Appendix A: Seed Companies and Other Resources
Seed Companies
Are new winter gardeners lucky! Nowadays you have seed companies offering you lots of varieties of cool season crops. And one company (Territorial) makes it even easier for you by mailing out a whole catalog just for winter crops. (Although by the time it arrives in the summer, it might be a bit late to sow some of the slower crops such as leeks).
Many local garden centers have also caught on, and now supply winter-hardy starts for you to purchase and regional and local suppliers for the home gardener have proliferated since I wrote the first edition of this book in 1977. In fact, there are so many of them coming and going it is a bit hard to keep track.
When you are starting out, reading many seed catalogs or web sites, is almost as educational as reading many gardening books. And lots of fun too, even if you don’t order from them. You should pay especial attention to any seed company that is producing local seed, even of well-known, widely-sold varieties, as this usually means they are attempting to develop locally adapted strains. These will benefit you as a gardener as they theoretically will be of higher quality than something mass produced in Ohio. However, locally adapted seed is only an improvement if the seed grower follows reliable procedures for producing their product. Lots can go wrong, especially with new startup companies that have not worked out all the kinks. As a beginning home gardener you might consider growing two types of broccoli, or three types of beans, from two different companies just to make sure you get what you want.
If, as you get more experienced, you choose to maintain seed stock of successful varieties that aren’t offered by local companies, you can join the Seed Savers Exchange and get its Garden Seed Inventory, which has a complete listing of seed companies in the US and Canada that still carry open-pollinated varieties. For the non-seed saving and very busy among us, they have their own catalog of heirloom seeds and garden gifts.
As companies, books and organizations come and go, you have to keep your eyes open for what’s going on. Joining a gardening club or organization helps. Finding resources on the Internet or in local resource directories is invaluable.
Adaptive Seeds
“Northwest-adapted seeds for the resilient gardener, grower, and seed saver. For biodiversity supported agriculture.” The adventurous couple behind this seed company started the Seed Ambassadors Project, went to Europe and sought out local varieties of interesting vegetables. They sell their own grown seed and that of other small local companies in their area. They are involved in education about crops and are in the process of developing “The Big Willamette Winter Gardening Chart,” a very complete, useful and interesting discussion of selected vegetables and their varieties. Catalog is online. Print catalogs are available by request.
25079 Brush Creek Rd.
Sweet Home OR 97386
adaptiveseeds@gmail.com
Chiltern Seeds
A large (around 4,000 varieties) selection of flowers, trees and vegetables, mostly open pollinated, and including many heritage varieties. Ships internationally
Bortree Stile, Ulverston
Cumbria LA12 7PB England
info@chilternseeds.co.uk
Cooks Garden Seeds
More than 70 varieties of lettuce and a number of hard-to-find culinary offerings including leaf celery, cultivated purslane, cardoons and three varieties of corn salad. Free catalog.
P.O. Box C5030
Warminster, PA 18974-0574
1-800-457-9703
cooksgarden@earthlink.net
FEDCO
Untreated seed, much of it organic, lots of information about organic efforts and cool weather crops on the East Coast. The 100-page catalog with jazzy black-and-white line drawings is worth the read. A Co-op.
Fedco Seeds
PO Box 520
Waterville, ME 04903
207-873-7333 or 207-430-1106
Specializes in short-season northern varieties, some from Europe, many grown organically on the company’s farm. For commercial growers (the bulk of their business) and home gardeners. One of the more long lasting, intelligent and reliable northern seed companies, with lots of cultural information, equipment, green manure and flower seed. Free catalog.
955 Benton Ave.
Winslow, ME 04901-2601
Phone: 1-877-564-6697
communications@johnnyseeds.com
Kitazawa Seed Co.
This company has been around since 1917 and offers many interesting Asian varieties — radishes, rice, mustards, as well as standards like peas, squash, etc.
PO Box 13220
Oakland CA 944661-3220
510-595-1188
customerservice@kitazawaseed.com
Nichols Garden Nursery
Another long lasting (more than 50 years) Pacific Northwest company carrying herbs and locally adapted vegetables. Their Willamette Valley retail store is worth a visit.
1190 Old Salem Rd. NE
Albany, OR 97321-4580
1-800-422-3985
customersupport@nicholsgardennursery.com
Redwood City Seed Co.
Good prices on some interesting and unusual vegetables and herbs, specializing in peppers but including winter crops. Open-pollinated only. They ship internationally; check the website for costs and requirements. Recommended by California gardeners. Free catalog.
P.O. Box 361
Redwood City, CA 94064
650-325-7333
Richters Herb
Unusual herb seed. Free catalog. Ships plants to the US through their facility in Buffalo, NY. “We take care of all customs fees and paperwork free-of-charge. All U.S. plant shipments are government inspected and come with a phytosanitary certificate provided free-of-charge.”
