I live near both Johnny's Selected Seeds and Fedco Seeds in Maine. JSS has had a long-time policy of preferring business customers to home gardeners, and Fedco seems to be following the same route. Does anyone have suggestions for seed catalogues (strawberry plants would be nice as well) that cater to home gardeners?

Welcome to the site!

I like https://www.rareseeds.com

I order from johnnies every year and have never had problems with them

I like Baker Creek (rareseeds.com), Kitazawa, Totally Tomatoes, Victory Seeds (owned by the same guy who owns this website) and Territorial.

Besides those already mentioned, I also buy from Select Seeds and Swallowtail Garden Seeds, and I've always been very happy with my purchases.

Pinetree Garden Seeds - online as superseeds.com
in Maine
I've used them for years

Are you a home gardener? I ordered from JSS for years -- after all they were about five miles away and their quality is high -- but then I began to notice that they would "run out" of reasonable size seed packets very early and it does not seem to have occurred to anyone that they can break up a 25K packet into 25 1K packets. I tried to order a grow-light from them; they were out. Their orientation has become more and more focused on farmers who make big orders unlike home gardeners.

I asked for a catalog, sallyg, because a man in Pennsylvania listed them as one of his 10 favorites. I remember when they set up shop and it was such a good idea to sell seeds in small quantities. I'm also going to check out Wood Prairie's organic seeds. I already only buy seed potatoes from them because their quality is superb. I like to buy local (JSS and Fedco couldn't be more local), but I sense a powerful disinterest in small customers.

I don't think anyone mentioned Victory Seeds and True Leaf Market yet, two of my favorites.

I ordered a few packs of seeds from Wood Prairie this year, for the first time, because they had the variety of celery that I wanted and couldn't find elsewhere; holy moly, super-fast service!

Oh, True Leaf Market! Love those guys.

I wonder if womanwontwhe's problem is the companies she likes are too popular and all the small packets go fast. Even though Fedco and Johnny's are packaging the seed, it's something that can't logistically be redone mid-season.

Maybe they need to pack more small packets, but that's also a problem if they package too many small packets. Its all a guessing game that needs to happen months before the season ever begins, based on what was sold in years prior. But someone is getting those small packets so maybe shop earlier?

"But someone is getting those small packets so maybe shop earlier?"
I usually order around Thanksgiving

Especially since Covid and the "supply chain issues" (or whatever) it has seemed to be necessary to order early. (Of course, then you have the risk of also being tempted by all the "deals" that come around later on... )

I learned about True Leaf Market when Kitazawa seeds joined them. Yes, yes, a good place.

Leftwood said: I learned about True Leaf Market when Kitazawa seeds joined them. Yes, yes, a good place.

I discovered it when I was looking for Sustainable Seeds, which also was taken over by TLM .

Baker Creek Heirloom seed and Victory Seed are both great places.

Baker Creek prices are high and don't offer bulk packets on a lot of stuff but there are a TON of unique varieties to chose from and you get free shipping, tax free + a free packet after ordering only 10 bucks worth of seed. The customer service is great and sometimes they have limit time bargain offers.

Victory Seed offers bulk packets, their prices are fair on most items but their shipping + tax makes shipping total seem steep. But they have sent free packets and customer service is way better than Baker because you can chat with someone within the website itself like a text message setup if you have any questions. There are also great varieties, I've gotten cool stuff from them.

And Victory Seeds is owned by our own webmaster and family!!

Wow! I don't get a catalogue until January so do you order from the website? You really can't plant anything including indoor-started seeds here in Maine before January, and I only start onion seedlings that early because they grow slowly. I do order my potatoes in the autumn because Woods Prairie runs out of certain varieties early, but they mark them in their catalogue.

Thanks to everyone so much for all the help!

I'll try to start seed ordering earlier and I won't bother with companies who can't break down packets into smaller lots. January in Maine is mid-winter, not mid-season!

I order from the websites in November. I keep the seeds in my refrigerator until I need them in ~March. It doesn't matter when you order, they are the same seeds you would get later in the year (I check the "Packaged For..." dates when I get the seeds). And they are more likely to be in-stock and in the package sizes I want.

I also order before the 1st of the year and from their websites like Henderman. By the time the newest catalogs go out, everyone has them and will be ordering so they probably run out of the most wanted seeds quickly. Definitely order from their websites and beat the rush. All of the companies mentioned have smaller packets for sale, they're probably just selling out of the those quicker.