[Community_garden] Burpee Seeds - alternatives

[Jack Hale]

Well, I have to put in a mention of our local guys.  As far as I know
they are all still independent.
New England Seed www.neseed.com - relatively new.  Focuses on commercial
growers to some degree.  Donates all of their leftovers at the end of
each growing season.
Comstock, Ferre www.comstockferre.com - claims to be the oldest (1820)
continuously operating seed company in the U.S.  They developed the
Wethersfield Red onion but are now just a distributor with a really nice
retail store.
Charles C. Hart Seed Co. www.hartseed.com - doesn't sell direct to
consumers.  Part of their business is racks in Hardware stores and such.
Another local company apparently still independent.
All 3 of these companies are located within 5 miles of my office.
Nothing really earth-shattering here, but it's really great to know they
are in business.
Has anybody had any experience with Landreth Seed Co.
www.landrethseeds.com?  They certainly have an interesting website and
they claim to have been around since 1784 and also to have the best
selection of heirloom seeds available.  I saw a copy of their catalog
last year and it was rather inspirational.
JH

Jack N. Hale
Executive Director
Knox Parks Foundation
75 Laurel Street
Hartford, CT 06106
860/951-7694

-----Original Message-----
From: community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org
[mailto:community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org] On Behalf Of
Don Boekelheide
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 12:53 PM
To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Burpee Seeds - alternatives

Thanks for the info, Adam.

Well, that stinks.

Steve Solomon, founder of Territorial Seeds, has a list of recommended
seed companies in his book _Gardening When It Counts_ . It's an
interesting and worthwhile read, though he's pretty harsh dealing with
John Jeavons and double digging. There'll be a review in the next ACGA
newsletter (so join ACGA if you haven't already, and you'll get a copy).

Anyway, Solomon's list is:

Stokes Seed, www.stokeseeds.com

Johnny's, www.johnnyseeds.com (a great outfit!)

Veseys Seed, www.veseys.com

William Dam Seeds, www.damseeds.com

Harris Seeds, www.gardeners.harrisseeds.com

King Seeds, www.kingsseeds.com.nz (Aust/NZ)

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange,
www.southernexposure.com (real friends for Southern gardeners, always at
our local sustainable ag
conferences)

Park Seed, www.parkseed.com (local to me - great field day in June if
you are in SC)

Territorial Seeds, www.territorial-seed.com (best catalog cover art, I
always look forward to getting my
copy)

West Coast Seeds, www.westcoastseeds.com

Chase (along with Thomson&Morgan and Suttons, all big UK seed companies,
he gives no website but they should be easy to find). I've used T&M, it
was easy and inexpensive to order from the US, but that was before 2001.
Solomon likes Chase best.).

Organic Gardening Catalogue, www.OrganicCatalog.com
(UK)

Nw Gippsland Seeds, www.newgipps.com.au (Australia)

Plus Solomon recommends these suppliers (edited list - to see all, buy
his book...):

Fedco, www.fedcoseeds.com

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, www.groworganic.com (They are a mainstay,
even though I now live on the opposite end of the US, wish we had a
Southern version).

Renee's Seed, www.reneesgarden.com

Ronnigers, www.ronnigers.com (for spuds)

Select, www.samen.ch (Swiss)

Personally, I also like and use:

Wilhite Seed, www.wilhite.com (Texas-based, good international
collection too)

Wyatt-Quarles, www.wqseeds.com (local Carolina
company)

Kitawaza Seed, www.kitazawa.com (best Asian seed selection, very
reliable)

The Cook's Garden, www.cooksgarden.com

Dr. David Bradshaw, S.C. Foundation Seed Association
(864) 656-2520. Recently retired, Dr. Bradshaw has been gathering and
sustaining historic varieties for 2 decades at Clemson U. Great
resource!

Hida Tools, www.hidatool.com (best for horihori, Japanese field hoes,
all kinds of good solid tools)

Anybody else have any suggestions for good seed sources (or stuff
sources) - or reviews of mine? Let's vote with our dollars.

Don Boekelheide
Charlotte NC

> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 14:36:50 -0500
> From: adam36055 at aol.com
> Subject: [Community_garden] Burpee Seeds
> To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
> Message-ID:
> <8C8FFE1257D45B9-924-80A at FWM-D08.sysops.aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
>  FYI -
>  
> Adam Honigman
> NYC
> 
> 
> 
>
http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2245
> 
>  
> A recent merger now announced says that W.Atlee Burpee & Co. Seeds has

> accepted a deal to be bought out by Seminis. This will mean that from 
> the beginning of 2007 onward, Burpee will be operated as a subsidiary 
> of Monsanto (a.k.a. Monsatan) Co., which has already bought out 
> Seminis. Seminis and Burpee were the two largest American seed 
> companies not affiliated with Monsatan until both were recently bought

> out by the multi-billion-dollar corporation.
> Burpee & Co. was started in 1876 when 18-year-old Washington Atlee 
> Burpee started a small seed business with the help of his mother. The 
> business took off like a space shuttle, and supplied money to buy a 
> second seed-growing farm in California (in addition to the Burpee's 
> famous Fordhook farm in Pennsylvania). They also built "The House" at 
> Fordhook (which looks simply like a huge farmhouse but is a mansion 
> inside), and converted the old family farmhouse to a seed-cleaning 
> facility.
>  
> Behind the scenes, W.A. Burpee was an alcoholic. His drinking led to 
> his untimely death in 1915, at the age of 49. His son David Burpee, 
> aged 22, left Cornell University to take up the reins of the company.
>  
> David Burpee became the P.T. Barnum of the seed business, famous for 
> his use of bells-and-whistles, smoke-and-mirrors advertising hype. He 
> made hybridization mainstream in the seed industry, and helped develop

> chromosomal modification, a predecessor technology to genetic 
> engineering.
> In 1991 Ball Co. bought out Burpee seeds. The Ball leadership 
> conflicted often with Jonathan Burpee (heir to the company fortune), 
> so they fired him in
> 1993 and took away the money that he would have received after 
> retirement. Burpee & Co. began to use Fordhook less for trials, and 
> the California farm more.
> It is unknown as of yet what the Monsanto/Seminis buyout will do to 
> Burpee Seeds.

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