

Hopefully everything will work out and I'll have a bountiful garden in summer.