Hello all, I would love to hear from you all. There are so many seed sources out there that people don't know about and I would love to hear what your favorites are. What are your favorite seed sources? The big online companies? The small "mom and pop" specialty seed companies? A local business, nursery, or gardener you know? Do you just rely on the seed racks at your local big box store? Please share, I am always looking for new sources to try!
I really like the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange http://www.southernexposure.com/ they have huge variety and most importantly postage is reasonable and that is sometime difficult to find from a seed seller. I was going to order 4 packets of seeds from one very well known source last year and they were going to charge me $8 postage, that was more than the seeds cost. They said is was because they wrapped their packets in bubble wrap and insured them when mailing.....no one else does that and I have never had a problem with the quality or the timely delivery.....so I told them what they could do with their postage charges. I have ordered from and also bought Burpee seeds locally and Ferry Morse locally, I like both of them. Most of the seeds offered at the big box stores are also on line and since I have ordered from many of them I have no problem buying some at the stores.
personally a big fan of johnnys seeds http://www.johnnyseeds.com/ and tomato growers supply company http://www.tomatogrowers.com/ both have a very nice selection. years ago use to get everybody's catalogs and order a little of this,little of that.all those catalogs with glossy pages of wonderful looking veggies... once you added up all the postage it was almost the same as all the seeds just as @toni mentioned... have learned the last couple years to look at the 4 seasons and what can be grown in them.. are they a long term crop or a short term crop. long term crops<sometime that ties up space for a extended amount of time 60+dtm> tomato,peppers,eggplant,melons,corn,carrots, Brussels sprouts..etc short term crops<sometime that can be grown in a quick amount of time 50 or less to dtm> radishes, lettuce, beets,bush beans,bok chio,spinach..etc the nice thing about short term crops<depending where you live> is that you can plant more once you have harvested the first planting.. back to seeds... before ordering will look at both long and short term and have it all mapped out on paper..how many of what<mainly the 3 major long term plants as i mentioned earlier>. so with everything mapped out see what you have left over from last year, seeds do have a shelf life... heres a basic guide to seed longevity... http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1999/4-2-1999/veggielife.html if you like what you are growing look at how many seeds are in that packet.. could be 30-250 seeds look up their shelf life if their longevity is more than 3 years. dont keep buying those packets at x.xx each, buy the next size up<if they offer it> heres an example. yes we go though a ton of lettuce here.. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetabl...d-2739GP.html?cgid=butterhead-lettuce#start=1 packet 250 seeds 5.15 5m seed pack 15.10 if you only buy by the packet that would be 20 of them at the cost of 103.00, thats 87.90 you just wasted +shipping.. in some cases you might not go though all the seeds before their date, but the savings out weigh everything.. plus you can always give some seeds to another gardener...... if you are looking to try something new yes only buy a packet, you might not like it or it did not work out in the garden for various reasons... theres always 1 or 2 experimentally seeds tried here every year.. everyone has their preferences in seeds hybrid, heirloom, determinate, indeterminate....etc google seed catalogs there are a ton out there and 99% are free. see what they have, bet you can cross reference them to 1 or 2 catalogs. the more you can save on seeds, the more you can spend on your soil...... hope all this makes sense............
Major, that is a tutorial on seeds--thank you! I ordered from Seeds n' Such for the first time this year and am happy with the germination rate. Also the shipping is quite reasonable, never more than $2.95. https://seedsnsuch.com/ My old tried and true cut down on the number of seeds in a packet and upped the shipping, so after years of ordering I gave them the heave-ho. Locally I buy Livingston or Ferry-Morse seeds when they have something I just can't resist trying, or larger packets of flower seeds.
@marlingardener my dw calls me an anal gardener. who,what,where,how much,how long to water. she hates when they send me out of town for an extended time. we can,freeze or dry a lot of our veggies, need to get though the winter. will over plant have certain people that the extras go to... mainly all my vendors that i deal with locally<one hand washes the other>......
I just purchased some flower seeds from Mary's Heirloom Seeds for the first time. For "save the pollinators" flower seeds are 50% off plus anything over 10 bucks is free shipping until February 10th. I got $20 worth of seeds for $10 plus free shipping. Pretty good deal for giving them a shot. The size of the seed packets is definitely important. Some sites like Seeds Now, have smaller packets for 99 cents. Perfect for trying new things. I don't have a huge garden so the smaller packets for most things are perfect for me. And to be honest, for most thing the small packets from them have almost as much seeds as the packets I buy at the store. A lot of the seed companies put a lot of focus on cool or cold climate veggies. I need the opposite, plants that do well in hot and humid. Eonseeds is a small company that has a section just for hot and humid and also sells some veggie seeds developed at the University of Hawaii which are supposed to do well in the heat.
yes growing Florida can be a challenge. but starting seeds early enough indoors and some shade cloth once planted late in the season. you could do great.. if you look at johnny seeds there are plenty of heat tolerant seed verities ....... nothing like pissing off the neighbors you picking fresh veggies while they are buying it.... what are you looking to grow?
Major, like you we can and freeze, and eat a lot fresh. We always intentionally over plant because our local food pantry accepts fresh produce and the clients appreciate having fresh greens, beans, tomatoes, etc. A diet based on canned corn and green beans gets pretty boring for them. Last summer I nearly caused a riot with a big basket of cucumbers!
Only places I buy are veggie fruit stand here locally for plants @ $1.99 a six pack with many having two or three plants in each slot except tomatoes. A feed store locally for bulk seed like peas, beans, corn ect but nothing is expensive except the corn at $12. a pound. Most seed like lettuce, beets, squash is $.40 for enough to last me 2 seasons. Anything I can`t get here I buy on ebay. Have never paid more than $ 1.50 for shipping. Most are free shipping.
we have a state farmers market here in gso that we hit every spring dw get a couple flowers for her beds, will walk all the vendors and see what they here pretty much they have the same thing, but theres always that one little vendor who has some thing that i want to try. years ago one vendor specialized in Asian veggies, he got us hooked on bok chio been growing and eating ever since. thats the nice thing about seed catalogs they have such a wider variety to choose from. took years of trial and error to find the perfect plum/paste tomato, now johnnys does not sell them but tomato growers has them.
