Favorite heirloom/organic vegetable seed company

[WG Admin]

What is your favorite heirloom/organic vegetable seed company?

[BeeWonderful]

The company I've stuck with for the past couple of years is Botanical Interests in Colorado Botanical Interests. Heirloom Seeds. Organic Seeds.. I like the fact that they process orders really fast and their seeds have an excellent germination rate. So far, they've also had varieties of vegetables that I've been happy with. But it's really nice to get orders quickly!

I've looked around at other companies, too, and might order some things next year from Bountiful Gardens as they have some interesting varieties of beans and squash that simply aren't offered from a lot of other places.

[BooBooBearBecky]

I like Bountiful Gardens and Baker Creek. Both have wonderful web sites with lots of information and a huge variety of non-gmo seeds.

[BeeWonderful]

I tried Baker Creek last year for some vegetables, but I was not as satisfied with the germination rates for the seeds, so this year I simply stayed with Botanical Interests. But Baker Creek's catalog is impressive and I appreciate their stance on GMOs (Botanical Interests also does not sell GMO seed and they've signed the Safe Seed Pledge).

[Equilibrium]

Baker Creek's good.... so are quite a few others out there. My favorite is Heirloom Seeds, HEIRLOOM SEEDS - over 1400 varieties of heirloom (non-hybrid) seeds including heirloom vegetable seeds, heirloom flower seeds and heirloom herb seeds.. I like the quantity of seed they send and I like the germination rates I get from their seed. They've taken the safe seed pledge too.

[jack]

this is really my first year growing vegetables beyond a few tomato plants and herbs. I chose Annie's Heirloom Seeds out of Missouri. I guess I have been pleased, but I think that perhaps if I were to order from a company closer to home that I might have still more success. Hence, I just ordered from an Heirloom Seed Company located in Conn. called Comstock, Ferre. I will plant these cold hardy cruciferous seeds once they come - they should be here soon, but I just ordered them this week.

I don't see any safe seed pledge on their site, but I just now sent them an email asking if they have signed it, and why, if they have, it isn't prominently displayed on their web site. I'll let you know of their response.

On the Annie's seeds, I am having little luck in growing their red peppers. It was the crop I most wanted to have succeed, since organic red peppers are so expensive. But, when I go out there to see the seedling's progress, I am always disappointed. Their broccoli and kale are growing fine, but the cabbage and cauliflower are also lagging. My soil is probably partly to blame, as I simply sheet mulched the area with cardboard and planted through holes in the cardboard. I did not use a raised bed, but this property for many years was a grazing field for milk cows, and none of the soil was stripped when the house was built, so my top soil is quite thick! I fertilize with Neptune brand fish and seaweed emulsion, but that is a laborious way to fertilize. Friday I bought a twenty pound bag of Epsoma organic dry fertilizer. Made of things from feathers to most anything living, it is much easier to use, and I am hoping for better results in the latter part of July and August. This will be looked back upon as the "learning year" for me and my vegetable endeavor.

[jack]

Originally Posted by jack

this is really my first year growing vegetables beyond a few tomato plants and herbs. I chose Annie's Heirloom Seeds out of Missouri. I guess I have been pleased, but I think that perhaps if I were to order from a company closer to home that I might have still more success. Hence, I just ordered from an Heirloom Seed Company located in Conn. called Comstock, Ferre. I will plant these cold hardy cruciferous seeds once they come - they should be here soon, but I just ordered them this week.

I don't see any safe seed pledge on their site, but I just now sent them an email asking if they have signed it, and why, if they have, it isn't prominently displayed on their web site. I'll let you know of their response.

On the Annie's seeds, I am having little luck in growing their red peppers. It was the crop I most wanted to have succeed, since organic red peppers are so expensive. But, when I go out there to see the seedling's progress, I am always disappointed. Their broccoli and kale are growing fine, but the cabbage and cauliflower are also lagging. My soil is probably partly to blame, as I simply sheet mulched the area with cardboard and planted through holes in the cardboard. I did not use a raised bed, but this property for many years was a grazing field for milk cows, and none of the soil was stripped when the house was built, so my top soil is quite thick! I fertilize with Neptune brand fish and seaweed emulsion, but that is a laborious way to fertilize. Friday I bought a twenty pound bag of Epsoma organic dry fertilizer. Made of things from feathers to most anything living, it is much easier to use, and I am hoping for better results in the latter part of July and August. This will be looked back upon as the "learning year" for me and my vegetable endeavor.

Ok, so I wrote to the company, Comstock, Ferre, and recieved a prompt reply from the manager. He said that they have not signed the pledge, and claimed he did not frankly know why. He speculated that because Baker Creek owns them that, by extension, they too fell under the umbrella of the parent company's pledge.

I suggested in a return letter that his target customers are interested in such pledges, and that he may be losing business because of the shortcoming. I suggested he contact the controlling executives at Baker Creek to see if the matter could be rectified. BTW, he assured me that, though the pledge was not signed, the company only sells organic, non GMO seeds.

I have a number of seed packets heading from them now, so I certainly hope he is correct!