Seed sources

For the next two Sundays, my columns in The Spokesman-Review will be on cool, new varieties of veggies and annual flowers. In each column, I'll include information on where you can find the seeds.

However, I also wanted to encourage you to look for the seeds at your local garden centers first since it's always nice to patronize local businesses.

Here in Spokane, we are lucky to have one of the best-stocked garden centers around: Northwest Seed & Pet. They have two locations: 2422 E. Sprague Ave. (509-534-0694) and 7302 N. Division St. (509-484-7387).

I was just in their Sprague and Altamont store yesterday and jotted down the names of the seed suppliers they carry. It's impressive!

• Bentley Seeds
• Botanical Interests
• Burpee
• Ed Hume
• Ferry-Morse
• Irish Eyes Garden Seeds
• Lake Valley Seeds
• Livingston Seeds
• New Dimension
• Northwest Seed & Pet’s brand (including bulk corn, pea and bean seeds)
• Olds (New York)
• Renee’s Garden Seeds
• Seeds of Change

Their website address is www.nwseed.com. So if you see something in one my upcoming columns that sounds intriguing, take a look to see if that seed company is on the above list. Now, it's possible they might not carry those exact seeds but it's certainly worth checking first. At the very least, you would save on shipping charges and have the opportunity to support a local business at the same time.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to visit some other local garden centers to see what their seed selections are like. I recall seeing a good offering at Ritter's Nursery, 10120 N. Division St. (509-467-5258 a few years ago so will be paying them a visit to check out the seeds. Stay tuned...