I love seeds.  This is not a surprise.  All growers love seeds.  They represent hope, they ARE hope, right in a tiny package.

SO…..I bought a whole CRAP-TON of HOPE this year.  And I am not done, because this year I am in need of a crapton of hope.

Seeds represent the futures, they are the future, a tiny plant’s packaged DNA and tiny food source all in a tightly bound package, waiting, just waiting of right circumstances to come ALIVE, to GROW.

Kate’s Top 4 Seed Companies

 1.  FEDCO.

• Hands-down my favorite seed company in the entire world.  This is a company based in Maine, and is amazing for finding locally sourced, non-GMO, cold-hardy varieties.
• I would label most as heirloom also, for what its worth.  I think I love reading the pro duct descriptions in their newsprint-seed catalog as much as I love the seeds themselves, which as you can imagine is a lot.
• The seed packages are bare bones-plant information is not always printed on the packets and they are devoid of pics, but the product is of the highest quality and the price is rock-bottom.
• Fedco has several divisions:  tubers, trees, bulbs and growing supplies.  I love all of the them.  I learned about t-tape drip irrigation through their catalog and am a die-hard convert.                                         https://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/

2.  Seed Saver’s Exchange.  Awesome true heirloom seed bank that relies on members for support in many ways.  You can buy great seeds from them too. http://www.seedsavers.org/

3.  Peaceful Valley sells non-GMO and organic seeds and is located in California.  My favorite thing about Peaceful Valley is that it is part of GrowOrganic.com which has phenomenal videos about all types of gardening.  They also sell supplies- I bought my first coldframe from them 15 years ago.  It lasted until last year. https://www.groworganic.com/

4. Johnny’s Selected Seeds.  Another Maine-based company that sells packets a bit more pricey than Fedco, but with pretty pictures, planting info and a different type of variety- they have a wonderful assortment of micro greens, peppers and tomatoes. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/               Some fun facts about Johnny’s:

• My favorite seed from them is LUNCHBOX PEPPER.  Buy.  Grow.  Eat.  They are the cutest, tastiest little bell peppers you will ever find.  And, as you guessed, they can fit right in to your kid’s lunchbox.  Sadly, ours never did, but that is because they were eaten so fast.

  

  Lunchbox Pepper Mix from Johnny’s

• Johnny’s has an awesome tool selection.  They have a whole tool-design-engineer staff that works with farmers (you may have heard of Eliot Coleman) to build, test and manufacture tools for the small farmer.
• Johnny’s also has a great selection of season-extension products.  I bought my hoop benders from them and can now bend metal pipes to build both high and low tunnels for growing food through the winter.

5.  This year I also ordered from The Thyme Garden Herb Company, based in Oregon.  I haven’t planted the herbs yet, but this small, family owned organic seed company looks mighty fine and I am excited to grow a wider variety of herbs. http://www.thymegarden.com