Heirloom Seed Companies for the Edible Landscape

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• SEEDS, SEEDS AND MORE SEEDS

Seeds I use (click to enlarge)

I recommend that you get seeds that are easy to germinate, will have excellent taste, and that are organically grown.  Heirloom seeds  have been used and grown by generations of gardeners and deemed worthy. They are also open pollinated and not hybridized.  This means if you let your plants go to seed, you can harvest that seed for next season’s crop.

You can find many varieties of fruits and vegetables in seed catalogs.  Start by picking your favorite foods  and ones that taste best home grown.  Tomatoes are a perfect example. It’s hard to ship a ripe tomato, and unripe ones never taste good.  You can find  many unusual tomatoes in the catalogs that you would never see in a store.

I also recommend starting out with seeds that are easy to germinate. A rule of thumb is the larger the seed the easier it is to grow.  A bean seed is large and you can put it deep enough in the soil that it will not dry out quickly.  A small seed, like carrot seed, has to be kept on the surface of the soil and kept consistently moist.  It’s a little harder to get good germination from these seeds. Some seeds are better sown in pots and transplanted and others need to be sown directly in the ground.  To find out about your seed be sure to read the directions on the packet, or look it up online.

Just keep trying and experimenting.  Starting plants from seeds can be challenging, but also incredibly rewarding.  The following are some great seed catalogs that carry heirloom and open pollinated seed. When you click on the catalogs below you will find that they have a lot of information about what to grow and where to grow and when to grow your chosen seeds.

• Seeds of Change
• Peaceful Valley Farm Supply
• Terroir Seeds
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Tomato Fest – Heirloom Tomato Seeds
• Hudson Valley Seed Library 

California Poppy seed from my garden

In the picture on the left you can seed the pods of California Poppies from my garden. They’re easy to pick and wonderful to sow in the Fall.  To buy them is fairly expensive.  To save your own is free and way more fun.