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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>, Market Farming <marketfarming@lists.ibiblio.org>, Seed Keepers <seedkeepers@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Seed Keepers] List of Safe Seed Companies ~ Please Share
  • Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:49:46 -0500

List of Safe Seed Companies ~ Please Share
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150125798706208&id=631228445
by Adrianne Schmidt on Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 12:26pm

The first list below is a list of Safe Seed Companies- the first few listed under each region sell only organic- then those below sell some conventional seed as well, but it is noted if they sell Monsanto seed. If they do, avoid their conventional seed or check the second list, which lists Monsanto's vegetable varieties.

The second list below is a list of popular Monsanto seed. It would be very lenghty if all were included, but there are links to Monsanto's products pages so that you might do further research. Many seed re-sellers buy seed from a broker who has purchased a huge block of seed, the broker breaks up the order, and then re-sells to numerous mail-order seed companies. So, many companies carry the same seed. And unfortunately many of these seed companies then re-name the seed, adding to the further confusion as to which is a Monsanto seed. :-(


NorthEast _____________


High Mowing Organic Seed

www.highmowingseeds.com

100% organic certified seed: vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers.

Over 450 organic heirloom, open-pollinated and organic hybrid.


Vermont


Dirt Works

www.dirtworks.net



100% organic vegetable seeds and hardy organic heirloom seeds. Some open pollinated.

Grain, hay, forage, wildflowers, compost, organic fertilizers, pest control and accessories as well.

Note there are some complaints about shipping times posted on-line. Dirt Works was hit hard during recession and we hope they can hire more help.

Safe Seed Pledge.

Vermont



Turtle Tree Seed

www.turtletreeseed.com



Vegetables, flowers, herbs, grain and cover crops.

Mostly organic- clearly marked.

Biodynamic, open pollinated, no hybrids.

New York





Fedco

www.fedcoseeds.com

Untreated vegetable, tubers, herb, & flower seed. Many certified organic.

Cover crops, soil amendments & supplies for organic growers.

Safe Seed Pledge. No GMOs, etc. Good prices. Order early.

Website a bit difficult to navigate.

Maine



Heirloom Seeds

www.heirloomseeds.com

All seeds are open pollinated (non-hybrid) and untreated.

No GMO. Many Organic. Good selection of organic.

Many garden packages. Organic fertilizers.

SW Pennsylvania





Harris Seeds

www.harrisseeds.com

22 organic veg choices- large selection of untreated seed.

Sells only large quantities. Sells Monsanto conventional seed.

New York



Johnny's Seeds

www.johnnyseeds.com

Johnny's has 324 organic products, including 198 vegetable seed varieties.



Many heirloom. Safe Seed Pledge.Still carries 40 Monsanto varieties, which is about 4% of their conventional vegetable varieties. Their intention is to replace them. See Monsanto vegetable seed list below, if you wish to avoid.

Maine



Cook's Garden

is owned by Burpee Seeds.

www.cooksgarden.com

50 Organic Vegetables and Herbs. European and American heirlooms. Good recipes.

Their conventional vegetables might be Monsanto seed.

Check list below for list of Monsanto vegetable seed.

Pennsylvania





Mid-Atlantic _________________



Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

www.southernexposure.com

Vegetables and herbs. Most certified organic, all untreated.

99% of seeds open-pollinated. No GMO. Safe Seed Pledge.

Grows 40% of own seed. Also sells bulk. Nice catalog.

Virginia



Sow True Seed

sowtrue.com

Vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Only non-hybrid, untreated, open-pollinated, heirloom and organic seed.

Safe Seed Pledge.

Asheville, NC



Seeds for the South

www.seedsforthesouth.com

Untreated heirloom vegetable and herb seed.

Very small selection of organic. Sells Monsanto seed.

Georgia





Park Seed Company (bought Sow Organic Seed Co. in 2007)

www.parkseed.com

Flower, vegetable and herb seeds.



Untreated, non-GMO, and some Certified Organic seed.

Note- it is easy to go off their organic pages onto the conventional



and they sell some conventional Monsanto seeds.

See list of Monsanto products below.

South Carolina





MidWest _____________

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds



rareseeds.com

Vegetables, flowers, herbs, bulk seed.

1400 heirloom varieties. Hugh selection. Good prices.

Only open-pollinated seeds: pure, natural & non-GMO. Good reviews.

Missouri



Botanical Interests

www.botanicalinterests.com/store/index_index.php

400 untreated vegetable, flower, herb seeds. A large selection of Certified Organic.

