With spring just around the corner it’s time to start thinking about ordering seeds if you haven’t done so already. Choosing the right seed company is an important task superseded by a number of sometimes daunting questions: do you know specifically what variety you want to plant or are you looking for something different, will you need a small packet or bulk seed, heirloom or hybrid, do you want the option to save your seeds, how about price, quantity, and shipping, what does my dollar support?
I believe the most essential of these questions is whether to choose heirloom or hybrid seeds. Heirloom seeds are varieties that have proven themselves consistently superior for production, distinct characteristics, or desirable traits. For this reason their seeds have been harvested and propagated remaining true to the parent plant for the length of at least fifty years. Several of the main stay, tried and true varieties, are actually heirloom. While some companies distinguish between heirloom and hybrids others do not.
For me gardening isn’t just about knowing in the fall that I have enough food tucked away to get through the long winter, it’s assurance that I’ve help preserve our agricultural heritage while retaining essential knowledge that enables me to provide nourishing sustenance for my family. Heirloom seeds are the fundamental basis of self-reliant food liberation eliminating dependence upon a system that sacrifices principle, nutrition, and sustainability for record yields, efficient transport, and capital gains. Making the choice as consumers to support a market that preserves our dietary heritage can be both affordable and convenient. The following list of seed companies offer a variety of products, online information, and support for the gardening community.
1. Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsavers.org)
With an 890 acre heritage farm located near Decorah, Iowa Seed Savers Exchange maintains thousands of heirloom garden varieties. A non-profit member supported organization dedicated to preserving our garden heritage by conserving and promoting endangered garden and food crops they contribute to both the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the USDA Seed Bank aka the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation. Working to document the history and cultural information of plant varieties, share seed saving knowledge in theory and practice, and offer support thru their cyber community on media such as Facebook, Twitter, their Blog & Garden Forum, Google +, YouTube, and LinkedIn, and their Community Seed Resource Program they go above and beyond in hopes of preserving garden biodiversity. By becoming a member you’ll receive additional benefits such as SSE’s Award-Winning Magazine. Offering good descriptions including species, history, planting, and seed saving information, bulk and organic seeds and free shipping on orders over $40 they are my top choice.
2. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com)
Offering all the basics and lots of extras Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is dedicated to promoting and preserving agricultural heritage and endangered seed species. Specializing in heirloom seeds they have the largest selection in the U.S.A. offering 1750 different heirloom vegetables, flowers, and herbs from over 75 countries. They also offer the best hands on community with three locations nationwide; their farm and village Bakersville nestled in the Missouri Ozarks, the historic seed store Comstock, Ferre, & Co. in Wethersfield Connecticut, and their Seed Bank store at Petaluma, California located in the historic Sonoma County National Bank building. Providing additional education and support through produce exhibits, school gardens, and their online forum idigmygarden.com they offer much more than simple seed supply.
3. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (www.southernexposure.com)
With over 700 varieties of vegetables, flowers, herbs, ground cover, and grains Southern Exposure Seed Exchange strongly supports heirloom seed saving practices. A worker run cooperative located in the rolling hills of central Virginia they do not have an onsite store but operate more as a nationwide network of seed growers. With lots of helpful articles in their Growing Guides & Library along with a list of events across the nation including workshops, presentations, seed saving resources, seed swaps, and variety tasting they are committed to helping spread the seed saving movement.
4. Fedco Seeds Co-op Seed Packers (www.fedcoseeds.com)
Specializing in cold hardy selections with both hybrid and heirloom seeds Fedco is very reasonably priced offering additional discounts on orders over $100 however they have a seasonal shipping schedule which helps them keep their expenses low and their products economical. They ship trees and perennial plants in the spring, fall bulbs and garlic in the fall, seed potatoes and onion sets in April and May, and seeds from January to September. Seed shipping is free on orders of $30 or more with a flat shipping rate of $5 for smaller orders. They have good descriptions including species, pests, and a brief history. They also offer tons of additional informational articles ranging from Seed Saving for Beginners to clearly explaining the dangers of Genetic Engineering. I highly recommend you explore their online site today if for no other reason but to learn something new.
5. Burpee (www.burpee.com)
I love their glossy page color picture catalog! They have good plant descriptions, clearly labelled heirloom varieties as well as hybrids making Burpee a good all-around option. They offer some exclusive heirloom seeds with consistent pricing on varying quantities. On their website you’ll find informative articles, how-to-videos, and ask the experts options providing customers with gardening support. However they do fail to provide species labels helpful for heirloom seed savers.
6. Annie’s Heirloom Seeds (www.anniesheirloomseeds.com)
The thing I found most intriguing distinguishing this site from the others was their seed bank kit. Dried to 5 % humidity stored in a triple layer Mylar bag then sealed in a water proof bucket it boasts a ten year shelf life. Complete with growing guide, 30,000 all heirloom seeds, and optional additional seed saver books this is a fantastic product. This site also offers seed collections, favorites, bulk seeds, organic heirlooms, and $5.99 flat rate shipping. A family owned company that doesn’t offer a huge amount of extended videos, forums, or support they do offer a high quality variety of your most popular heirloom seeds.
7. Reimer Seeds (www.reimerseeds.com)
Although they offer a large selection and variety of heirloom seeds they fail to categorize them very efficiently. By clicking on each individual plant you find a good description including species and an heirloom icon but there’s not much to distinguish them on the main page. With limited extras (articles, advice, events, etc.) they seem to be little more than a basic seed selling company.
8. R.H. Shumway’s Illustrated Garden Guide (www.rhshumway.com)
While they do offer a good variety of heirloom seeds you’d have to know what you’re looking for because they fail to classify their products as heirloom leaving the consumer to do their own homework. They do not list species information and compared to some of the other sites their plant description and background information is vague. Reasonably priced with a larger packet size for your money than some of the other companies, they offer bulk seeds, and free bonus vegetable seeds to orders placed by their March 15th deadline. If you know what you’re looking to order they are a reliable option.
9. Jung Seeds & Plants (www.jungseed.com)
With an average number of heirloom seeds and tons of hybrids the ease of distinguishing the two is enhanced by the H symbol displayed beside the heirlooms however several plants classified by other companies as heirloom are not classified by Jung Seeds & Plants as such so if you are familiar with varieties you seek they may have what you’re looking for. One thing I love about this company is the fact that they sell standard heirloom fruit trees. However I learned from calling the company that even these are still grafted which means the roots of the tree are cold hardy but if you planted a seed from the fruit that it bears its ungrafted roots may not be sustainable in the same region the grafted parent tree grows.
10. Territorial Seed Company (www.territorialseed.com)
Family owned since 1979 this company dedicated to providing their favorite vegetable varieties some of which happen to be heirlooms offers a good variety differentiated from hybrids under the tab Heirlooms/Open Pollinated. They list species and give a good brief description. Focused on “capital-O Organics” they are taking leadership in the evolution of organic agriculture supporting healthier soils and genetically diverse agricultural ecosystems. Selling quantities of 3 gram, 7 gram, or an ounce they aren’t the most cost effective but I admire their commitment to organics. They also offer a good garden planner and growing guides.
Kaira Sargent 