Ordering organic seeds from catalogs

I garden organically & always order my seeds for starting from Seeds of Change or Heirloom Seeds. Money is tight this year and although I believe in their efforts, the seed cost is pretty high. I see that Park Seeds has a certified organic line of seed at reasonable prices. Anyone had any experience with Park Seeds?

I never had much luck with Park seeds, but have you checked out Fedco? I haven't gotten their catalog for a while and got it this year. They have the best prices I have seen and lots of organics.

Do organic seeds make that much of a difference? Just wondering.

They make a difference in terms of the kind of agriculture you are supporting with the money you spend.

paracelsus,

I'm all about organic gardening though I've never considered that. I was more wondering about in terms of yields, disease resitants,and pest etc.

Well, I have noticed that comparing just any old seeds with the organic seeds I buy from commercial suppliers, that the organic seeds tend to be in better shape. Fewer of them are broken or messed up looking, although there is sometimes more chaff with organic sources. The fewer broken and messed up seeds indicates to me more care in the general treatment of the seed and thus a healthier and hopefully more productive seed.

I have certainly noticed that in general, seeds I have grown organically were much larger and more vital than seeds I have bought that were not organic, even from what I consider to be good sources. For instance, I grew belladonna from seeds I bought from Jelitto Staudensamen, which I consider to be a very good supplier of seeds. The seeds I harvested from my organically grown belladonnas were twice the size of the Jelitto seeds, which were not organic. But maybe my plants were just happier.

Interesting! I might just have to order some then. Thanks!

Finally getting back to this post........ended up ordering my veggie seeds from Heirloom Seeds. I'm with paracelsus, I've always gardened organically, never used any chemicals and prefer to support this type of argriculture. The plants I grow from organic seed seem to be quite healthy. I start a lot of seeds, for myself, family members & friends and they all seem happy with their plants.

Glad you got some seeds. We are big believers in supporting sustainable agriculture, right down to the seeds we buy.

That's an interesting thought. I always figured that if I grew them organically I was avoiding the problems of pesticides to the extent I needed to, but supporting sustainable agriculture is a good goal. I've been using Pinetree and Territorial but I'll have to rethink that.

How do you all start your seeds? I've been using the styrofoam flats from Gardeners' Supply.

i like the jiffy pellets...

I do too, even though they have those nets around them that are made of something that doesn't rot. I keep meaning to try those soil square makers instead and never remember.

you mean those homemade ones in Elliott Coleman's book? i hope in the next year or two we will start using that...

Yeah, it's a sort of stamper thing. You somehow put dirt in it and then press it, and you get soil blocks you can plant in. They seem way more sustainable. But I must admit I have got my shtick down pat with the Jiffy pellets. I even get the supersized ones now so I don't have to pot up at all, just put them in the ground. I get them by the cartload from Harris Seeds. I have always wondered if the soil blocks hold together good.

i get the big ones too, about ot order some as a matter of fact... the thing about the soil blocks is having to buy sterile soil or sterilize your own... but we will work towards it...

Hi,

Check out Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds..........Mo.

Very good looking stuff & reasonable.

KW

Hi,
A great seed source we use for our farm is Sand Hill Preservation (just google it). They will be certified organic this year, and have always used organic methods for seed propagation (they used to spray their squash crops, due to that nemesis of bug the squash vine borer). Also, TurtleTree Seeds, they are a biodynamic group, and they use a lot of small growers to supply organically and biodynamically grown seeds. Getting ready to plant onion seed today, some Bennies Red, Giant Zittau, Ailsa Craig, Clear Dawn, and New York Early.

Howdy folks. I am an organic growers from parts way, way south. I can't recommend any seed suppliers of course, but I can support some of the points being made. Here in Australia we have a Seedsavers network dedicated to preserving heirloom & organic varieties. And its for very good reasons. Our childrens' futures depend on the sovereignty of growers like yourselves & efforts made to protect crops that have been handed down through generations. With companies like Monsanto out there, Terminator Technology & everything else, it would be wise to network, save seed & share as much as you can. We set up seed banks in as many areas as we are able & are always surprised by the huge range of varieties that come out of ppl's backyards. There are something like 2000 strains of tomato in our network for example.
Its a real pity I don't like the things.

Gran, surely you can find ONE mater ya can tolerate!?

I agree with you on ALL points. One reason we should be so grateful for DG, this forum, the seed trading, etc. Likely even the Garden Watchdog & the Products tab can give folks more Organic Seed sources. We have been suppliers in the past, & hope to be back up and running within the year...

Good one. I wish you great success. You are right about the importance of this site & the networking it promotes. I guess it performs for you over there, the kind of function Seedsavers serves here. Good luck again with your return to seed supplying.