It’s 2020 and Offbeet Gardener is back in action! Wintertime is seed catalog time, and I received mine in the mail a couple weeks ago. Let me tell you. Now is admittedly one of my favorites parts of the gardening experience — this dreamy and hopeful period of time after the holidays when my attention shifts to the coming Spring and all the potential it holds.
In this space, there is no tomato blight, every leaf if perfectly green, it rains on schedule, and all those new varieties I want to try are smashing successes. And while reality always shakes out a little less than rosy (or at least not quite as planned), I’m always excited to see my mid-winter gift of seed catalogs in the mail. It’s also a welcome throwback to sit with an actual hard copy catalog and dog-ear the pages or circle things I want to go back to.
If you’re hoping to sow some revolutionary seeds in the garden this year and are looking for a place to start, you’ve come to right place. Here are my top three seed suppliers, and why I love them.
Hudson Valley Seed Co.
Hudson Valley Seed Co. is special because not only because of the quality seeds they grow on their own farm, but because their packets are beautiful too. Founded by former librarian Ken Greene in Gardener, New York, Hudson Valley Seed Co. started out as a seed library program, which switched over to a commercial operation focused on preserving heirloom and open-pollinated seeds in 2009.
Every year, Hudson Valley Seed Co. issues a call for artists to contribute new designs for their Art Pack line, which run a little bit more expensive than the standard paper packets. Sow seeds, support artists! They’re so worth it as a keepsake from the garden, and I’m trying to think of a creative way to hold onto and enjoy these. The 2021 call for submissions is now open, so if you’re an artist, check it out here.
If you’re local to the greater New York and Hudson Valley region, you can find their seeds in some retail locations as well. I know you can find art packs at the New York Botanical Garden gift shop! Speaking of, if you need a gift for that special gardener in your life, they have an online gift shop for that too.
Seed Savers Exchange
Seed Savers Exchange is the real deal when it comes to preserving rare, open-pollinated heirloom varieties and connecting gardeners to share their homegrown seeds. Since 1975, they’ve maintained a seed bank at their Hertiage Farm in Decorah, Iowa. Today, the seed bank is now the largest non-governmental seed bank in the country, and SSE has 13,000 members and 20,000 plant varieties. Here’s a short video to learn more about the Seed Savers Exchange story.
Want to get in on the action and help contribute to this important work? You can become a member and receive an annual yearbook to being sharing seeds with other member gardeners. (This could also be a unique and meaningful holiday gift, now that I think of it.) Saving and sharing genetically diverse seeds will only become more important as we enter the 2020s, and Seed Savers Exchange is the perfect place to start.
Truelove Seeds
Truelove Seeds is a newer supplier, and they’ve quickly become one of my favorite places to buy seeds. Based in Philadelphia, they focus on culturally important seeds and supporting small-scale growers committed to community food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture. Truelove Seeds is a fantastic site to buy from if you’re looking for harder to find and culturally specific seeds — they just might have them! Some examples are huacatay, a tall marigold used in Peruvian cooking, and callaloo (amaranth), which is popular in many parts of the Caribbean.
My favorite part of how they’ve organized the site are the different collections listed here, which drive home the commitment to cultural preservation.
- African Diaspora Collection
- Ark of Taste Collection
- Italian Collection
- Roughwood Seed Collection
- Syrian Collection
Go Forth and Buy Seeds!
Though it may not seem like much, supporting seed suppliers who work to keep heritage and culturally important plant varieties going and in good health is no small thing. And it’s something we can do as home gardeners to work with (not in opposition to) the land and our communities.
What are your favorite seed catalogs or websites for browsing and buying seeds? Let me know!