357 Hwy 47
Goodwood, ON
L0C 1A0 Canada
905-640-6677
Seeds from Italy
They offer seed from every region of Italy. The escaroles, endive and radicchios look especially good, and they have some chards I haven’t seen elsewhere. Free print catalogs, or you can order online.
P.O. Box 3908
Lawrence, KS 66046
785-748-0959
fax: 785-748-0609
Salt Spring Seeds
All their seeds are untreated, open-pollinated and non-GMO. They grow all their own seeds and sell only the most recent harvest. Due to customs regulations they can no longer ship orders to the United States.
Box 444, Ganges P.O.
Salt Spring Island, BC
V8K 2W1 Canada
dan@saltspringseeds.com
Seed Savers Exchange
An umbrella seed-sharing group. Well worth joining for the information alone, but the varieties available are amazing and often found nowhere else. The yearbook reports on conferences, seed-saving tips and other fascinating details. Membership is $40 per year. Publications include Seed to Seed, the Garden Seed Inventory, and the Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory. The organization has more than 13,000 members listing 13,876 specific varieties. They also have a catalog for non-members to purchase some of the seeds.
3076 North Winn Rd.
Decorah, IA 52101
Territorial Seed Company
Started in 1979, Territorial prints a catalog just for the winter gardener. Selecting varieties from their extensive trials in a short season environment, Territorial offers winter gardening varieties developed by breeders locally and from around the world. It has customers in the whole of the Maritime Northwest, from Southeast Alaska to Humboldt County, California. Good summer varieties and garden supplies.
P.O. Box 157
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
541-942-9547 (for questions); 1-800-626-0866 (for orders)
info@territorialseed.com
Thompson and Morgan
Well-known British seed company with branches in the US and Canada. Many unusual flower and vegetable seeds, some organic and open-pollinated selections.
service@tmseeds.com
Turtle Tree Biodynamic Seed Initiative
Organic, open-pollinated. Some seed grown at their New York Camphill Village, some by growers in different parts of the country, including the Maritime Northwest. Interesting European summer and winter varieties and the best pole bean I’ve ever tasted (Aunt Ada). Only ships within the US. They offer discounts to customers who participate in their field trials, and the detailed field trial information sheet, useful whether or not you are doing a formal evaluation, is available for download from their website.
Turtle Tree Seed
Camphill Village
Copake, NY 12516
518-329-3037
turtle@turtletreeseed.org
Uprising Seeds
A small family enterprise, now in its fifth year. They list their supplying farmers on the website, with a bit of location and climate information for each. Open- pollinated, Northwest-grown seed, mostly from the owners’ Acme farm. Only ships within the US. Catalog by request.
2208 Iron St.
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-778-3749
uprisingseeds@riseup.net
Wild Garden Seed
Frank and Karen Morton are two of the earliest organic seed growers and breeders in the Northwest. Very innovative in their breeding efforts, great sense of humor and carrying on a valiant fight against the corruption of seed genomes by Monsanto GM products. Free catalog.
P.O. Box 1509
Philomath, OR 97370
541-929-406
West Coast Seeds
Started in 1983 as a branch of Territorial Seeds, these guys are well away on their own. Region-specific, they have customers at least as far north as the Queen Charlottes. Catalog very educational, with a free winter gardening guide available for download. Website also includes a list of demonstration gardens where their varieties are trialled. Excellent customer service.
3925 64th Street, RR#1
Delta, BC
Canada V4K 3N2
1-800-626-0866
info@westcoastseeds.com
William Dam Seeds Ltd.
Good Dutch fall and winter varieties; the go-to source for the best overwintering cabbages. Untreated seed. Recommended for Canadian gardeners. US. customers have to provide their own import permits and pay extra shipping; Dam recommends ordering from Johnny’s Selected Seeds instead.
279 Hwy 8
Dundas, ON
L9H 5E1 Canada
905-628-6641
info@damseeds.com
Victory Seed Co.
Open-pollinated, heirloom seeds. This family business has built an inventory of hard-to-find varieties, including Carentan and Musselburgh leeks and Salad King endive.
P.O. Box 192
Molalla, Oregon 97038
503-829-3126 (voicemail and fax order line)
info@victoryseeds.com
The Man Born to Farming
The grower of trees, the gardener, the man born to farming,
Whose hands reach into the ground and sprout,
To him the soil is a divine drug. He enters into death
yearly, and comes back rejoicing. He has seen the light lie down
In the dung heap, and rise again in the corn.
His thought passes along the row ends like a mole.
