Underwood Gardens (Grandma's Garden)

[PaulF]

Received in the mail today a "compendium of hard-to-find, open pollinated and heiloom seeds." It has lots of vegetable, flower, herb and melon seeds. From the blurbs they seem to know about certified organic, heirlooms, saving biodiversity etc. Their website is nice with small photos and descriptions. The prices are pretty middle of the road and shipping and handling a bit high for my taste.

Does anyone know the scoop on this group? Is it a regional seed seller trying to expand business? I have my favorites; would this be a place to try out? My guess is they purchase most seed and resell. There is a membership involved for better prices and the website has a forum that seems not to be used much.

[carolyn137]

Paul, let me put it this way. What do you see there in the way of tomato varieties that you can't get elsewhere?

Yes, I've met Mayo Underwood, very early on when she first started her place.

[feldon30]

All positives here except 1 user who thinks creating an account on a website is "big brother" and a privacy concern:
http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/244/

[LoreD]

I too, have met Mayo Underwood at a seminar at Garfield Farm Museum. Super nice lady. I'm probably going to go up there (I'm fairly close to Underwood Gardens) and buy a few things because I am a firm believer in making sure that all of the companies receive a portion of my business.

I have heard nothing but good things about Underwood Gardens. I believe they do grow out a portion of their seed so they are not just a reseller of seed.

LoreD

[VGary]

Underwood Gardens is the only company which provides Depp's Pink FireFly --

Tomato, Depp’s Pink Firefly
Lycopersicon esculentum
certified OG 95 days Potato leaved A large, pink, beefsteak type, averaging 20 oz., with pin-point, silver/iridescent freckling or fireflies evenly distributed on the skin. The flavor is a mouthwatering, creamy, tender, acid/sweet combination. The fruits are very fleshy with small seed cavities and few seeds, especially for a beefsteak type.

I have grown this Kentucky Heirloom variety and can say it is a beautiful tomato -- looks like a large round Christmas ornament hanging on the plant.
Depp's Pink Firefly , Family Heirloom Glasgow, KY. 1890, Potato leaf, large up to 2 ½ lbs, Red/Pink round tasty fruits with concentric flecking, Indeterminate Seed available from Underwood Gardens.
I have not grown this for several years but plan to for the 2007 season.
Gary

[PaulF]

I, too, like to spread it around. Like I said, I have my favorites and if like Carolyn says if I can't find what I want from them(my favorites) I will try a new supplier. Grandma does have some interesting varieties I have not seen before.

[travis]

Depp's Pink Firefly sounds beautiful, Gary.

How did it perform in Louisville weather?

How did it yield?

Was it crack resistant?

As far as the Web site goes, I found it a little tedious to navigate.
I'll spend a little more time and see what's in there.
http://www.underwoodgardens.com/catalog/
(Once you finally get to the vegetable seed page,
tomatoes begin at the bottom of page 8 ...
and have fun multiple clickin' "next" to get to page 8.)

PV

P.S. Okay, that didn't take too long. Did anyone see how many seeds per envelope? Maybe I breezed by that part.

Her prices seem a itty bit steep, but I'll order two or three things from her. She does have a couple that are not found elsewhere or are kinda out of the way things like the Shah Makado ... I've only seen it one other place I can remember.

[VGary]

PV, I had a lot of difficulty getting in the Underwood Garden site last year. Yes, checking the descriptions is a rather difficult process because you have to go thru all the vegetable varieties to get to the tomatoes and then search for a specific variety. It certainly is not as easy as other garden sites!

I grew three plants here in Louisville and they were beautiful! As I indicated they are about the best looking fruit on the vine I have ever grown! My seed came from a Kentucky grower; they were true to my description but I think the tomatoes I grew got crossed so am having to get new seed; it is potato leaf and I should have bagged some fruit because of that. It is not a very well known variety. This variety came from the Depp Family 1890 in Glasgow, Kentucky. An elderly doctor in his 80s and his wife, a Depp, still live here in Louisville. This family has connections with the actor Johnny Depp who has Kentucky roots.
Gary

[carolyn137]

I just did a long reply and deleted it after rereading it several times. Quite a bit about what I wrote simply did not belong in the public domain and without my being able to or wanting to clarify anything that's why I deleted it.

So I'll write just a bit below b'c what I write is already online in the public domain.

Shah Mikado is Shah and it's extinct. Craig has the original seed catalog where it was described and has given that info online. yes it is listed at one other place, and the woman who runs that place is a fan of Will Weaver who was the one who resurrected Shah from the dead, as he has with several other varieties. Mayo's source of Shah was Weaver.

Yes, I have seeds for Depp's Pink Firefly, sent to me by the person who made it known and no, I haven't yet grown it and yes, I have grown Mayo's Delight.

Each person has to make a decision as to any seed source as to whether he or she is satisfied with the seeds, the descriptions, the prices and all else.

So if others of you are pleased, that's really all that counts, on a personal basis. There are just some seed sources that I like better than others, and I'll let it go at that.

[elkwc36]

Vic if I read it right 45 seeds per packet. So plenty of seeds.Jay

[GreenThumbGal_07]

I've ordered from Underwood Gardens a few times in the last couple of years.

The one thing that stands out for me is that (at least with the tomato seeds I've ordered from them) a packet will contain a seed for at least one "surprise" plant that isn't at all like the plant I originally ordered.

Examples:
2005: Depp's Pink Firefly (pink beefsteak tomato, plant with potato leaves) seed packet contained seed for a plant which grew out as a (very productive and attractive) red-orange beefsteak tomato with regular leaves.[1]
2005: Andes (long pointed red paste tomato, plant with regular leaves, yellow flowers) seed packet contained seed for a plant with wispy gray-green leaves, orange-gold flowers, and orange, irregular oxheart-shaped fruit.[2]
2006: Rosalie's Early Orange/Sweet Horizon (heart-shaped orange tomato, leaf type and flower color not stated in catalog) seed packet contained seed for a plant which grew out as regular leaf but not "wispy" (from the other seedlings I've grown out so far I can see REO/SH has the wispy/shaggy leaves typical of many oxheart tomato varieties).

So, what this tells me is that this particular company might not have very careful seed packing practices. One might even be pleasantly surprised. However, it seems that the first thing one should do is see if the "surprise" plant matches the description of another variety in the catalog.

Also, I don't like their Web site design; it's too hard to navigate. They should look at the Burpee.com Web site for a better (and easier-to-use) example.

GTG
_____
[1] "Not Depp's Pink Firefly." If you want some seeds, please let me know.
[2] "Wispy Critter." I've grown out both Rosalie's Early Orange/Sweet Horizon and Wispy Critter (2005 and 2006 saved seeds) this year to compare the plants side by side. Was it a mere seed packing mistake, or do I have a unique plant?

[travis]

Yeah ... that's not bad! I don't mind payin' 10c per seed. That's about average for a lot of online sites really.

Well ... now I have another money hole to feed with my obsession.

PV