[Community_garden] Seeds-Alternatives--Additions and Alphabetical Order

[Sharon Gordon]

More additions welcomed.

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ADDITIONS and Comments:

Botanical Interests
www.botanicalinterests.com
Unusual varieties, some good mixes suited to smaller gardens, excellent
botanical art
No catalog.  Get seeds online or in local stores.

Bountiful Gardens
www.bountifulgardens.org
In addition to a vast collection of heirloom vegetables, they also have some
grains that are hard to find including grains without hulls, cover crops,
and the widger tool for transplanting.  Intensive garden books have good
strategies for growing a lot of food in community garden plots.

Brent and Becky's Bulbs
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/
Excellent selection of quality bulbs.  You may remember them from the
Daffodil Mart.

Evergreen
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/
All sorts of Asian seeds.  Good resource for fall cool weather garden seeds
(but order your fall seeds with your spring order.)
No catalog.  Order online.
Multilingual dictionary of vegetable names.
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/vegetablenames.html

Graines Baumaux-France
http://www.graines-baumaux.fr/
Great European seed resource.  Also has interesting flower mixes. Website in
French.  I haven't been able to get a catalog in the last few years.  Not
sure if it's due to politics or to things going missing at the PO as the
catalog is very beautiful..  If anyone can get one and would share it with
me after you order, I (Sharon) would be grateful.  gordonse at one.net

Hungnong-Korean
http://www.seminis.com/about/history.jsp
http://www.seminis.com/products/
They were bought by Seminis.  What some people are doing is buying from them
one last time and saving seed of op seeds or only getting items which can't
be found at more sustainable places.
Look for seeds in Asian grocery stores.

Landreth
They have interesting heirloom items.  The company is so sold that every US
president from Washington to Roosevelt ordered from them.  Last year the
owner was at the Philadelphia Flower show with seeds, so if you go you might
check there too for seeds.

Meyer Seeds
Have a lot of different kinds of beans.
some seed coated with toxic chemicals
http://www.meyersseed.com/

Monticello
www.monticello.org/shop
Heirloom seeds including the sorts of plants that Jefferson grew or
introduced.

Nichols
www.nicholsgardennursery.com
They have a good variety of hard to find seeds plus books, cheesemaking,
sourdough, wine and beer making items for people who want to create more of
their own food.

Path to Freedom--Peddler's Wagon
This is the family that grows 6000+ pounds of food a year in their yard on
1/10 acre.
http://www.pathtofreedom.com
Water saving ollas for watering under drought conditions or water
restrictions
http://pathtofreedom.com/peddlerswagon/

Plants of the Southwest
www.plantsofthesouthwest.com

Richters Herbs
www.richters.com
The greatest variety of culinary, medicinal, dye, and multi-use herbs.


Sand Hill Preservation
http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/
You might remember Glenn Drowns as the teen in the Seed Savers literature
who collected heirloom squash.  He still has a lot and many other types of
heirloom vegetables.

Seeds from Italy
http://www.growitalian.com/
Over 350 kinds of Italian seeds, mostly from Franchi Sementi.

Seeds of Change
http://www.seedsofchange.com/default.asp
Good variety of heirloom seeds.

Vermont Bean
https://www.vermontbean.com/vbsiteDefault.aspx
An amazingly diverse collection of beans.

Unwins-UK
http://www.unwinsdirect.co.uk/
The owner is especially fond of large produce that tastes good and produces
prize winning vegetables.  Once at a show I asked what a particular onion
tasted like and they plucked a bowling ball sized onion out of the display
and passed it to me so I could smell it.  It had a rich sweet onion smell
like a cross between a sweet yellow onion and a vidalia.
They are also famous for their sweet pea flowers.

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Companies which have signed the Safe Seed Pledge:
http://www.gene-watch.org/programs/safeseed/sourcebook.html

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SEED LIST--ALPHABETICAL

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, based in Missouri.
http://www.rareseeds.com/
They sell only heirloom varieties.
Their selection of seeds is great and their catalog has news stories related
to GMOs.
Also check out their magazine
http://www.rareseeds.com/index.php?page=magazine

Botanical Interests
www.botanicalinterests.com
Unusual varieties, some good mixes suited to smaller gardens, excellent
botanical art
No catalog.  get seeds online or in local stores.

Bountiful Gardens
www.bountifulgardens.org
In addition to a vast collection of heirloom vegetables, they also have some
grains that are hard to find including grains without hulls, cover crops,
and the widger tool for transplanting.  Intensive garden books have good
strategies for growing a lot of food in community garden plots.

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.


Chase/HDRA-UK
Solomon likes Chase best.
http://www.chaseorganics.co.uk/
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/

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.

