Welcome to Hoover's Seasonal Produce!
Welcome to our 2022 update!
Greetings Southern tomato growers- thanks for dropping by!
I am just now (late December) starting my seasonal update of the website and will continue this thru early spring. Things change week to week it seems and I will try to reflect this with continued updates.
As usual, each year I seek out new (and old!) varieties of tomatos for you all to consider. This year is no exception. One of the things I try to do is support small, family owned seed producers or larger ones dedicated to preservation of unique varieties. I maintain some strains of tomatos myself- a few of which are not available anywhere else, or the strain has shifted and is no longer correct. An example of this is Fahrenheit Blues; you can read about this within the listing. I also pay close attention to recommendations from my customers. At any rate, you should find some great ones within!
Our biggest hurdle continues to be the USPS; last spring they nearly put me out of business. Those of you who know me, know that I stand behind my plants. Shipping is something I have little control over once your box leaves my hands. I take it very personally when what should take 3 days to get to you turns into 10-15 days. Spring of '21 was a total failure as far as the postal system was concerned. About 40% of my shipments were abysmal- lost boxes and outrageous delays were the norm. Some of my customers required 3 (!) repeated shipments. I absorb these costs and it does not take a mathematician to recognize this does not work. We are rethinking what will work best for you folks. I have a problem with high shipping cost and am trying to figure the best way around this. Currently, I have the ordering ability turned off on the website until I decide how to deal with this. I suspect the post office is getting better but I have my reservations. Things WILL get better, I have faith.
One last thing before I move on to other parts of the website- my window of time for sales is going to be a bit shorter this year. Pretty much draw a line in your mind using the Northern border of Arkansas as my limit and then coast to coast. We all have a planting time from about April 1st to the 20th or so as being ideal. This is the time I will have most all varieties listed available.
I am just now (late December) starting my seasonal update of the website and will continue this thru early spring. Things change week to week it seems and I will try to reflect this with continued updates.
As usual, each year I seek out new (and old!) varieties of tomatos for you all to consider. This year is no exception. One of the things I try to do is support small, family owned seed producers or larger ones dedicated to preservation of unique varieties. I maintain some strains of tomatos myself- a few of which are not available anywhere else, or the strain has shifted and is no longer correct. An example of this is Fahrenheit Blues; you can read about this within the listing. I also pay close attention to recommendations from my customers. At any rate, you should find some great ones within!
Our biggest hurdle continues to be the USPS; last spring they nearly put me out of business. Those of you who know me, know that I stand behind my plants. Shipping is something I have little control over once your box leaves my hands. I take it very personally when what should take 3 days to get to you turns into 10-15 days. Spring of '21 was a total failure as far as the postal system was concerned. About 40% of my shipments were abysmal- lost boxes and outrageous delays were the norm. Some of my customers required 3 (!) repeated shipments. I absorb these costs and it does not take a mathematician to recognize this does not work. We are rethinking what will work best for you folks. I have a problem with high shipping cost and am trying to figure the best way around this. Currently, I have the ordering ability turned off on the website until I decide how to deal with this. I suspect the post office is getting better but I have my reservations. Things WILL get better, I have faith.
One last thing before I move on to other parts of the website- my window of time for sales is going to be a bit shorter this year. Pretty much draw a line in your mind using the Northern border of Arkansas as my limit and then coast to coast. We all have a planting time from about April 1st to the 20th or so as being ideal. This is the time I will have most all varieties listed available.
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