Ferry Morse customer service, good experience.

[JuliaAnn]

I bought two packs of 'Barbados Hybrid' broccoli seed at Home Depot about two weeks ago. Went to seed them today and found that the seeds were all crushed. HD is about 25 miles away and so I wasn't about to drive all the way down there to exchange them, so I called the number on the back of the seed packets. Asked the lady what their policy was for crushed seeds and she said they would replace them with no problem. She needed the lot # and item # on the seed packet, and to know where I bought them. Didn't need any info from my HD receipt, which is good because I threw it away. I explained it was too far for me to drive to exchange them and I didn't know when I'd be going there again anyway. She got my address and told me they would send me 'several' packs of seed. I was pretty happy about that.

I have some PacMan seed I can seed in the meantime, and should still have time to seed the replacement seeds unless they take two months to get here. I like the hybrid broccolis because they are much tougher in our climate than the op's. Green Goliath is an o.p. that does ok, but I get much better production from the PacMan and Barbados, because they mature before it starts to get warm here, which is like mid-March.

I admit I was surprised by Ferry Morse's response.

[Fae]

JuliaAnn, I don't know where you are but just wondering how cold it is. It has been so cold here I am scared to plant my cole crops. Glad you had a good experience with FerryMorse. I have used seed bought at HD but never had a problem with the. We are having lows in the 20's and so far today it is about 40.

[JuliaAnn]

I know y'all have been getting a lot of unusually cold weather over there. It's been 40 degrees yesterday and today, and it's supposed to be down to about 24 tonight and just at freezing for the next few nights. I'm seeding my broccoli indoors, under lights, so I can have nice little transplants by the middle of next month. We're zone 8b here, and have generally mild winters. This winter has been, so far, milder than last winter. The cost of hybrid seed isn't cheap, but to buy the six packs or nine packs of vegetables would about bankrupt me as the price of them has gotten so high, so I start seeds early.

[Trixie]

We are 7B, while we have snow now, winter is just starting for us here - if things are as they usually are.

Do you cover your plants you are planting next month?

[JuliaAnn]

If the weather is more or less normal, I won't be covering the broccoli. I'll acclimate them to the outdoors before planting, but generally they go in the ground here toward the end of Feb. and can take the cool temps and soil. Tomatoes and peppers go in the ground around March 15, or if it's colder than normal, at the end of March. I could probably plant them a little earlier if I wanted to cover everything, but that would be too much to cover. Conversely, potatoes and sugar snaps get planted early February.