Comments regarding The Cook's Garden

Posted on July 16, 2012, updated July 16, 2012
I ordered 3 organic tomato plants, 3 organic pepper plants, and a patchouli plant from Cook's.

They arrived in good shape and are thriving.

First time for mail order veggie plants, so I was nervous. They arrived in good shape.

My only reservation is their expense: product and shipping. But in this case it was worth it.

I ordered the asperagus collection in late winter. The plants were shipped later, when available, but only a few came up even after 6 weeks very few were growing. I called the company and they replaced within 2 weeks. The new asperagus were big, beautiful roots which grew quickly. Their customer service department was very nice.

Posted on April 5, 2009, updated March 14, 2011
I have been doing business with this company for 3 years and have had good service and good seeds. I like the packets with different varieties, such as the winter squash.

I used Cooks Garden website to place my seed order. It was easy to use, and my items shipped quickly. Everything was as ordered and we got a free gormet lettuce seed packet! If you are ordering seeds, I would highly recommend them. I will post again when I get to plant my seeds to inform of the germination.

I placed a first-time order with Cook's Garden last Spring for a few hard to find vegetable seed varieties. I received my order promptly and all the seeds grew fine.

I ordered several varieties of heirloom tomatoes as well as a mesclun mix and their starting soil. The mesclun germinated so fast I couldn't believe it and is growing nicely. The tomatoes ALL germinated into seedlings that are now good sized blooming plants. I'm not sure what kind of harvest I will get since we've had way too much rain, but I'm really pleased with the success of the seeds germinating. I'd definitely recommend this company.

I ordered a new variety of pepper called Zavory this year, as I have been bitten by the pepper bug.
The first set of plants arrived shaken out of the container and perished within a few days despite the TLC.
I contacted Cooks Garden and they replaced the plants.
I am pleased to say they have changed their packaging and the plants arrived in perfect order and were beautiful.
I wish UPS would treat packages better.

I placed an order for a few packets of lettuce seed from this company as a first time order, as they seem to have a really good selection of unusual varieties of lettuce and greens. The seed was shipped within a day of my order. The first sowing of seeds has shown great germination. This is a a company I will be ordering from again!

I ordered asparagus plants in the spring of 2008, then realized I would not have bed space for the plants until June. I called the co. to try and delay shipment. Instead, the rep suggested that I start the crowns in a nursery bed, transplant them when I was able, and Cook's would replace any plants which failed to grow. About half of them did not survive, so I called customer service yesterday and was told they would ship out a complete replacement of the order.
Now I just need to figure out where to plant the extra dozen crowns.

For a beginning vegetable gardener, I took the leap and ordered quite a few seeds from them. Although I did not receive a confirmation either, once I emailed, customer service responded to me right away. Hopefully, it is something they can fix in their system.

True to their response, the seeds already shipped and arrived the following day. I filled a 72-cell Jiffy Greenhouse and in less than a week, 100% germination on the mesclun greens and mache.

I highly recommend The Cook's Garden (TCG). It's a great seeds source for gardeners and food enthusiasts alike.

TCG has helped me already discover my INNER CHEF (self).

I have ordered from Cook's garden for three years and have always had a good experience. If there has ever been a problem with an order it was taken care of promptly and politely. They have a nice variety of seeds - especially lettuces and some unusual varieties of common vegetables. Their plants are well packaged and healthy on arrival. Even the catalog is beautiful! As someone who is relatively new to gardening, it would be nice if the seed packets gave a little more planting information, but that's a small criticism compared to the wonderful job they do overall.

I have bought seeds from the cook's garden for years. excellent results.
this is the first year for buying plants. I purchased "pistou" basil....three plants......they arrived today, beautifully packed.
very vigorous plants.
THANK YOU!!!!!
I will be ordering again from you!!!!
I ordered per snail mail, so I can't say anything about the order comfirmation on the "net.

I've been shopping from Cooks Garden off and on (as my seedsaving skills ebb and flow) for, I think, 20 years now and have always been very pleased with their service and product. I decided that their prices are not really higher than anyone else's, since their germination rate is so much better. More bang for the buck!

But I just received the new catalog (glossy, with four color photographs instead of Mary Azarian's lovely woodcuts), with a terse introductory letter from George Ball (of Burpee Seeds), and I have to admit that I'm disappointed and concerned.

I can understand them thinking that the photos are more informative, but these photos aren't very attractive and the catalog looks as if it were put together hastily.

Are there problems over there? They seem in disarray, and I would have appreciated an explanation of the new format.

It's not the end of the world, and if I can't find anything I like better, I'll probably continue to order from them until I feel that the quality of the product has gone down. But I miss the creative, small business, artisanal atmosphere of the old Cook's Garden. And I'm concerned that the lack of attention being paid to the catalog indicates a lack of commitment by Burpee to the company -- i.e. I don't want to see the Cook's Garden go the way of Shepherd's Seeds. (Bought out by a bigger organization, homogenized, and then ultimately folded.)

