evtubbergh
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Location: South Africa

Where to buy seeds

Can I ask this here? I hope so!

Once upon a time there was a thread listing some really good on line sellers of heirloom seeds.

Now I can't find it when I search.

I have Baker Seeds (really good).

Who else?

ACW
Senior Member
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Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:20 am
Location: London

Probably no help to a south african gardner but in the UK I like getting most of my seeds from Seeds of Italy aka Franchi.

evtubbergh
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Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 6:52 am
Location: South Africa

Ooo yes we have Franchi here now. I think a limited selection though.

I want to buy in the US because cousin lives there and can bring them next month.

There was this fantastic site with green manure seeds but I can't find it.

evtubbergh
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Posts: 532
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 6:52 am
Location: South Africa

No one? There was this fantastic site with Golden Alyssum and green manures that I really wanted to order from but they wouldn't ship to me. Now I have a courier but I can't find it!

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Interesting... I didn't know what Golden Alyssum was. When I looked it up, the site that sells Franchi seeds -- Seeds of Italy came up in the results.... https://www.growitalian.com/golden-alyssum/

They always have a few seeds that I want to get every year. Others that I always go for are Pinetree (superseeds), Johnny's Selected Seeds, Baker Creek (rareseeds), and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I'm looking at selections from High Mowing Seeds this year. Another one that I get seeds from is Fedco, but I'm looking for cool weather/short season tolerant/adapted varieties there so I don't think you would benefit from their selections?

evtubbergh
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Posts: 532
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 6:52 am
Location: South Africa

Aaaah! Franchi only have vegetables here. I am almost too scared to look at their site because then I'll want everything.

Thanks I will look at those sites though :)

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Oops I forgot Kitazawa Seeds. Have fun!

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

the "golden alyssum" looks like alyssum saxatile. They sometimes have seeds of those at the box stores, but in Hawaii, they don't do that well since they are a zone 8 plant. Regular alyssum grows better.

https://www.seedsforafrica.co.za/
for Africa, this site might be appropriate. At least they should have the kinds of plants suitable for your climate.

evtubbergh
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Location: South Africa

Thanks imafan, they sell the same seeds that I think they order from the US but only 5 in a packet. My cousin lives in the US and his sister visits often so it's easy for me to order and have delivered to him and much cheaper! We grow pretty much the same plants btw.

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Gary350
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Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

Many years ago I asked the same question. I bought several different heirloom seeds and experimented with many different things for 3 years. I was never happy with heirloom plants they were all very low producers and flavor was not my favorite. I suggest you try heirloom seeds see if you like what you get. You will need to plant a 100'x100' heirloom garden to get what I grow in a 35'x40' none heirloom garden. My favorite thing in my garden is tomatoes, I want 300 lbs of tomatoes by 2nd week of July but with heirlooms I only get about 50 lbs of tomatoes. The purpose of my garden is to grow enough FOOD to live on for the whole year I can not do that with my small garden with heirloom plants. German Johnson tomatoes was the closest thing to good heirloom tomatoes that I found but the small harvest really sucked. Many of the other heirloom tomatoes had the strangest flavor some did not even taste like tomatoes. Heirlooms are a waste of time for me but many people on the forum love heirloom you need to grow them to see for your self. If your not wanting a large harvest like me then you might love heirlooms.

evtubbergh
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Location: South Africa

Thanks Gary. I don't need to grow food for the year. I like to try different things for fun. In this instance I wanted green manures and golden allyssum, which I got and which I will try this spring :)

I bought a pile of things actually!

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Gary350
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Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

Ebay, I bought most of my garden seeds on ebay this year 99¢ free postage.

imafan26
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Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Heirlooms
Seeds of change
High mowing
baker seeds
Monticello ( expensive but I found some seeds I could not find there)
heirloom seeds
https://tatianastomatobase.com/seed-catalog/html/
Sow True seed
Johnny seeds
edenbrothers
Annie's heirloom seeds
Pinetree Garden Seeds
Tomatofest.com
Southern Exposure seed exchange
Fedco
Renee's Garden (formerly Shepherd's Garden)
Kitazawa (asian seeds)
Thompson and Morgan (England)
Peaceful Valley
Territorial seeds


I get most of my seeds from High Mowing,Kitazawa, Territorial, Baker Seeds, Renee's garden, and Pumpkin Nook formerly TGN pumpkin nook.
Tomato and pepper seeds I get from Tomato Growers Supply. I have not had problems with seeds from them, but others have. They have a wide selection of seeds.



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