The Business of Seed Buying

Such is the day and age in which we live, where we can and should think about the many facets of where our dollars go. When I chose seed companies, I do so because I like the companies and what they stand for and their seed grows well. Often, they are small businesses and I know my dollars go further than with a company like Burpee.

I also enjoy supporting small businesses in this way. Yes, I do love to save seed from time to time, but I am not one to save seed from any cucurbits, corn, peppers, eggplants, radishes, carrots, or even most of my flowers. I leave that business to the seed companies whose scale assures robust genetics. Plus, I grow a lot of hybrids so my ability to save seed is limited. I will occasionally save some early tomatoes, too, knowing those first ones were very likely self-pollinated (and not cross-pollinated, a misfortune if you want to grow the same exact fruit next year).

What you don’t see on my list are companies I don’t support. And as much as this is an inclusive list, it’s also an exclusive list, meaning I’ve weeded out companies that don’t align with my values.

If you think gardening isn’t political, you’re wrong. There are politics to consider when shopping for seeds. It was well before I began to notice discrepancies in the quality of the seeds that I had misgivings about supporting Baker Creek Seeds. I veered away from them quickly after my initial order in 2018, though the seed I ordered has last many years (I’m still growing Musselburgh Leeks from that 2018 purchase). We were really unhappy with the germination rates and seedling vigor of many varieties, and had many seeds that didn’t grow true to type, meaning their seed producers had some hybridization or cross-contamination of seed going on. I’ve heard from over a handful of you this week that you also found their seeds to be of similar low quality. I know, their glossy catalog is ridiculously enticing, but that’s just marketing working it’s magic. To further complicate matters for them, numerous online gardening scandals have marred their reputation over the past 4-5 years, for good reason.

To name a few of the controversial events: there’s been Bundy boycotts in 2019, support of Joel Salatin circa 2020/21, and ongoing speculation about appropriating seeds from Indigenous communities. It’s a lot to sort through, to be sure, and I acknowledge they are also a family-owned, small seed company like many who do make my cut. Yet, you can probably find comparable seeds elsewhere if you don’t want your dollars going to their family business.

I stopped ordering from them in 2021, and found alternatives to that pink nasturtium I so adored at Kitchen Garden Seeds, Eden Brothers, and Renee’s Garden, where I just placed a small seed order tonight.

Why I Love the seed companies I support

Now let’s also discuss for a minute why I love the companies I do support. Most notable to me is Seed Savers Exchange, whose former Board president, Rowen White, is an active Indigenous seed steward. During her tenure there, she worked to rematriate many seeds from their vast seed bank into Indigenous communities across the continent. High Mowing Organic Seeds has made a concerted effort over the last several years to elevate the stories and voices of BIPOC farmers and gardeners, earnestly working to diversify the culture within the farming and gardening world, critical work to help acknowledge the Black agriculturists who, under enslavement, built the country’s wealth and whose expertise educated colonists who profited greatly from it. When we support companies whose work includes these efforts, our dollars are going further in immeasurable ways. To me, this is really important to know what these companies stand for.

And many of these companies are employee-owned, too, like Johnny’s Seeds and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. That’s pretty unique as well.

Adaptive Seed works to bring back open-pollinated seeds that have been sunset by major seed proprietors (like Bejo seeds, for example, who grows most of the hybrid brassicas I buy from Johnny’s) in favor of hybrids. I’ve been impressed with Adaptive’s open-pollinated cabbages which is helping me unwind my beliefs that brassicas like broccoli and cabbage need to be hybrids to perform well for me.

That being said, I admit that I don’t know very much about some of these companies I support, for better or worse: Wood Prairie, Territorial Seed, and Renee’s Gardens, for example.

The Usual Suspects

Here are the seed companies I most often support, more or less in order of most to least dollars spent:

Johnny’s Selected Seed (most often for brassicas, onions, melons, and flowers)

Seed Savers Exchange (a bit of everything, even garlic some years)

High Mowing Organic Seed (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, flowers, brassicas)

Adaptive Seed (peppers, brassicas, dry beans, winter squash, and flowers)

Wood Prairie Farm (organic seed potatoes)

Botanical Interests (a little bit of everything, I love that I can buy their seeds locally at our garden center!)

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (peanuts and sweet potatoes)

Fruition Seeds (tomatoes, sesame, ginger, garlic, flowers, and spinach)

Territorial Seed (brassicas, garlic, and sometimes other veggies, occasionally)

Native Seed Search (flour corn and dry beans)

Keene Garlic (garlic, when needed)

Artisan Seeds (aji amarillo and Mareko Fana pepper seeds)

Renee’s Garden (magyar paprika seeds)

Sandia Seed (hatch chilis, will order for the first time this winter)

Honorable Mentions

While I’ve not ordered seeds from these companies, I would and should:

• Experimental Farm Network
• Two Seeds in a Pod (Turkish seeds)
• True Love Seeds
• Cultivating the Commons
• Uprising Seed
• Siskiyou Seed
• Victory Seeds (lots of dwarf tomato seeds)
• Kitchen Garden Seeds
• Fedco Seeds

and many more!

Please chime in with your favorite seed companies. I’m sure I’m missing many good ones.