Heritage Seeds Why and Where to Buy

Sun, soil and seed, are three of the essentials for a healthy garden. How much sunlight your garden receives depends upon your location and the existence or not of any obstacles that will restrict the sun that is available to your garden.

If you are planning to grow herbs or vegetables you will want a sunny location. Lettuces and other cutting greens can benefit from a bit of shade in the hot, height of summer afternoons.

Soil; there is much that you can do to amend and change the soil in your garden, adding organic material is one. Composting gives you the organic material that will help your garden thrive and it allows you to recycle material, kitchen scraps (vegetable), for example, that you would otherwise toss away.

When it comes to the seed, the best way to make sure that you grow strong and vital plants is to purchase heritage or heirloom seeds. There are, as there are always, a few exceptions to this rule, such as, miniature cucumbers, squash and a few other vegetables that have been especially developed for small space and container gardens.

I have used mini-carrots and zucchini in balcony gardens and have experienced good enough results to do it again.

Heritage seeds are especially important for anyone who is planning to save seeds. The heritage seed will breed true to the parent so there are no surprises.

Heirloom seed and heritage seed are used interchangeably. They both refer to an open-pollinated cultivar that was commonly grown for many years but is not widely used in industrial agriculture.

Heirloom seeds are frequently vegetables but the renewed popularity of organic and heritage growing means there are also heritage flowers on the market.

Open-pollinated seeds are pollinated without human intervention, as by the wind or insects

You get what you pay for and this is true with seeds; if you are purchasing your vegetable seeds three for a dollar in a bargain store, you may get lucky and has a high rate of return but then again you may not.

Seeds are the least expensive purchase you will make and offer the greatest return on yoru investment so buy the best and you will be pleased.

If there is no store near you where you can purchase heritage seeds then as long as you can access a computer and the Internet, you can order what you need.

The following companies have online catalogues that are easy to use and offer an intriguing range of seeds to assist you to make your selections.

There are many others, both online and print catalogues, and the link that accompanies this article will help you find what you need.

Online Sources for Heritage Seeds

Terra Edibles

The seeds we offer are open-pollinated, organically grown heirloom varieties, meaning that you can save your own seed for next year’s planting.

Upper Canada Seeds

This year we’re offering 237 varieties of tomato seeds that were grown on our farm in Prince Edward County. We don’t sell hybrid, chemically treated or genetically modified seed. All of our seeds are organically grown, and most are heirlooms.

Johhny's Selected Seeds

The Safe Seed Pledge.

You can store seeds in the envelope they come in the vegetable crisper in your refrigerator or transfer them to a small brown envelope, be sure to label them if you do. They will keep for quite some time when store properly in a cool dark place.