What miraculous seed has he swallowed
That the unending sentence of his love flows out of his mouth
Like a vine clinging in the sunlight, and like water
Descending in the dark?
— Wendell Berry, Collected Poems 1957–1982
Nurseries and Suppliers
The following suppliers carry some native plants for Northwest gardens. They also have non-natives that will blend in with native vegetation and/or support wildlife. This is only a partial listing.
BC’s Wild Heritage Plants
“Our nursery is a sustainable forest-farm (agro-forestry) operation utilizing the forest shade to produce shade-loving shrubs and herbs used for seed stock, fern spores, cutting and stolon material, while maintaining wildlife and riparian values.”
47330 Extrom Rd.
Sardis, BC
V2R 4V1 Canada
604-858-5141
bcwildplants@uniserve.com
Burnt Ridge Nursery
Specializes in woody plants that produce edible nuts or fruits.
432 Burnt Ridge Road
Onalaska WA 98570
Cloud Mountain Farm Center
Locally adapted fruit, nut and small garden trees, shrubs, vines and ground covers. Some native plants. Catalog full of good information for our area. Training offered for both farmers and gardeners.
6906 Goodwin Rd.
Everson, WA 98247
360-966-5859
info@cloudmountainfarm.com
Forestfarm
A wonderful array of hard-to-find US natives and ornamentals shipped in 2” x 2” x 6” containers so you get them young and inexpensively. Print catalog free to US, $5 to Canada.
990 Tethrow Rd.
Williams, OR 97544
541-846-7269
plants@forestfarm.com
One Green World
Numerous fruit and nut bearing varieties.
28696 South Cramer Road
Molalla OR 97038
Plantas Nativa
Pacific Northwest natives, including some hard-to-find herbaceous perennials. Only open Saturdays or by appointment.
210 East Laurel Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-715-9655
bay@plantasnativa.com
Plants of the Wild
Located in the Palouse region of Eastern Washington, Plants of the Wild has been growing and selling Pacific Northwest native varieties since 1979.
P.O. Box 866
Tekoa, WA 99033
509-284-2848
Kathy@plantsofthewild
Raintree Nursery
A venerable source of fruit, nuts and berries for the Pacific Northwest. For the edible landscaper.
391 Butts Rd.
Morton, WA 98356
1-800-391-8892
Slowly, slowly, they return
To the small woodland let alone:
Great trees, outspreading and upright,
Apostles of the living light.
Patient as stars, they build in air
Tier after tier a timbered choir,
Stout beams upholding weightless grace
Of song, a blessing on this place.
They stand in waiting all around,
Uprisings of their native ground,
Downcomings of the distant light;
They are the advent they await.
Receiving sun and giving shade,
Their life’s a benediction made,
And is a benediction said
Over the living and the dead.
In fall their brightened leaves, released,
Fly down the wind, and we are pleased
To walk on radiance, amazed.
Oh light come down to earth, be praised.
— Wendell Berry, from Sabbaths
Organizations
Bio-Integral Resource Center
This nonprofit organization, started by William and Helga Olkowski, answers members’ questions on least toxic pest controls. It also publishes the quarterly Common Sense Pest Control (for lay people) and the monthly IPM Practitioner (for keeping professionals updated on recent innovations, suppliers and resources in the field of integrated pest and disease management. A catalog listing BIRC’s publications is available for $1 and contains membership information.
P.O. Box 7414
Berkeley, CA 94707
City Farmer — Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture
Focuses on urban agriculture and the politics of good gardening.
Box 74567, Kitsilano RPO
Vancouver, BC
V6K 4P4 Canada
604-685-5832
cityfarmer@gmail.com
International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements
IFOAM is the worldwide umbrella organization of the organic agriculture movement, with about 650 member organizations in over 100 countries all over the world. The directory, Organic Agriculture Worldwide, can be ordered from the following address.
Charles-de-Gaulle Str. 5
53113 Bonn,
Germany
Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides
These guys do the hard work of digging up the dirt on pesticide problems and human poisonings. They put out fascinating fact sheets on various pesticides, alternatives to pesticides and their Journal of Pesticide Reform; you can receive them by joining for $30 a year.
P.O. Box 1393
Eugene, OR 97440
541-344-5044 (Oregon)
208-850-6504 (Idaho)
Organic Seed Alliance
An education, research and advocacy group focusing on organic, open-pollinated seeds and cool season varieties. Their annual conference draws farmers, plant biologists, seed companies and academics to advance the cause of sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. One of the most valuable activities of the Alliance to you, and to local farmers, is their variety trials for cool season crops. You can download the reports from their site — and then make a donation!
