All politics is local, they say, and gardening is the same way. I have driven myself crazy for years reading books about organic gardening in Pennsylvania, or Upstate New York, or Maine, or Wales. I have tried to apply my learning to the ground here- dry, clay, and alkaline. I have finally learned to read Western-based garden books, or to temper my fantasies to something that is sustainable with the soil here, and the amount of rainfall here.
Every winter I am inundated with seed and plant catalogs. I read them, and place sticky notes, and highlight the varieties I want to buy. It is similar to the garden book thing- catalogs from Maine, or Oregon, or Pennsylvania won’t necessarily have what I need here- drought tolerant in Massachusetts is different from drought tolerant in Colorado. Full sun in Michigan is different from full sun here.
This year, rather than placing an order to have seeds shipped to me, I will bike downtown, and go into our local greenhouse, where they order seeds in bulk, and will sell me little envelopes of whatever I want to plant. Well, not “whatever” …last year they didn’t have leeks in bulk, so I got a pre-packaged envelope off the rack, but they have many popular varieties that do well here. They have bareroot strawberries and asparagus and seed potatoes and onion sets. They also have people working there who, if they are not experts, they are informed, about where things are located in the store, and when to plant most things.
Your homework- find a greenhouse or garden center that is local to you. Locally owned businesses will only stay alive as long as we support them, and often the guys in the *cough orange aprons cough* don’t know much about the plants they are selling. You don’t have to bike (and in fact, I might not, but I should) but find a place that is local, and support it.
The lonely pile of seed catalogs this year- I am forsaking you for a local business.
C.L. Fornari, amazing garden writer, has founded “You can grow that!” where on the fourth of every month, garden bloggers write posts encouraging anyone to grow anything. Check her out at http://www.youcangrowthat.com/
Strawberry Fields for Breakfast 
Mar 05, 2013 @ 20:41:47
I buy my seeds online in England and Holland with careful selection of which kinds will do go in the climate and soil we have here. To be honest, we have one garden centre in the area (to far for a bike ride) and they do not have a lot of organic seeds which for me is a must, same goes for the local hardware store where “Round Up” is well displayed. I would love to buy locally but I do not want to support companies like Monsanto. I do agree with you that you need to grow whatever will do good in your climate and soil type, you would not want to have all your efforts go to waste!