Three years ago, the onion seed cataloger Greg Anthony’s Seed Co. bought Ronninger’s Seed & Potato Co.-a small potato cataloger that mailed fewer than 10,000 books a year-plans were to merge into one new catalog. The resulting title, Irish Eyes with a Hint of Garlic, launched in January with a mailing to 30,000 names, about half of which were rented.
The black-and-white catalog, which sells a wide variety of potato, garlic, and onion seeds, is slated to mail once each winter, says Greg Anthony, president/CEO of the Ellensburg, WA-based company. Anthony won’t disclose the average order size, but he says the catalog’s audience is primarily gardeners over age 50 who live in rural areas. “Potatoes need a lot of room to grow,” he says.
The catalog also has a Website (with two URLs, www.irish-eyes.com and www.hintofgarlic.com), which was developed inhouse. Plans include a switch to printing in color next year, as well as expanding the selection of seeds.