Great seed companies you may not know, part 1
A decade ago, heirloom and open-pollinated, or OP, varieties of vegetables and flowers as well as certified organic seeds were the domain of small, regional seed houses. Today, most mainstream seed companies, such as , , , , , , , and also offer these choices, a change that put many of those small, alternative companies out of business.
Some are still around, however, and new names appear regularly. If you want to try some blue-highway seed companies, to steal William Least Heat-Moon鈥檚 title, try some of these less-well-known seed sellers. Most but not all also publish a print catalog.
: This family-owned Tennessee company grows and sells 鈥渆xtraordinary heirloom and Italian seeds,鈥� hundreds of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. You can find tomatoes from near white to near black and both sweet and hot peppers, but even more special is the eggplant collection: 28 varieties in white, apple green, orange, amethyst, rose, pink, lilac, violet, and best of all 鈥� at least on the color scale 鈥� 鈥渆lectric purple with white clouds.鈥�
: The Ronniger family has been growing certified seed potatoes 鈥� 鈥渢he best all-round bundle of nutrition known鈥� 鈥� for more than 30 years. Theirs is a rainbow inventory, everything from 鈥楻ed Thumb鈥�, 鈥楶urple Peruvian鈥�, and 鈥楢ll Blue鈥� to yellows like 鈥榊ukon Gold鈥�, their bestseller. Traditionalists wedded to white-fleshed spuds can find plenty to like, including the heirloom 鈥楨arly Ohio鈥� and 鈥楢tlantic鈥�, guaranteed for potato-chip making.
: Sixty years old this year, Nichols is still family owned and operated and still sells a topnotch manifest of seeds from its location in Oregon鈥檚 Willamette Valley. Gardening conditions there are the 鈥渂est possible,鈥� but its seeds 鈥� vegetables, flowers, but especially herbs 鈥� will grow anywhere. Even a Connecticut Yankee or a Georgia peach will love its agrimony-to-wormwood herb inventory. Where else can you find 22 basils?
: A new kid on the block, Diane Linsley also grows many of the seeds she offers, especially hard-to-find varieties. Heirloom, rare, and endangered flowers are her metier, but she also offers 100 heritage tomatoes and a small array of old-time vegetable varieties. Most special are her perennial flower seeds 鈥� achillea to viola 鈥� which are suitable for patient gardeners not demanding blossoms the first year.
: Tom Sterns, a hero of the sustainable farming and buy-local movement in Vermont, lists 450-plus varieties of certified organic vegetable seeds, a mix of heirlooms, OPs, and hybrids 鈥� plus a handful of flower seeds. What seeds Sterns can鈥檛 produce on his farm he purchases from other independent growers and a few wholesale seed companies that 鈥渟tand out in terms of their commitment to organics.鈥�
: Filaree is a vampire鈥檚 nightmare: it produces more than 100 strains of certified-organic garlics on its 20-acre farm in north-central Washington. Order early, as 鈥淪orry! Sold Out鈥� is the catalog鈥檚 most frequent annotation for everything from 鈥�Aglio Rosso鈥�, a Creole garlic from the Abruzzo region of Italy, to the the large, artichoke garlic 鈥�Chopaka Mountain鈥�, described as mild 鈥渨ith a tingle.鈥�
: Tomatoes 鈥� seeds for the 鈥渂est tasting, non-hybrid, non-genetically modified, old-fashioned and rarest heirloom tomatoes from around the world鈥� 鈥� are the stock-in-trade of this California firm. It鈥檚 a fest and a feast, and choosing from the many isn鈥檛 easy. The most-ordered varieties were 鈥楥hocolate Stripe鈥� and 鈥業talian Heirloom鈥�. Not your cup of tea? There are 598 alternatives.
: 鈥淰egetable, wild flower, native grass, and herb seeds for a sustainable future鈥� remains the mantra for this company, now in its third decade. The warehouse operations have moved to Arizona from Idaho, but propietor Bill McDorman still focuses on cold-hardy, short-season varieties for people with their heads in the clouds. For a start, he offers 鈥�43 trialed, tested, and notably early and vigorous tomatoes,鈥� most from Siberia.
Karan Davis Cutler is one of eight garden writers who blog regularly at Diggin鈥� It. She's a former magazine editor and newspaper columnist and the author of scores of garden articles and more than a dozen books, including 鈥淏urpee - The Complete Flower Gardener鈥� and 鈥淗erb Gardening for Dummies.鈥� She now struggles to garden in the unyieldingly dense clay of Addison County, Vt., on the shore of Lake Champlain, where she is working on a book about gardening to attract birds and other wildlife.
Editor鈥檚 note: To read more by Karan Davis Cutler, click here. The Monitor鈥檚 main gardening page offers articles on many gardening topics. See also our Diggin' It blog archive and . You may want to visit . Take part in and get answers to your gardening questions. If you join the group (it鈥檚 free), you can upload your garden photos and enter our next contest.
