Seed Banks and reliable suppliers

The ones I use on a regular basis

I have a good germination rate and very few problems with these guys

Chiltern Seeds
So very good that my wish list grows every time I visit the site... Much to the chagrin of the longsufferingspouse

J L Hudson Seed bank
Possibly the best seedbank in the world - dedicated to disseminating species and saving rare and endangered plants and at astonishingly low prices - again a seed supplier that has engendered a very long wish list..

Annapolis Seeds
Young Owen is a friend of mine, a fine example of youth dedicated to good food and good production - highly recommended..

KIngs Seeds

This is the seed growers I use for a lot of my vegetable seeds as they are very good germination, good varieties and CHEAP packets but with a good number of seeds.

The company includes Suffolk Herbs

Baumaux

This is a French company that has a great on line catalogue. It has a huge variety of seed and some that may be worth a try. It is more expensive then some but the germination rate is very good.

Thank you for the seed company links (especially Kings seeds, Zoe, but also Chiltern from Badger).
Zoe, from now on I won't even try to buy seeds from French companies, as they are so incredibly expensive (except if you buy them from LIDL at 29p a packet LOL). Yesterday I bought 2 packs of green beans here from an ordinary garden centre, 6.50 euros per packet!!! I am not sure that they are so much better (Vilmorin).

We can buy seeds from Lidl at a ridiculous price in the UK - maybe I'll try some next year and compare them with pricier seeds. Less choice of varieties, but they look good value.

I always buy from the Real Seed Company.

Hmm that's odd. i was sure I posted more.

Real Seed co are here:

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/

Fab selection, loads of heirloom and rare seeds. All real open pollinated - they actively encourage and provide info on how to harvest your own seeds to grow on with. No nasty F1 or GM tainted nonsense.

And they are very nice, committed people.

I buy my seeds from the Organic gardening Catalogue.

I have used Premier Seeds Direct on fleabay a fair bit in the past...

I just took delivery of a load of plant plugs from T and M, as a freebie from a magazine sub ( which I had forgotten all about!)

Was rather impressed by the quality...not many plants of each variety, but good sized and good looking...

I have kept a few back but donated and planted most of them at school with Eco club yesterday, as we started very late this year ( due to Easter being early and the horrible weather just before Easter.....and my being so busy but as I AM a volunteer I refuse to feel guilty..well I try not to, any way! )

I had grown a load of plants as well....but some of these plugs were interesting so we put them in too......

I have kept about half and the rest are planted in the school veg beds now...

For those in France that find Vilmorin (sorry missed typed last time I wrote that one) expensive look out for Francegraines. They do the basics. I have tried some "not crucial" seeds (ie flowers!) and they have germinated very well and are true to the variety. They are cheap..possibly due to simple packaging and less seeds..

Have received catalogues from the companies I usually buy from (Suttons etc) - what a disappointment. They all seem to be going for 'novelty' at the xpense of choice. I usually enjoy looking through the catalogues and choosing things to grow, but i have felt very frustrated this autumn by not being to find what I wanted. However, online I have found a firm called Nicky's Nursery. I have been able to find the varieties I wanted (Yellow Brandywine tomatoes for instance), and they also do small packets of seeds for people with small gardens which is a good idea. When the order arrived the seeds were really 'no frills' - information on printed labels, and no photos on the packets, but they arrived three days after I ordered them and the whole set up seems efficient. Now all they have to do is grow when I plant them next year!

Sounds good Dandelion.

We have a small garden so they may be good for us

Just went to look for Lobjoits Green cos lettuce and it seems they only supply it in pkts with an average of 1000 seeds. Now I do like Lobjoits green, but I dont think I could eat 1000 of them in one season!!

Can I sneak in a quick plug for Heirloom Tomatoes.
My dad found them at Harrogate show a few years ago, and they have been
really helpful and friendly.  Not to mention having a great range of
obscure tomatoes, and a rather fun website.

Edited to add: Now sadly defunct

RuthG wrote:Just went to look for Lobjoits Green cos lettuce and it seems they only supply it in pkts with an average of 1000 seeds. Now I do like Lobjoits green, but I dont think I could eat 1000 of them in one season!!

Lettuce seeds will keep well for 3 -4 years, so no, you wouldn't have to eat them all at once

Talking of seeds Luath, do you want to be included in the seed swap?

Luath wrote:

Lettuce seeds will keep well for 3 -4 years, so no, you wouldn't have to eat them all at once

Unpelleted.

Those of us who use pelleted seed for lettuce are sacrificing keeping time for the easier planting (no difficult thinning) and extended temperature range at which we can plant. That's a problem over here where summer temps can get too high for lettuce to germinate. They will eventually gerninate but when is the question and if you are trying to start a new batch every two weeks you don't want major gaps.

Pelleted keeps maybe two years. Even then noticable falloff the second year but generally have more than enough of each variety (smallest lots pelleted 250 and we don't want more than a dozen or so of each sort every two weeks).

I suppose if just pelleted for handling (and not also with stuff to induce germination even if the temperature is too high) might last more normally.

I never use/have used any pelleted seed, so that never occurred to me................ thanks

The benefit of sorting out old threads is you find the odd one that deserves to re-surface ... BUMP !  

I have just received my first two lots of seed for next year, from The Real Seed catalogue and Nicky's Nursery.  Both seem to have a more interesting list than the big companies. I am so looking forward to their chilli Ecuadorian Devils Breath. How can it not be good with a name like that ?

A quick plug for Seeds of Italy if I may too.  I don't think I'll need to order from them this year though, because their seed packs are so generous many will do for a couple of years or more, for the longer lived seeds.

Anyone know the current situation with Association Kokopelli ?  Can't see anywhere to buy seeds, only a book.  Have EU rules finally done for them ?

Sparhawk wrote:I have used Premier Seeds Direct on fleabay a fair bit in the past...

I know this is an old post in an old thread, but I just came across the website of Premier Seeds Direct:

http://www.premierseedsdirect.com/

I thought they deserved a mention here as they do have an organic seed range, and a very interesting looking collection of tomatoes.

I've just had a look - anamazing number of tomatoes! I've sent my order off already sadly

I placed an order with Premier Seeds Direct the other day. About £20 for 20 varieties, so pretty well priced. Delivery was a couple of days, so very good.

The seeds arrived in just labelled foil sachets or little ziplock bag, so I guess they are just repackaging bulk bought seed. But then again, that's what most of them do.

Some interesting tomatoes; I bought 8 varieties (some for my dad). I'll be particularly interested in how the "blue" varieties turn out.

This doesn't come as a recommendation, yet, but I have just ordered 12 packets of seed from an online company Simply Seed, for £13.86 with free p&p as the order was over £12. I had already priced up the order (without p&p) from various other suppliers that had the varieties I wanted (Dobies, Marshalls, Real Seeds and Suttons). Simply Seeds had 90% of what I wanted for £7.67 less.

I haven't used them before, so it remains to be seen what the quality is like.

I had too much disappointment with seeds from, amongst others, Nicky's nursery last year. various no-shows from fresh seed of sweetcorn and chillies.

I've returned to an old favourite, Real Seeds. Despite being a small outfit, despite their seeds being open-pollinated varieties, I've always had good emergence from them. And I like the ethos. I particularly appreciate that the write up of each variety is honest, and even admits shortcomings occasionally, unlike the glossy catalogues of the big companies according to which all the varieties are so marvelous that it is impossible to chose what is right for you.

Fingers crossed for a better year in 2022 - in the garden and beyond ...