When new organic gardeners experiment with starting their own vegetables from seed, the endless possibilities are exciting. Who knew there were more than 600 varieties of heirloom tomatoes alone with which to experiment? However, with these possibilities comes a question: There aren’t many organic seeds at the local big box store, so where can a gardener find a wider selection? Organic farmers face different challenges, as they seek vendors who can provide organic seeds in large volumes.
Although well-known seed purveyors like Burpee are offering more organic seed choices to customers than before, small vendors cater to organic gardening customers with unusual varieties. Some small seed companies have facilities wholly devoted to organic production, meeting certification standards for organic farms. While this summary of 10 organic vegetable seed companies isn’t a comprehensive listing, it provides a springboard for gardeners and organic farmers who wish to patronize smaller businesses.
Blue River Hybrids, established in 2005, seems like a young company, but its founder has prior experience in the organic farming industry as the developer of NC+ Organics. Blue River Hybrids caters to organic farmers, providing large volumes of organic seed for agricultural crops like alfalfa, soybeans, and corn.
Great Harvest Organics conducts extensive testing of new seed varieties that grow well under organic cultivation. They sell organic wheat, soybeans, corn, and alfalfa to small farms.
High Mowing Organic Seeds services home gardeners as well as commercial growers with more than 450 varieties of organic vegetable, herb, and cover crop seeds. Founder Tom Stearns believes in corporate social responsibility, and practices this by donating seed to hundreds of community groups and hosting free educational seminars.
Irish Eyes Garden Seeds specializes in organic potato and garlic seed. Their reward point program gives shopping money to customers to use on future purchases.
Lonesome Whistle Farm offers a CSA (community supported agriculture) program for gardeners lucky enough to live within 30 miles of their Eugene, Oregon farm. For the rest of us, the website allows gardeners to choose from rare organic vegetable and grain seeds, which promotes their mission of preserving genetic diversity.
Seeds of Change is one of the older sellers of organically grown seeds, providing heirloom and rare seed varieties to the public since 1989. If gardeners have ever planted ‘Butter and Eggs’ marigold or ‘Purple Wave’ mustard, they are growing one of the original varieties developed by Seeds of Change.
Snow Seed Organics sells organic vegetable seed to commercial growers, and they also provide organic grass and pasture seed mixes to organic ranchers. The extensive trials they perform on their California farms helps them identify varieties with superior vigor and disease resistance for the following growing season.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange serves the Mid-Atlantic region with high performing vegetable and grain seeds. Ninety-nine percent of their organic seeds are open-pollinated, and they encourage customers to save their own seed. They feel that genetically altered seeds and plants pose biological, cultural, and economic threats, and they pledge never to provide any GMO materials to their customers.
Territorial Seed Company supports home gardeners with a library of instructional videos that tells you how to start seeds, when to harvest, and how to extend the growing season. Their vegetable seed offerings include novelties like purple orach, a leafy vegetable, and the black coco bean.
Welter Seed and Honey Company has an organic seed conditioner certification, which means that they clean and process their seed according to strict organic standards. They sell a wide range of organic grains, grasses and cover crops, including oats, alfalfa, clover, buckwheat, and ryegrass.
Sources:
Seed World
Midwest Organic Services Association
Most homeowners have probably spent hours looking at the different types of garden seeders. You may have even come across…
When it comes to vehicle lovers, cleaning their cars on a regular basis is essential to maintaining the paint job's…
Gas chainsaws are the perfect tool for a variety of outdoor tasks, including chopping up logs for firewood, clearing brush…
A home can be a daunting project, one that takes some time and energy to maintain. With hard work, determination,…
Today ginger is grown all over tropical and subtropical regions in Asia, in parts of Africa and South America, and…
Onions are one of the most popular vegetables in the world, and growing onions is a snap in the home…