Signed Safe Seed Pledge. No-GMOs.

Beautiful packets- good info. Nice website.

Colorado.



Sand Hill Preservation



www.sandhillpreservation.com

700 heirloom seeds- vegetable, herbs, flowers, grains. Root vegetables, poultry.

Produce 90% of the seed they sell.

Untreated, some certified organic.

Signed Safe Seed Pledge. No GMOs.

Ordering only by regular mail.

Iowa



Seed Saver's Exchange

www.seedsavers.org

A non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of heirloom seeds.

Largest non-governmental seed bank in the United States. Maintains more than 25,000 endangered vegetable varieties. Hugh selection of open pollinated vegetables, beans, potatoes, flowers and herbs. Many certified organic. Good prices.

Iowa





Heirloom Acres Seeds

www.heirloomacres.net

1000 varieties of open pollinated and heirloom seed.

Good selection of Certified Organic.

Very few seeds treated.

Missouri



Nature's Crossroads



www.naturescrossroads.com

Seed varieties grown in Indiana for Midwestern gardeners.

Vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers. Safe Seed Pledge.



Most seed certified organic. Produce much of their own seed.

Indiana



Grannys Heirloom Seeds

www.grannysheirloomseeds.com

Good selection of heirloom vegetables and gardening suplies. Strawberries, onions

No organic but all open-pollinated. Signed Safe Seed Pledge.

Inexpensive peat pots.

Missouri





Northwest ________



Abundant Life Seeds

www.abundantlifeseeds.com

Certified Organic and Biodynamic vegetable, flower and herb seeds, garlic and potatoes.

Garden accessories. Safe Seed Pledge, no GMOs.

Oregon





Wild Garden Seed

www.wildgardenseed.com

Certified organic farm-original varieties of salad greens, vegetables, herbs and a few flowers.

Certified Organic heirloom and other open-pollinated seed varieties adapted for the Pacific Northwest.

Oregon



Victory Seed Company

www.victoryseeds.com

Rare and heirloom seeds. All seeds open-pollinated, non-hybrid and untreated.

Signed Safe Seed Pledge. No GMOs. Good size selection.

Oregon



Irish Eyes - Garden City Seeds

www.irisheyesgardenseeds.com

Potato, vegetable, flower and garden seeds.

Most all seeds organic, many heirloom. All untreated.

Washington



Territorial Seeds

www.territorialseed.com

Large selection of vegetable, herb, flower. Safe Seed Pledge.

Sells a small amount of Monsanto's conventional seed. See list below.*

Oregon





Southwest _____



Bountiful Gardens

www.bountifulgardens.org

A non-profit and a project of Ecology Action which does garden research and publishes books and research papers. Large selection untreated, open-pollinated, non-GMO, heirloom seed. Vegetables, herbs, flowers, grains, mushroom kits, green manures, compost and carbon crops. Good prices.

Some Certified Organic and Biointensive.

Willits California





Seeds of Change

www.seedsofchange.com

100% organic certified seed: vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

Over 1,200 varieties: many heirloom, open-pollinated, native and hard-to-find.

New Mexico



Peaceful Valley

www.groworganic.com

Certified Organic Vegetable and Herb Seeds and much more. Packets or bulk.

Sells own brand of Certified organic- plus sells Seeds of Change, Renee's Garden Seeds, Turtle Tree Organic Seeds, TomatoFest Organic Seeds, Horizon Herbs Organic Seeds.

Grass Valley, California



Seeds Trust

www.seedstrust.com

Vegetable, wild flower, herb and grass seeds

Sells only open-pollinated and untreated seed. Organic seeds are marked with an asterisk.



Signed Safe Seed Pledge. Sells many of their own seeds. Website a bit challenging.



Specializes in high-altitude and southwest seeds.

Arizona





Sustainable Seed Company



www.sustainableseedco.com



Only heirloom open-pollinated seed. No hybrid, treated or gmos.

65% of all heirloom vegetable seed is grown on organic farms in California.

Over 100 varieties of heirloom seeds for less than a $1.

Petaluma, California







Native Seeds

www.nativeseeds.org

Non-profit. Sells 350 varieties of heirloom arid-land adapted seed.

Arizona





Natural Gardening Company

www.naturalgardening.com

Vegetable, herb and flower seeds. Many organic and open-pollinated.

Organic plants, but hybrids too. Sells some Monsanto seed. Check list below.