P.O. Box 772
Port Townsend, WA 98368
360-385-7192
info@seedalliance.org
Rodale Press
Publisher of Organic Gardening and source for many studies on gardening and farming techniques.
33 East Minor St.
Emmaus, PA 18098
Seeds of Diversity
“A Canadian volunteer organization that conserves the biodiversity and traditional knowledge of food crops and garden plants.” Maintains a database of Canadian heritage plants and is developing a “seed library” of varieties not found in commercial catalogs. The plan is to make these seeds available to gardeners as quantities permit. They offer a wonderful service that I have not seen elsewhere: a database of “vegetable and fruit seeds that were sold in recent years by Canadian seed companies.” Click on Brussels sprouts, for example, you get a list of 19 varieties, with links to the suppliers that sell the seed. (Some of them also ship to the US.) If this is revised regularly, it will be a huge help to growers.
mail@seeds.ca
Tilth Association
Tilth is a nonprofit association in the Pacific Northwest that links urban and rural people devoted to a sustainable regional agriculture. It operates through chapters, some of which are listed above. Tilth members are active in growing food, saving farmland, developing local markets, improving forest practices and doing whatever they can to contribute to regional agriculture and forestry. This book was originally made possible by the Tilth Association, which published the first edition in 1977. More recent publications include the Washington Tilth Directory, a guide to organic and sustainable growers, farm suppliers and resources, and the Maritime Northwest Garden Guide.
If you are interested in getting personally involved, seek out the chapter nearest you. Your local gardening center should have information if you don’t see your area in the websites below. Tilth chapter activities include social events, farm tours, work exchanges, research projects, workshops, demonstration gardens, conferences and farmers markets. Most important, the groups work to create a new agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Many of the chapters have their own newsletters and websites.
tilth.org (Oregon)
Local and Regional Groups Involved with Native Vegetation
Cooperative Extension
These operate out of land grant universities in each state, with offices at the county level. Different states have different “flavors” when in comes to organic and sustainable priorities in agriculture. With extension agents, Master Gardeners, Master Composters, Master Wetlanders, Native Plant Stewards, Master Canners and recorded information on significant topics, who knows what they will turn up with next? Mistress of Atmospherics?
Greenway Associations
Greenways are linear natural areas that act as pathways that connect larger parks or areas. They usually have biking/walking paths within them, and are often as narrow as 20 to 100 feet wide. They also act as corridors for native plants and animals, and can be urban or rural. Check your area.
Local land trusts
Check your area.
The Nature Conservancy
This organization and its members have saved over 10 million acres of prime biodiversity in the United States and Canada, and several million more acres globally. There are local chapters in each state.
1815 North Lynn St.
Arlington, VA 22209
National Audubon Society
Devoted to educating people about saving birds and bird habitats.
Local chapters in most areas.
Native Plant Society of Oregon
Devoted to educating people about saving native plants and their habitats.
P.O. Box 902
Eugene, OR 97440
info@npsoregon.org
North Cascades Institute
Residential natural history seminars of great quality.
2105 State Route 20
Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284
Salmon Enhancement Associations
Check your area.
State Departments of Fish and Wildlife Washington Native Plant Society
Many local chapters.
Main address: WNPS
P.O. Box 28690
Seattle, WA 98118.
References for Gardeners Outside the Northwest
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
Important and active regional group for the advancement of biological agriculture.
P.O. Box 188
Hallowell, ME 04347
Northeast Organic Farming Association
An advocacy and education group with chapters in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. Provides mentors and training for beginning farmers. Chapter information is available through the umbrella website below.
Box 164
Stevenson, CT 06491
203-888-5146
Rodale Institute Experimental Farm
Founded in 1947, the Institute works with people worldwide to achieve a regenerative food system that renews environmental and human health. Contact the research library or request the Rodale Institute Bookstore Catalog.
611 Siegfriedale Rd.
Kutztown, PA 19530
610-683-1400.
Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI-USA)
RAFI-USA works for sustainable and just food systems promoting family farms and rural communities. Publications include Toward Organic Integrity and Human Nature. RAFI Occasional Papers provide in-depth discussion of research and works in progress related to biodiversity and biotechnology. Write for a complete publications list.
P.O. Box 640
Pittsboro, NC 27312
In-Depth References
If you have a technical, in-depth question about how to grow a given crop, or are looking for a reference on one, these three groups are the ones to ask. I have found them helpful and knowledgeable.
ATTRA
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas
P.O. Box 3657
Fayetteville, AK 72702
AFSIC
Alternative Farming Systems Information Center
USDA, National Agriculture Library
10301 Baltimore Ave., Room 304
Beltsville, MD 20705
SARE
Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education of the USDA
2121 Ag/Life Science Surge Bldg.
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742