Heirloom Seeds For Sale

Like the 1,500-year-old cave bean seed that many believe was discovered in a clay pot in a cave in New Mexico. The story goes that an archaeological team from UCLA found the seeds while searching for pygmy elephant skeletons. The beans were in a clay pot sealed with pine tar. When sprouted, they sprouted 10-foot-long climbing vines with purplish-brown and white beans. And, thanks to companies like Baker Creek Seeds, you too can grow your own 1,500-year-old bean plant.

Another ancient seed for sale is the over 1,000 year old Crapaudine beet, which dates back to the time of Charlemagne in France. Then there is the Sikkim cucumber, discovered in the Eastern Himalayas by British botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1948. The Sikkim, with a rusty orange skin with a cantaloupe-like texture, is an odd-looking cucumber . Apparently Sir Hooker said the vegetable was so important and popular in the area that every person he saw seemed to be eating it at all hours of the day.

Currently, the oldest seeds scientists have managed to germinate are six 2,000-year-old Judean date palm seeds found in archaeological sites, including one near the Dead Sea. No one knows for sure why these ancient seeds were still viable, but experts postulate that the fact that the seeds were already adapted to desert conditions meant they were incredibly resistant to drying out.

At Seed Savers Exchange, a preservation organization that operates the largest non-governmental seed bank in the United States, seed historians (part of a program called Collections Origins Research Effort, or CORE), deny information about seeds they acquire (mainly through donations). ) by telephone, e-mail and personal meetings, thereby preserving both the seed and the story. And they offer a large inventory of heirloom seeds for sale.

In fact, there are many reputable companies that sell heirloom seeds. Below is a short list of companies selling heirloom seed. There are many heirloom seed companies run by enthusiasts who are dedicated to collecting, preserving, and distributing heirloom seed.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

A worker-owned cooperative, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, sells 605 varieties of certified organic seed. They believe in (and practice) saving and exchanging seeds, as well as ecological agriculture and reduced energy consumption. Ecological agriculture involves using natural ecosystem processes – such as pollination, oxygen production, and disease and pest control – to grow better crops.

High Shearing Organic Seeds

High Mowing sells both heirloom and hybrid seeds. A hybrid seed is a seed that has been pollinated with two different varieties to produce a third. In general, heirloom seeds date from before 1951, after which hybrid seeds became common. Organic seeds can be both hybrid and heirloom, as long as they are grown using organic gardening and farming methods, i.e. without toxic chemicals.

True to its slogan: on the farm and rooted on site, High Mowing sources its majority from independent organic farmers.

Territorial seed company

Founded by Steve Solomon in the late 1970s, Territorial Seed Company operates a research garden that grows (and evaluates) thousands of seeds for germination rate, flavor and hardiness. Today, the business is owned by Tom and Julie Johns (they bought it in 1985) and occupies a 75-acre farm in the Cascade Mountains. All the seeds they offer for sale have been tested on their farm.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Based in Missouri, Baker Creek offers a wide selection of 19th century heirloom seeds from Europe and Asia. You can buy their seeds for sale through their online store. Their popular Whole Seed Catalog, published each winter, contains photos, articles, seed stories and recipes, as well as seeds.

Although it doesn’t specifically offer heirloom seeds for sale, Experimental Farm Network, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, may appeal to people who are passionate about sustainable gardening and preserving our planet’s future. They focus on participatory plant breeding and agricultural research. Participatory plant breeding means that farmers, not people in a lab, work to grow resilient plant varieties, especially to help fight climate change.

For me, heirloom seeds are as much about history and history as they are about flavor. When you collect and share both the seeds and their stories, you become part of their story. And I think that’s a pretty cool thing.