Petaluma, California





___________________________________________________





Popular Monsanto (Seminis) seeds-

for full listing of Seminis seeds hit vegetable name, which will take you to appropriate Seminis' page. To see De Ruiter varieties hit De Ruiter link under cucumber, eggplant, tomato, pepper. To make things even more confusing, each mail-order seed company might resell the same seed but use a different name for it. The only way you can be 100% positive you are not buying a Monsanto seed is to check with the re-seller or buy from a company selling their own seed or organic or open-pollinated.





Beans: Brio, Eureka, EZ Gold, Goldrush, Kentucky King, Lynx, Xera...



Broccoli: Captain, Heritage, Liberty, Packman, more...



Carrot: Nutri-Red, Sweet Sunshine, Karina, Chantenay hybrids, Chantilly, Lariat



Cauliflower: Cheddar, Fremont, Minuteman, more...

Cucumber : Babylon, Dasher II, Daytona, Homemade Pickles, Speedway, Sweet Slice, Yellow Submarine, Sweeter Yet...link to De Ruiter cucumber list...



Eggplant: Black Beauty, Dancer, Fairy Tale, Gretel, Hansel, Tango, Twilight...De Ruiter Eggplants...



Lettuce: Baby Star, Blackjack, Esmeralda, Lolla Rossa, Monet, Red Butterworth, Red Sails, Red Tide, Summer time...



Melons: Alaska, Bush Whopper, Casablanca, Dixie Jumbo, Early Crisp, Stars and Stripes, Sugarnut, more...



Okra: Cajun Delight



Onion: Arsenal, Candy, Hamlet, Mars, Red Zeppelin, Superstar, many more...



Peppers: Aristotle, Biscayne, Camelot, Caribbean Red, Cherry Bomb, Dulce, Early Sunsation, Fat and Sassy, King Arthur, Northstar, Red Knight, Serrano del Sol, Sahuaro, Super Chili, Valencia, many more...De Ruiter pepper varities...



Pumpkin: Buckskin Pumpkin, Orange Smoothie, Prizewinner, more...



Spinach: Bolero, Cypress, Melody, Unipack 151, many more...



Squash: Autumn Delight, Blackjack, Bush Delicata, Butterstick, Daisy, Early Butternut, Fancycrook, Gold Rush, Latino, Lolita, Patty Green Tint, Really Big Butternut, Seneca (all), Sungreen, Sunny Delight, Table Ace...



Tomato: Baby Girl, Big Beef, Beefmaster, Beaufort, Celebrity, Favorita, First Lady I and II, Early Girl, Geronimo, Golden Girl, Maxifort, Pink Girl, Sunguard, Sun Chief Sweet, Sweet Million, Trust...link to De Ruiter tomato varieties...



Watermelon: Bambino, Crimson Glory, Royal Flush, Royal Star, Stargazer, Starbright, Stars and Stripes, Tiger Baby, Yellow Doll



_______________________

_______________________







As an alternative way to shop for seed, visit the non-profit Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) Organic Seeds Database- www.omri.org/seeds - lists certified "final handlers" for organic seed. List is by produce. Pick a vegetable and find a seller.



________________________

________________________



Here are some of the brand names that Monsanto owns and 'packages' their seeds as:



American Seeds, Asgrow, Campbell, DeKalb, De Ruiter, Diener Seeds, Fielder's Choice, Fontanelle, Gold Country Seed, Hawkeye, Heartland, Heritage Seeds, Holdens, HPS Seed, Hubner Seed, icorn, Jung Seed, Kruger Seeds, Lewis Hybrids, Peotec, Poloni, Rea Hybrids, R.H. Shumway, Seeds of the World, Seminis, Seymour's Selected Seeds, Specialty, Stewart, Stone Seed,Totally Tomatoes, Trelay, Vermont Bean Seed Company, Western Seeds. ****

But remember seed companies buy Monsanto seed in bulk

and then repackage it under their name as well...





References:

* www.seedalliance.org/Seed_News/SeminisMonsanto/

www.indyweek.com/indyweek/the-seeds-of-vegetable-diversity

**www.deruiterseeds.com/Corporate/Monsanto



***www.etcgroup.org/en/node/198

****www.msu.edu/~howardp/seedindustry.html



Taken from : http://inspirationgreen.com/organic-vegetables-start-out-as-seed.html



  • [Seed Keepers] List of Safe Seed Companies ~ Please Share, Lawrence F. London, Jr., 01/28/2011

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