Since we farm on a market garden scale, we order a lot of seeds. Ordering quality seeds with high germination and success is important to us. There are a lot of online seed retailers. Read more about where we order from and why.
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Why should You Order Your Seeds Online?
The largest benefit to ordering your seeds online is increased variety. Online seed retailers offer many more varieties of crops than most big box stores. In addition, most online retailers have more detailed growing information for each crop listed on their website. If you are a new gardener, it is nice to read more about the seed, plant, ideal growing conditions, etc. before you purchase the seed.
where are our favorite places to order seeds?
In no particular order, our favorite places to order seeds are:
- Johnny’s Selected Seeds
- High Mowing Organic Seeds
- Osborne Quality Seeds
- Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
- GeoSeed (professional account required)
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Johnny’s offers a wide variety of produce, herb, and flower seeds. They offer non-GMO seeds, organic seeds, plant starts, and all kinds of supplies. All of their seeds are Non-GMO. According to their website, “For over 50 years Johnny’s has set the standard for high seed quality, meeting or exceeding federal minimum requirements for germination rates, pathogen testing, and traceability.” We have had great success with Johnny’s seeds and they are always adding new varieties. Johnny’s has lots of free resources on their website as well.
High Mowing Organic Seeds
A huge perk of ordering seeds from High Mowing is that all of their seeds are 100% organic certified. As a farm that is focusing on organic growing practices and becoming organic certified, shopping at High Mowing takes the guess work out of determining if the seed is organic or not. All of their seeds are tested for germination, disease, and GMO contamination. In our experience, pricing is very similar to Johnny’s.
Osborne Quality Seeds
This is our first year ordering from Osborne, but so far we have been very pleased with germination and quality of seeds. According to their website, “Osborne Quality Seeds is an independent, family owned seed dealer located in the fertile Skagit Valley of Washington State. They are supplying high-quality seed, their selection includes vegetable, flower, herb, and cover crop seeds–including both hybrid and open-pollinated varieties. Committed to sustainable agriculture, we provide organic options whenever possible in addition to conventionally produced seed.” They also have planting guides and resources on their website so be sure to check those out!
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Baker Creek specializes in heirloom (open-pollinated) seeds. They have a beautiful catalog that is completely free. If the free catalog doesn’t fulfill your needs, you can buy their Whole Seed catalog that is loaded with different seeds and growing information. Not going to lie, their catalogs make me want to grow all of things. In our experience, their seeds have great germination rates.
GeoSeed
Geoseed is a new source for us since we are new at growing flowers. Unfortunately, this source is for professional accounts only. However, they have great pricing and such a wide selection. If you grow flowers to sell, I highly encourage you to check them out.
Other Places to Order Seeds Online
As you can see, this isn’t an exhaustive list of seed companies. There are many more companies out there to order from. While we don’t order from these sources regularly, here are some that we trust:
- MIGardener
- Floret Flowers
- Botanical Interests
- Sunflower Steve
- Stark Bros– while not seeds, they are an excellent source for live plants and trees
More Gardening Content:
- Steps to Take Now to Prepare for the Upcoming Gardening Season
- How to Take a Seed Inventory
- How to Organize Your Seeds
Some of oUr Favorite Gardening Books:
- The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables: All the know-how and encouragement you need to grow – and fall in love with! – your brand new food garden by Jessica Sowards
- The New Organic Grower, 3rd Edition: A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener by Eliot Coleman
- The Tiny But Mighty Farm: Cultivating High Yields, Community, and Self-Sufficiency from a Home Farm – Start growing food today – Meet the best … yourself, your family, and your neighbors by Jill Ragan
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