Comments regarding High Mowing Organic Seeds

WARNING - Don't depend on this vendor. Ordered and paid for garlic in August, which they would send in October. Yesterday, tried to access my account and could not get in. Today (October 8), I just got a notification from High Mowing that they would not be fulfilling the order. Now I am scrambling to find seed garlic which needs to be planted NOW! HMS referred me to another site where I could buy 50% of amount of seed garlic, not in my original variety choice, at 150% of price. And, what makes it even better, High Mowing has not refunded my purchase (which should have happened even before I was noticed.) SOOO DISAPPOINTED.

I am currently in the midst of choosing seeds for 2017, as are many other gardeners. Although these reflections apply to last year’s growing season, others may learn from my experience and I am inspired to make a report.

In November 2015 I received a High Mowing Organic Seed catalog offering free shipping. I took the bait, ordering 8 varieties on November 15th, 2015.

Starburst Carrots arrived 5 ½ months later (April 2, 2016), well beyond the winter window that would have allowed me to prepare carrot seed-tapes in my “non-busy” season.

Eleonora Basil, developed to resist mildew, was badly affected by that malady despite our very dry summer. A competitor's Eleonora fared much better.

Provider Bush Beans had a 2016 date on the package, but I encountered germination poor enough to call for a second sowing. Once they got going, they were excellent and this is the bright spot in this order.

For my annual indoor seeding of Allium each February, the Cabernet Onions held 125 seeds in the pack (not merely 100 as stated, which felt generous) but only 54 sprouted, a germination rate below 50%. I allotted considerable space on my seed starting shelf for these with little reward.

Jaune Flamme tomato seeds were “packed for 2015”, not the upcoming growing season of 2016.

The same was discovered for Lemon Basil.

Flat Leaf Parsley and Green Arrow Shell Peas both had “2016” stickers placed over “2015” stamps. Sadly, I bought 2 packets of Peas, planning to use the second one for 2017, and now those seeds are 2 years old instead of just one.

These 4 date discrepancies came to light upon my April sowing day. It went over like the lead balloon it is. Boy did I feel stupid for ordering early…. and also for not looking closely at every seed pack the day it arrived. Blind Faith. I have not encountered this from any other seed company in the past. My revised seed shopping strategy for the future will include waiting until the new year begins prior to placing seed orders. Although it may be common and legal and even ethical to sell 2015 seed up until December 31st, by failing to give me their freshest seeds, High Mowing lost me as a future customer.

Terrible customer service. No response to several voice mails and emails. They sent an email stating they sent me a package of seeds, even gave me tracking number, but the USPS does not recognize the number (as in, it doesn't exist). But they won't respond to me to see if we can figure out what happened.

"On Mar 6, 2015 11:59 AM, High Mowing Organic Seeds responded with:

Thank you for your feedback and for making us aware of this customer service failure. Please accept our humble apologies for the breakdown in communication. We greatly appreciated the opportunity to speak with you earlier this week. Our Sales and Customer Service team is eager to help! We can be reached by phone at (802) 472-6174 or by e-mail at questions@highmowingseeds.com."

I purchased 5 packs of seeds: Dill, Collards, DMR, Lettuce, Red Lettuce, Basil. So far the only thing that germinated was the dill. I didn't even get one plant sprouting with the other seeds I can't say I have experienced anything like it. Complete failure. I have emailed them but gotten no response. Maybe their busy.

"On Sep 26, 2013 8:11 AM, High Mowing Organic Seeds responded with:

We greatly appreciate your feedback. Please accept our sincere apologies for the poor germination results with our seeds. As we've said before, seed quality is of utmost importance to us. All of our seeds are monitored closely by our Quality Control Team, and tested regularly for germination in our on-site lab. We have re-sent our initial response to your inquiry, which included the following link to some excellent information about the many factors that can affect germination: http://www.highmowingseeds.com/Factors-Affecting-Germination...

Our guarantee clearly states that we will offer reimbursement or replacement seeds to customers who are experiencing issues related to seed quality. We look forward to working with you to quickly reach a fair and equitable resolution.
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