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Blog

My Top 5 Seed Company Recommendations

2/6/2019

4 Comments

 
There’s a philosophical and a practical side to gardening, “the why” we do it and then “the how.”
 
In most of my videos, I cover “the how” of gardening, giving you advice and recommendations on everything from ripening tomatoes, to composting, to establishing a food forest. And in the case of my video today, the Top 5 Seed Companies that I would recommend.
 
However, before you dive into watching, I wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about seeds, delving more into the philosophical, before you get to the practical.
Picture
In the chaos of early spring, I often take seeds for granted. I’m so focused on the “doing” aspect of gardening i.e. prep the soil, plant the seed, water, repeat, that I don’t spend too much time in contemplation mode.
 
When I allow myself to get quiet, to really consider the meaning and potential of seeds, it sort of blows me away. Every season, each tiny seed that I have in my hand holds the potential for generations of food. GENERATIONS.
 
Because if I continued to save the seed from those plants year after year, to cultivate varieties that do well in our cold climate, to share those seeds with my friends and neighbors and to have them do the same with different plants, then we start to move towards a truly local and resilient food system.
 
Of course, that’s how it used to be. In an age where we can walk into a grocery store and get whatever we crave on demand, we often forget how our ancestors were inextricably tied to their food and to their land. Only since the advent of industrial agriculture has this connection been severed, taken from the realm of the commons and put under the control of the corporations.
 
Fundamentally, this is why I have a garden. Yes, the fresh tomatoes are delicious but for me, it’s about reclaiming our food from the monocultures, the pesticides, and the chemical fertilizers that impoverish our soil, our health, and our communities.
 
Our food system has a long way to go in terms of seed banks in local communities across the country, each adapted to that particular region. In the meantime, My Top 5 Seed Company Recommendations are good go-to places to get your seed. The first two companies are regional sources for seeds and the next two are companies who are at the forefront of seed diversity, seed saving, and reintroducing heirloom varieties.
 
As we retrain ourselves as agricultural workers, as we rediscover truths that used to be so much a part of the fabric of what it was to be a human being, we start to appreciate the ‘little things’, like seeds, that are actually quite significant. They are what connect us to the earth, to our food, to our bodies, and to our spirit.
 
So though I may talk about the practical in this video, I encourage you to come back to the philosophical, to the heart of gardening, and to the potential of the seed this gardening season. ​

Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed... Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders. – Henry David Thoreau
4 Comments
Jim Baerg
2/7/2019 12:45:47 pm

Terrific! I'll check out those local sources.

Here's a recommendation: In addition to Johnny's which focuses on northern climates, organics and is employee owned, you might consider their friendly Maine rival: FEDCO. Fedco has a totally different style (their catalog is a trip) and is built on the coop model.

Reply
Kareen
2/7/2019 12:49:15 pm

Yes! Thanks for suggesting Fedco, Jim! I love that they are built on the Co-op model.

Reply
TRINA PONCE DE LEON link
1/29/2020 03:50:29 pm

Kareen,
Thanks for the seed companies you advise. Have you heard or know Caleb W, a gardener from MT who owns 3 or so greenhouses & author of book on winter backyard gardening? I borrowed his book from the Livingston Library but had to return it after a few weeks. I attended his presentation hosted by Paradise Permaculture Institute in the Livingston library. In the Q&A, I asked if the cucumber seeds that self-pollinates was advised for greenhouse were not many bees come in some seasons. He said yes it is safe to use that seed, not genetically modified. Have you heard of this seed that self-pollinates? He said we should chose only heirloom seeds, not hybrids because the technology now is so complicated in hybriding that they are almost GMO. What do you say about his statement? I sometimes get seeds from seed library in Livingston but it is limited & not organic or not heirloom most of the time. I take care of a geothermal greenhouse in property of landlord & no neighbor is interested. I may soon get the subpod from Australia and need to study vermiculture. Do you teach it as a separate course? I may come this Thursday Jan. 30 to the lecture in the Bozeman library at 6pm. If you will be there, we can talk. Thanks for your services to the community.

Reply
Kareen
1/31/2020 09:07:34 am

Hi Trina,

Thanks for your questions. I don't know Caleb but I definitely agree with him with regards to the cucumber seeds and heirloom seeds. If possible, it's good to go with open pollinated, heirloom varieties, if you can. With regards to your question about vermiculture, I believe I already sent you the video that I made that goes over vermicomposting. I will not be offering a class specifically on that this season, however, there are a lot of resources online which I'm sure you can find to help you out. Read what you can but then a lot of it will be experimenting with the subpod once you get it. Good luck!

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