My excuse for not being active on the gardening thread is that I don’t do much gardening any more. This thread about catalogues has brought me out of my shell. We had a garden in the backyard until the trees got to tall and then I gardened in church yards (one at a time). But that eventually fizzled out.
On the farm when I was growing up, We got catalogues from Earl May, Henry Field, Gurneys? and Starks. Earl May and Gurneys had what was called a Conglomerate Package. Youngsters could put there penny in with your parents order and receive a envelope with a wide variety of vegetable and flower seeds, most of which were different than most people would not get. I got okra, caster beans,yard long beans, a large yellowish bean (seed), cushaw, (excellent for pumpkin pie - Mother best pie ever was a cushaw chiffon), cosmos, and other flowers.
Would be nice if there were something like that for our posterity.
Great memories!
My Maternal Grandma taught me all about growing vegetables, how to bake bread and pies, and how to butcher.
My Paternal Grandma taught me how to grow flowers, taught me about art, music and literature and how to be a ‘Lady’ in all Social situations. (Those ‘lady lessons’ never really stuck, LOL!)
I had the best of both worlds and remember pouring over seed catalogs with both of them in the winter months...dreaming about Spring. :)