Who doesn’t love a good mail day? You know, the kind with items in the mailbox that aren’t bills or the junk coupons and flyers that keep showing up despite the careful note explaining that, “Seriously. For real. We REALLY don’t want that crap delivered to our door.”

I received seed catalogues from two companies that are new to me, “Terra Edibles” and “Bountiful Gardens.” Sorry but no recommendations as-of-yet. I have already indulged in some light browsing but without the aid of a pen or highlighter I am blanking on the plants that jumped out at me.

Neither catalogue has photos which can be a bit of a pain for those like myself who are visually oriented, however newsprint catalogues are probably better for the environment. And I understand that many very good seed companies are also very small and do not have the budget to do fancy full-colour photo catalogues. As an aside, I was extra impressed by Bountiful Gardens who mailed my catalogue in a previously used envelope and included a hand signed thank you on the order form. I always try to do this on the orders I send out to customers as a way to let them know a human packed their order with care, so it was interesting to find myself on the other side and feeling impressed by it. Turns out it does make a difference.

The final and most exciting portion of my mail haul is the book, “The One Straw Revolution” by Masanobu Fukuoka. I have been trying to acquire all of his books for a while now but they all seem to be out of print and are often listed used at insane prices. When I saw this used copy reasonably priced at $10 US I jumped on it. This book is an introduction to his “do-nothing” farming philosophy and practice as well as a memoir-of-sorts describing how he formed his ideas and techniques. I can’t wait to get down to reading it.

The book I really want is The Natural Way of Farming but it often starts at $100. GAH!