Kitchen Garden Forum

anyone tried this one?

http://www.thomasetty.co.uk/vegetables/index.html

Like another thread I would suggest Wallis - simple packaging, good range and economical.

Ditto Tuckers, Kings and Alan Romans. (Alan Romans supplies VERY CHEAP packets of standard seed with no instructions.) And boy does that man know his potatoes!

These are the best seed suppliers in my opinion. Most carry open pollinated organic and heirloom seeds.

Association Kokopelli
Website: http://www.organicseedsonline.com or http://www.kokopelli-seeds.com/semences.html
Association Kokopelli is involved in the protection of biodiversity and in the production and distribution of biodynamic and organic seeds. It produces the Hardback directory of heritage seeds listing over 2500 varieties (in French or English) - a manual for the production of seeds and a directory of the seed varieties available from Association Kokopelli.
List/catalogue: On-line ordering and mailorder from photocopy list or book.

Seeds of Italy
http://www.seedsofitaly.com/
Excellent seed supplier with a great collection of high quality vegetable seeds especially Italian heirloom varieties of pumpkins, beans, peppers, tomatoes and my favourite Black Tuscan Kale. As well as preserving, bottling and kitchen equipment. Good value for money.
List/catalogue: On-line listing ordering. Printed paper catalogue and off-line ordering.

Nicky’s Seeds
http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk
Good selection of vegetables including organic seeds; particularly good on Oriental vegetables, peppers, tomato, leafy crops and unusual stuff from round the world.
List/catalogue: On-line listing ordering.

Future foods
www.futurefoods.com
Email: enquiries@futurefoods.com
A small independent mail order supplier specialising in rare and unusual edible plants. The listing includes grains such as Amaranth and Quinoa, Andean tuber crops Oca and Yacon, a good range of less well-known leaf crops and oriental greens as well as berries, herbs, fruits & fungi such as Capers, Saffron, Anise, and Physalis. Future foods publish two paper catalogues a year, in spring and autumn and have an excellent website with detailed descriptions and information pages.
List/catalogue: On-line descriptive list and information pages, off-line ordering.

The Real Seed Catalogue
Offering: Open pollinated Vegetable seeds, organic, heritage
List/catalogue: Paper catalogue. On-line list and on-line ordering using pay-pal.

Thomas Etty esq
http://www.thomasetty.co.uk/
Specialist in seeds of heritage vegetables, flowers, herbs, wildflowers, bulbs, organic of particular interest are the rare old European varieties of all well known vegetables, and many lesser known ones. Seeds come from a variety of sources including Italy and France, sells no F1 hybrid vegetables, all seeds are open-pollinated, some are from certified organic sources.
List/catalogue: On-line descriptive list (with history of varieties), PDF paper catalogue and off-line ordering

Anioleka Heirloom Vegetable Seeds Company
www.seedfest.co.uk
Supplies heritage vegetable seed, especially tomato and peppers (sweet, chili and bell), American company with UK subsidiary. Ships worldwide.
List/catalogue: Printed catalogue and online list and ordering

Chase Organics ‘The Organic Gardening Catalogue’
www.organicCatalogue.com
Excellent listings of seeds, plants, sundries, biological pest controls, and soil enhancers. (
List/catalogue: Printed catalogue, On-line listing and ordering .

Beans & Herbs
http://www.beansandherbs.co.uk/
161 Chapel Street, Horningsham, Wiltshire
BA12 7LU
Specialist in herbs and beans. Also carries a collection of organic vegetable seeds. Seeds are open pollinated and selected to particularly suite small scale growing in temperate climates.
List/catalogue: On-line descriptive list, off-line ordering

Ooh thanks; I've bookmarked all of them for future perusal but the Future Foods one I couldn't get to work. Is it me?

I couldn't find Future Foods either, I can get a USA based website, no seeds on it though!

All these fab catalogues, and I thought my allotment looked huge and bare....not for long!!!

Merde - Just tried future foods site myself - yep server not located. I have emailed them incase it is a temporary glitch. Will report back. Hope they are ok.

Thankyou - let us know when it's up and running....

My email just bounced back - but have located a webdesign agency that appear to be building a new future foods website - not sure if it is same company will investigate.

Future Foods has definitely closed down, that was a year or so ago.There are some similar lines available from Plants For A Future.
Other things being equal, if you can get seeds sealed in foil they will keep far longer should you not get round to using them the first season.Not applicable to onions, parsnip or sweetcorn seeds which must be used first year.
Allan

Hmm. It is a shame about future foods, their Italian meadow rocket was great.

I must be rather lucky with sweetcorn, if Allan is right - I've been using the same packet of "Indian Summer" for three years now, with no obvious drop in germination. I probably should treat myself to a new packet next spring.

Just recieved thier catalogue & they only sell pure
seeds ie no F1 or Gm so you can save your seeds year
after year they even tell you how to do it & they are
quite cheap.

http://www.realseeds.co.uk

Hi Bison 1947,
Do you understand what ia meant by the term F1.
I ask this because the Real Seed Company obviously do not. There is no such thing as a pure seed.
JB.

Where do they talk about pure seed?
I cannot see how they can rule out the possibility of genetic variation which will happen whatever they do to their seeds. This is what breeders use to produce new varieties. It is this that gives you the continuity in purple sprouting broccoli, fine at home but a great problem if you have to sell to the shops, supermarkets or not.

The point that I take issue with particularly is this
"But these commercial varieties give poor results when grown on a home scale without all their chemicals. And whatever has happened to qualities such as flavour and tenderness?"

I grow and market only the best that I can find. There are F1s and non F1s. To say that the F1s are all necessarily tasteless is nonsense.

It is all typical of what we have come to expect from SA and the Organic movement and the way they assume the high moral ground in everything.

I think the term should be 'pure-breeding' - in other words if the variety is allowed to self-pollinate then plants from the resulting seed will be almost identical with their parents. I think that 'lines' or 'strains' as they are called are used in the crosses that are used to produce the F1 hybrids.
Within these strains there will be some variation and it is these that are used in selective breeding to produce new varieties. I agree with Allan that you cannot just dismiss F1's as tasteless. You do need to be aware though that F1's are created for the commercial growers with a purpose in mind - maybe its improved colour, better flavour, longer shelflife, disease resistance, improved yield and so on. Some of these like longer shelflife are not of much interest to us home growers but obviously yield and flavour are.
Sorry it all sounds a bit pedantic but there's an awful lot of pseudo-scientific babble out there in the press and TV from so-called experts that's passed off as fact.

John