Seed Saving & sources
Resources for seed saving
Seed Saving with Casey O'Leary
Basics of Seed Saving
A Beginning Guide to Saving Seeds
Seed Safe Storage
Seed Safe Storage Chart
Sources for buying Seeds
Have you ever stepped out of a brightly lit building and looked up at the stars? At first you see only a few of the very brightest ones and, gradually, as your eyes become accustomed to the light, more and more magically appear in the night sky until soon there are more than you can count, more than you could have imagined. Well, it’s the same with seeds: when you first begin to grow from seed you see and recognize the common everyday ones, Early Girl tomatoes, Kentucky Wonder green beans, California Wonder bell peppers, but soon, as you begin your exploration of the seed universe, you become aware of the spectacular diversity and variety of available seed. How can we resist wanting to sample a bit of the breathtaking bounty? When you combine that curiosity with the immutable fact of our challenging climate it only makes sense to pursue the search for the perfect seed. The following is a listing of some interesting seed sources we like to use. If you know of other out-of-the-ordinary sources please let us know at (growifcga@gmail.com) and we will try to include them in the next update of the site. Listings in boldface are our favorites.
Preferred Seed Sources
Johnny’s Selected Seeds www.johnnyseeds.com
Foss Hill Rd. Albion, ME 04910 (207) 437-9294
Wide variety of hybrid, heirloom and open-pollinated seeds. Informative catalogue.
Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org
3076 N. Winn Rd. Decorah, IA 52101 (319) 382-5990
Non-profit dedicated to preserving seed diversity.
Informative website, many tutorials on seed saving.
Heirloom and open-pollinated seeds.
Renées Garden Seeds www.reneesgarden.com
6060A Graham Hill Rd. Felton, CA 95018 (888) 880-7228
Beautiful, unique, delicious and productive seeds from all over Europe.
Fedco Seeds http://www.fedcoseeds.com
(207) 873-7333
Selections particularly adaptable to cold climates, well respected.
Abundant Life Seed www.abundantlifeseeds.com
P.O.Box 772 Port Townsend, WA 98368 (360) 385-7455
Non-profit with open pollinated and heirloom seeds.
Additional Seed Sources
Nichol’s Garden Nursery www.nicholsgardennursery.com
190 North Pacific Highway Albany, OR 97321 (541) 928-9280 Hybrid, heirloom and open-pollinated seeds.Unusual herbs.
Territorial Seed Co. www.territorial-seed.com
20 Palmer Ave. Cottage Grove, OR 97424 (541) 942-9547 Hybrid, heirloom and open-pollinated seeds.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds www.rareseeds.com
Mansfield, MO (417) 9224-8917 Good selection heirloom and open-pollinated seeds.
Vermont Bean Seed Co. www.vermontbean.com
Garden Lane Fair Haven, VT 05743-0250 (803) 663-0217 Source of heirloom and open-pollinated seeds.
Seeds of Change www.seedsofchange.com
621 Old Santa Fe Trail #10 Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 438 8080 Source of heirloom and open-pollinated seeds.
Burpee Seed Co. http://garden.burpee.com
300 Park Ave. Warminster, PA 18991 (800) 888 1447 Been around forever - no longer family owned but still lots of variety.
Evergreen Enterprises http://garden.burpee.com
P.O. Box 17538 Anaheim, CA 92817 (714) 637-5769 Oriental vegetable specialists -- Over 200 varieties from Japan, Taiwan, China, etc.
Totally Tomatoes www.totallytomato.com/
P.O.Box 1626 Augusta, GA 30903 (803) 663-0016 Same as above.300+ varieties!
Richter's Herb Specialists www.richters.com
Goodwood, Ontario, Canada L0C 1A0 Tel. 905 640-6677 Excellent selection of herb seeds and plants.
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply www.groworganic.com
P.O.Box 2209 Grass Valley, CA 95945 (888) 784 1722
Vesey's Seeds Ltd. www.veseys.com
York, Prince Edward Island, C0A 1P0 Canada (800) 363-7333 Extensive field trials of both open-pollinated and hybrid seeds. Many short season varieties.
Seeds of Italy www.seedsofitaly.com
Distributors for Franchi Sementi, an Italian seed company founded in 1783
The Pepper Gal peppergal.com
P.O.Box 23006 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33307 (954) 537-5540 Peppers. peppers, peppers!
Native Seed Search www.ecoseeds.com
526 N. 4th Ave.Tucson, AZ 85705-8450 (509) 9641-7016 Conserves and distributes diverse varieties of native and southwest agricultural seed and their wild relatives.