The four heirloom seed companies, focused in part on keeping multiple varieties alive and in the the hands of gardeners, in order. All of these companies sent seeds quickly and none gouged me for postage and handling.
Victory Seeds (Oregon). With a somewhat more limited selection than the next two companies, but several varieties/species I couldn't find elsewhere, their prices are about half of what those other companies are. They're small enough that when you contact them, you get a real reply, likely from the owner. If you live in the Pacific Northwest in particular, you definitely should be dealing with them (as it's possible plants in your particular climate, seed-saved over generations, might have adapted to that climate better than seeds grown over generations in another climate.) All of my greens germinated at 100% and the only seed I struggled with was lavender, which is notoriously difficult to get to germinate well, so I can hardly blame them for that. For a $40 order, I got a free herb collection, and I tell you, I don't know if I have a healthier plant growing out of everything than the parsley they sent me. It laughs at frost and grows by leaps and bounds. A great product for a low price. They do not spend a lot of money on fancy photography for seed packets, but they do put the seeds in ziplock tiny plastic containers in a paper envelope, which is plenty good for me. The lack of photography is probably why they can keep prices so low. I prefer low prices to high marketing.
Price: A+ Germination rates: A Human contact/responsiveness/honesty: A+ Overall grade: A+
Seed Savers Exchange (Iowa). While located in Iowa, what this group is is a not for profit organization dedicated to saving heirloom seeds, comprised of many volunteers growing and saving seeds in their own farms or yards. They have great training on how to do this, available for free, and for that alone, I will continue to support them.They also trained the Baker Creek guy, who monetized what they keep as a not-for-profit endeavor, so they're the source, as far as I know, for the modern heirloom/seed-saving movement. They also give free seeds with larger orders. One problem with them, to my mind, is they don't have seed reviews on their website. To figure out if a variety is good for your climate, slow growing or not, prone to get a certain pest that you have a lot of, is more or less productive than average, you have to hunt for reviews elsewhere. Still, for rare seeds I can't find at Victory Seeds, I'll use them in the future.
Price: B Germination rates: A- Human contact/etc: A- Overall grade: A-
Baker Creek Seeds (Missouri). Certainly the top selling heirloom seed company in the US, they have a great reputation for responsiveness despite their size, and also cool stuff for people local to the Ozarks, like a pioneer village, festivals, and a seed shop. Their full catalog, The Whole Seed Catalog, is a book worth buying, for its gorgeous photography and fun stories about seeds. Every X dollars you spend, they send you a free seed packet to try out. The problem with all that gorgeous photography is that it drives the seed prices up, so everybody pays for it, as everybody pays a sort of surcharge for them having so many seeds available (not all of them will sell, so to have them available, the economics of it all means that all prices need to be a bit higher to compensate). Their germination rates for the few seeds I bought from them were terrific. Except for the bonus seeds, I can't say I had any contact with them at all, so I can't rate anything but the quickness with which they mailed seeds to me during prime seed buying time.
Price: B- Germination rates: A Human contact/responsiveness/honesty: A. Overall: B+
MI Gardener (Michigan, but the seeds are sourced through Baker Creek and elsewhere). At 99 cents per seed packet, a frugal person like me might jump on this company. He manages to stay low-tech but still put a photo on his seed packets, which is smart. He buys in bulk from other places and then divides the seeds out and resells them. The problem is, while the seed packets that said "25 seeds" on them did in fact have 25 seeds, but the packets that said "150 seeds" on website and packet both had 72 and 78 seeds. Can he not count past 70, or is he intentionally scamming us? Despite the low price, if you're not giving me what you promised, I cannot even give you highest marks for that. The one place I see someone rating his company as problematic, he sure got defensive. A fledgling company should just make it right to build good will and conduct their arguments in private, not public. It made me not want to contact him to see if he'd make the cheat on seed count right. Just easier to avoid him in the future.
Price: C Germination rates: A- Human contact/honesty: F Overall grade: C-
Now on to big box store-purchased seeds from national companies that distribute to such places.
Dollar Tree. Labeled "American Seed Co." but apparently actually sourced elsewhere, possibly from the same company/seed farms that produced Ferry-Morse seeds (?!? It really is a mystery, and I'm a damned good Google searcher and can't entirely figure this out), these seeds are sometimes available at Walgreens as well for similar prices. At Dollar Tree, in February and March until they sell out (and they will), they are four packets for a dollar. Yup, you heard that right: 25-cent seeds. Sometimes there aren't as many seeds in each packet as there might be elsewhere. But a bell pepper seed packet I bought had 31 seeds in it. You really need more than 31 pepper plants this year? I don't. As I grow two other varieties of sweet peppers as well, this pack'll last me four years, and pepper seeds are a breeze to save after that. The seeds germinated and grew well in most cases--only one packet had spotty germination. When I lived in Arizona, I grew tomatoes in containers for four years from one such seed packet and harvested many tasty little tomatoes. There aren't many varieties at my local Dollar Tree, though I've seen online people purchase varieties my store did not carry. Most are heirloom/open pollinated varieties (which make sense--it'd be cheaper for them to do it this way), so you could seed-save yourself, easy with the tomatoes and peppers and squash, and for one 25-cent purchase, have tomatoes, peppers, and squash for the rest of your life. Seriously, what's to complain about? Even if one of ten packs had poor germination rates, you're still well ahead of the game. Want to have a veg garden for next to nothing? Use your native soil if possible, hoe up weeds or lawn for a space to plant your seeds, use a few fallen branches for trellising, and for three bucks, you can feed yourself veg all summer long. Crazy good value.
Price A+++ Germination rates: A- Overall grade: A+
Ferry-Morse. These are available at Lowe's and elsewhere. I got pretty good germination out of them. The $2=$2.50 price isn't great--certainly not compared to Dollar Tree--and while there are more varieties on the racks than Dollar Tree had, it isn't all that impressive a selection where I live. A mix of hybrids and open pollinated varieties. (You'll have to google varieties to figure out which is which, for they don't tell you on the packet, which is irritating.) In germination examples, bok choi did well for me, crookneck squash considerably less well. (though in their defense, it's harder to assess how seeds sown outdoors are performing, as birds may have grabbed a seed or two.)
Price: B Germination rates: B Overall grade: B
Burpee. Seriously, the worst germination rates of any brand I bought. I grabbed an herb, a flower, and a vegetable, just to try them out to do a review like this, and of 20-odd seeds sown, only three came up. NOPE! With prices just under Ferry-Morse's, they also give you fewer seeds. And they use plastic packaging which is not helpful or handy or easy to close, and it is not good for the planet either. But it's the germination rates that earns them the worst grade of the bunch
Price: B- Germination rates: F Overall Grade: F
Next year, then, my seed sources will be limited to:
1) My own saved seeds and seeds on hand from this year's purchases
2) Dollar Tree seeds
3) Victory Seeds
4) Seed Savers Exchange for rare varieties I have a hankering to try
No comments:
Post a Comment