The Cook's Garden, www.cooksgarden.com

Evergreen
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/
All sorts of Asian seeds.  Good resource for fall cool weather garden seeds
(but order your fall seeds with your spring order.)
No catalog.  Order online.
Multilingual dictionary of vegetable names.
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/vegetablenames.html

Graines Baumaux-France
http://www.graines-baumaux.fr/
Great European seed resource.  Also has interesting flower mixes. Website in
French.  I haven't been able to get a catalog in the last few years.  Not
sure if it's due to politics or to things going missing at the PO as the
catalog is very beautiful..  If anyone can get one and would share it with
me after you order, I (Sharon) would be grateful.  gordonse at one.net

Harris Seeds, www.gardeners.harrisseeds.com

Hungnong-Korean
http://www.seminis.com/about/history.jsp
http://www.seminis.com/products/
They were bought by Seminis.  What some people are doing is buying from them
one last time and saving seed of op seeds or only getting items which can't
be found at more sustainable places.
Look for seeds in Asian grocery stores.

JLHudson
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/


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

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

Kitazawa Seed, http://www.kitazawaseed.com (best Asian seed
selection, very reliable)

Landreth Seed Co.
www.landrethseeds.com
a)  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.
b) Landreth Seeds is the oldest seed company in the US. It relocated from
PA to Baltimore. The history is available on their website... it's worth
checking out. Yes, they are heirloom seeds.
c) They have interesting heirloom items.  The company is so sold that every
US president from Washington to Roosevelt ordered from them.  Last year the
owner was at the Philadelphia Flower show with seeds, so if you go you might
check there too for seeds.

Meyer Seeds
Have a lot of different kinds of beans.
some seed coated with toxic chemicals
http://www.meyersseed.com/


Monticello
www.monticello.org/shop
Heirloom seeds including the sorts of plants that Jefferson grew or
introduced.

Native Seed SEARCH
Regionalism is important as are seed sources that are outside of the
usual seed supply - such as - Native Seeds SEARCH -
(www.nativeseeds.org) not a "seed supplier" but you can get southwest
U.S. and Mexico regional seeds from them and hopefully maintain your own
seed source. Check out their Gardener Network program where you too can
test native varieties in you garden climate.

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.


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

Nichols
www.nicholsgardennursery.com
They have a good variety of hard to find seeds plus books, cheesemaking,
sourdough, wine and beer making items for people who want to create more of
their own food.

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

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

Plants of the Southwest
www.plantsofthesouthwest.com

Renee's Seed, www.reneesgarden.com
Used to be Shepherd's seeds.  Now even more great seeds.  Nice botanical
art.
No print catalog.  Get seeds online or at a local retailer.

Richters Herbs
www.richters.com
The greatest variety of culinary, medicinal, dye, and multi-use herbs.


Ronnigers, www.ronnigers.com (for spuds)

Sand Hill Preservation
http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/
You might remember Glenn Drowns as the teen in the Seed Savers literature
who collected heirloom squash.
He still has a lot and many other types of heirloom vegetables

Seed Savers Exchange www.seedsavers.org

Seeds from Italy
http://www.growitalian.com/
Over 350 kinds of Italian seeds, mostly from Franchi Sementi.

Seeds of Change
http://www.seedsofchange.com/default.asp
Good variety of heirloom seeds.


Select, www.samen.ch (Swiss)

S.C. Foundation Seed Association
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!

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

Stokes Seed, www.stokeseeds.com

Suttons-UK
http://www.suttons.co.uk/default.aspx

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

Thompson and Morgan-UK
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/
I've used T&M, it was easy and
inexpensive to order from the US, but that was before
2001.

Unwins-UK
http://www.unwinsdirect.co.uk/
The owner is especially fond of large produce that tastes good and produces
prize winning vegetables.  Once at a show I asked what a particular onion
tasted like and they plucked a bowling ball sized onion out of the display
and passed it to me so I could smell it.  It had a rich sweet onion smell
like a cross between a sweet yellow onion and a vidalia.
They are also famous for their sweet pea flowers.

Vermont Bean
https://www.vermontbean.com/vbsiteDefault.aspx
An amazingly diverse collection of beans.


Veseys Seed, www.veseys.com

West Coast Seeds, www.westcoastseeds.com

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


William Dam Seeds, www.damseeds.com

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


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NURSERIES:

Brent and Becky's Bulbs
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/
Excellent selection of quality bulbs.  You may remember them from the
Daffodil Mart.

 Burnt Ridge

 Isons (skuppernong grapes) etc.



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SUPPLIERS:

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

Fedco, www.fedcoseeds.com

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



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).

Path to Freedom--Peddler's Wagon
This is the family that grows 6000+ pounds of food a year in their yard on
1/10 acre.
http://www.pathtofreedom.com
Water saving ollas for watering under drought conditions or water
restrictions
http://pathtofreedom.com/peddlerswagon/


****************************

Sharon
gordonse at one.net