By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

Tuesday I listed some of Steve Solomon's favorite seed catalogs—all good choices, in my mind. Here are five more that Sharon and I like.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Started in 1997 by a 17-year-old seed lover named Jere (rhymes with air) Gettle, the company has grown up with its owner. Its current 124-page color catalog includes 92 pages of heirlooms vegetables and herbs, and 11 pages of flowers. Gettle is death on GMOs (genetically modified organisms), so he has all his heirloom corn tested to make sure genetically modified pollen hasn't tainted it; in his catalog, he remarks on how often he finds that it is tainted, and has to move to another clean source. An entrepreneur to his core, Gettle has founded a garden magazine called The Heirloom Gardener, a small historic village in his native Ozarks, and a family.

The Natural Gardening Company. David Baldwin bills his Petaluma, California company as the oldest certified organic nursery in the United States. He offers seeds and seedlings of herbs, vegetables, and flowers, plus drip irrigation supplies. The catalog also offers a couple of tools; but go to the Natural Gardening Company's web site for a much larger selection.

Nichols Garden Nursery. Based in western Oregon, Nichols is a standby for herbs, vegetables, and flowers; most are sold as seed, and many are sold as plants by second-generation owner Rose Marie Nichols McGee. She's also very much into the culinary side of the equation, offering everything from cheese-making supplies to tea, essential oils, soaps, and even sourdough starter.

Seeds of Change. In its 20th year, Seeds of Change offers only certified organic seeds grown by themselves or a network of affiliates. Like Baker Creek, SoC is 100 percent GMO free, and focuses on open-pollinated vegetables, though they also offer some hybrids. Their catalog is quite broad: you can also buy garlic, apple trees, rhubarb, flowers, tools, herbs, and medicinal plants from them. Sharon is particularly taken with their selection of beans. SoC headquarters and main trial grounds are in New Mexico, though they also have affiliate trial grounds as far away as Maine and Oregon.

Wood Prairie Farm. Another GMO-free, certified organic operation, WPF does sell vegetable seed, but I like them for their potatoes. I've discussed potatoes at length with owner Jim Gerritsen and he's clearly mastered every aspect of growing and cooking with these humble tubers. He can tell you which varieties are best boiled, baked, mashed, in chips, or fried. Once I talked with him just after a New York food writer called to ask him which variety would give potato soup that silky texture that goes down so well. He knows this stuff cold. WPF is in Bridgewater, Maine; highly recommended.

It is striking that most of these companies are family operations held together by visionaries who love growing food and flowers—and who love showing other people how to do the same thing. One thing we like about them is that if you have a sowing-or-growing problem, you often end up talking with an owner who is as committed to your success as you are. They deserve your support.