I wish the Ogden's well. I know they've moved on to bigger, more important things, and I'm happy for their success. But I'm sorry to say that there's now a void in my garden season that I hope some other company steps right up to fill -- and soon!

No order confirmation, as others have mentioned, but my large order of seeds arrived fairly quickly and I have had fantastic germination rates, and am thrilled to have found varieties that I can't find at my local garden center.

The shallot bulbs and rhurarb look very healthy. I did receive good shipping/tracking information. So far, so good.

I placed a small order of vegetable and flower seeds and got my order in less than a week. Some of my seeds were crushed during the mailing process (the company ships small orders in a plain brown envelope) and I wrote to customer service about it. They very promptly offered to send a replacement. I'm impressed and will gladly shop there again.

I love the catalog, it's so much fun to flip through.

I placed a small order of 4 packets of seeds and they arrived safely today. I am pleased with the quick delivery! The only thing that irritated me a bit was that I received no order confirmation. And when I went to the web site to look at the "My Account" section, it said that I had not placed any orders! I contacted customer service yesterday and received a prompt response telling me that the seeds had shipped and would arrive soon. All in all a good experience. Hopefully the seeds will do well!

Ordered seedling trays amd humidity covers - they have the best-sized ones I've found (the 18-cell ones) and they usually sell out of them early in the year. Shipped with tracking number, received right on time. Another great experience with Cook's Garden!

Although they are apparently affiliated with the spectacularly mediocre Park Seed, Cook's Garden has consistently performed well in every respect. They have some of the best selections, not only in vegetable seeds but in perennial seeds as well. Their prices are not low, but their customer service is top-notch and they ship in record time, with a trackable shipment system.

I have ordered from Cook's Garden for years, and I cannot say enough good things about them.

I received the seeds much sooner than I had expected. One item was incorrect. I called customer service. To my surprise, someone picked up right away. They were extremely courteous and apologetic. They let me keep the incorrect item and immediately shipped the correct item to me and no additional cost. It came in less than a week. Their customer service is exceptional. I will definitely be doing business with them again.

I absolutely love Shep's approach. Natural, sound and very instructive. I also love their concentration on greens. The only suggestion I'd make is to get easier to open seed envelopes that reseal.

Fun catalog. Prompt service. All seeds have grown.

I have ordered from them several times and always found the service to be quick. Their seeds are high quality as well, and the selection is good especially if you are looking for unusual varieties that are organically grown.

I have always had wonderful service from this company. There are a couple of things that they sell that I have a hard time finding anywhere else; and they have a great selection of lettuces and other veggies. The catalogue is attractive and the service consistent for many years now. They could beef up on the flowers a bit; but then they are the Cook's Garden, aren't they?

One of the better seed companies with whom I've dealt. Good quality and service. A bit pricey, but good seeds and service.

i really like their seed mixes. the rainbow beet collection, or hot pepper mix, or eggplant mix or cabbage mix. they have lots of different ones so you don't have to eat the same thing all the time.

Excellent variety - excellent rate of return. They are a little pricey, but worth it. The catalog is very informative also.

Good selection of seeds. No problem with germinating seeds.

I've been a longtime customer of Cook's Garden and have always had wonderful service.

Also related to Park Seed and Wayside Gardens. Nicely done catalog, nice selection of lettuce, beans, etc.

The Cook's Garden catalog is the catalog I order from first every year and the only catalog I read cover-to-cover. The quality of their seed is exceptional; I have ordered from them for many years (maybe 10 years?) and always get close to 100% germination (that is not so with the other seed companies I use). It is important to me to trust that the seed I plant will thrive. Their descriptions are helpful to me. If they can harvest something in December in Vermont I know I can count on that plant to produce all winter for me here in the NW. Top ratings for The Cook's Garden from this 25 year gardener!!

A good selection of lettuce varieties. Very expensive prices on almost everything. Also a bit self-serving with all the hype

I placed a very large seed and supply order with Cooks last year and received everything in great shape within 2 weeks! Their customer service is very knowledgeable and helped me out as a first time strawberry and potato grower! I've been comparing prices and really the seed prices are comparable if not cheaper especially for the varieties that are hard to come by! I highly recommend them!

The Cook's Garden tends to overprice its seeds. Other companies offer more seeds per packet and offer better value, but Cook's has an amazing lettuce selection with lots of nonstandard choices. Their descriptions are pretty handy because they're listed by season. And, while their descriptions are a bit hyperbolic their cultivars really do taste great.

Very good selection, and the seeds came up great in my garden! They are kind of expensive, but to me, worth it.

All seeds, very informative black and white catalog. Top pick - Tangy mix mesclun (Japanese mustards, arugula, cress, chicories all in one package. Krausa parsley is also nice.