Have you ever purchased seeds from these companies, or have you purchased seeds from other companies I didn't list? What was your experience? Let us know in the Comments below!
@@robertevans8024 the only problem I ever had from Burpee was I bought a package of Tequila Sunrise peppers from one of their seed stands in a big box store and what grew was a green bell pepper: all three plants I started! But aside from that, it's all been good 😅
I buy from Baker Creek, Johnny’s Select Seeds, Gurney’s and Burpee. Seems like Baker Creek and Johnny’s seeds are more viable than other seed companies. Always good success. Both Baker and Johnny’s have a lot of stock outs so I ended up buying what I wanted from four suppliers.
Johnnys Seeds and Territorial seed company catalogs are like having 2 textbooks...they give the best and most extensive information about general varieties as well as specific seeds. You have to take time and read but they have excellent info on everything from ideal germination temps, days to germination, days to maturity and what sun exposure is ideal- water needs, height and width of mature plant- incredible catalogs!!
Baker creek! I've been buying seeds from them for the past 5-6 years. Since last spring they are often out of stock on many seeds, but still have an astonishing variety of heirloom seeds
The pandemic has created a lot of fear of food security, specifically after last spring with all of the shortages in meat and cleaning products. That fear caused a big run on seed exchanges and created a lot of new gardeners. I'm guessing there is still a lot of residual fear out there, and also, the "gardening bug" may have bit a lot of new gardeners, which is great news. This has caused unprecedented demand. I think Baker Creek's Achilles Heel is that because they specialize in such unusual varieties, stock is limited to what they can save every year, and they can only do so much.
@@TheMillennialGardener Prior to the pandemic, half of the food consumed in the US was in restaurants. When state officials closed them or severely restricted indoor eating, this food demand then shifted over to grocery stores. Because of bureaucratic regulations, the supply chain from the restaurants couldn't be shifted to the grocery stores. When people started seeing empty shelves, this in turn caused tremendous panic buying which made the situation even worse. After some workers tested positive, state officials began closing down major meat packing processors. While all this was happening, farmers were destroying crazy amounts of crops and livestock. Similar thing occurred during the Great Depression in the '30s. State officials also created the cleaning product shortage. They were buying up everything before it was placed on shelves to give to hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes while simultaneously telling the public needed to use this stuff. The majority of gov wonks have never worked real jobs in the private sector. So, they're clueless on the ripple effect of their decisions. These people allowed China and other countries to buy up many large food producers and farm land here. That alone is a great reason to raise at least some food for one's family.
@@chronos401 if we take nothing away from this pandemic, it's who are truly "essential" workers. The people most overlooked are often the ones that truly make the country work and that we can't do without.
I purchased seeds from Baker Creek for the first time this year. Very happy. Territorial Seed Company's headquarters is a few hours drive from me! I used to get their catalogs each year. I think I probably ordered from them in the distant past. They're a good solid company that's been around for decades. A newer company you might like to know about is MIGardener in Michigan. Luke started the company in his basement. Their prices are super reasonable and they support small family farms. Stock is mostly vegetables with some melons, grains, and a few types of flowers beneficial to polinators. They carry some seeds that I haven't seen elsewhere!
Thank you so much for this video just like you said I just got into gardening & have been only buying Walmart seeds & plants in local plant nurseys. So this is really exciting for me.
Excellent! Glad to hear you're getting started. It's such a rewarding thing to grow your own food. The varieties these websites have are so much more exciting than what's sold at stores. You can lose yourself for hours going through their catalogs. I recommend signing up for their free catalogs. It's always awesome when the beautiful catalogs come in the fall!
Baker creek is great. For tomatoes look into wild boar farms for really interesting new hybrids. The guy is a tomatoe guru. I’ve grown a bunch of his new varieties and they are usually among my favorites. Annie’s annuals is another good seed catalog that you might want to check out.
I think Baker Creek carries a lot of the Wild Boar Farms varieties. I bought some of the variegated tomatoes last year from Baker Creek, but they didn't grow well here. A lot of tomatoes really struggle here in the Coastal Carolinas due to the crazy humidity and extremely humid nights mid-summer, so it's always a challenge finding things that can survive my conditions. I haven't heard of Annie's.
Thank you so so much for this information.. I always wondered where all you wonderful gardeners get your seeds.. I didnt know where to start looking.. so thank you so much
I'm so impressed with the tiny Tim dwarf tomato we have growing in our indoor garden I plan to purchase multiple dwarf varieties from victoryseeds, I was already loading up the shopping cart when I got the notification for this video LOL
@@TheMillennialGardener Sorry, I thought I responded previously, we are just about to harvest the last bit of them, the plant is dying off now. We loved the taste, not very sweet but more like a ripe tomato that has already been seasoned.
I use Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (they are local, 1 hour away) for most of my seeds. I also use West Coast Seeds and Hoss Tools for the rest of my seed purchases.
I'm a big fan of Baker Creek. A little on the pricey side but you get a lot of seeds with great germination rates. I always receive a free packet as a gift as well. Usually kale or lettuces. One I've had great luck with is MIGardener, Small family owned business out of Michigan and my other go to RU-vidr for garden info.
I like and buy from all of these. I am in NW GA. I also like tomatoes from Seeds'n'Such and Totally Tomatoes. No catalog but Hoss Tools has a nice seed selection.
Hey, thank you big time. I have abut 90% of my seeds for the season but I was still looking for some strawberry seeds and a few more unique tomato seed varieties. your video is a huge help.
Love Baker Creek (free shipping too), Territorial, and especially Johnny's (but some are expensive). Paying more for seed that has extremely high germination rates makes sense. I have had bad luck with seeds from big box stores especially (sadly) with Burpee. This year I'm trying Pinetree because they have a sweet corn variety I wanted: Argent. As another comment mentions, both Johnny's and Territorial provide a wealth of planting and harvesting information along with pest and disease issues. If you are looking for plants for berries and other fruits try Edible Landscaping in Afton, Virginia.
I will vouch for Territorial being a good seed vender. I use them, Totaly Tomatos & Pine Tree seeds. I start all my own seeds and grow over 360 seedlings.I never have problems with germination with these seed venders.
I have had good experience with OSC in Canada. OSC is Ontario Seed Company. I like that on their website you can order much larger packets / weights and you get to see the entire catalog. Have generally had good luck with burpee seeds even with old seeds, surely their website is similar to OSC with allowing larger quantities in a package.
Excellent video! I have used Burpee Seeds for years but you've really interested me in trying the others, especially the heirloom varieties. I'm going to order some of those catalogues. Just an aside: I love the "Adventures With Dale" feature! He's so cute and seems a very happy dog. I have always had "pound puppies." I think they're smarter, have better personalities than pure breeds and generally are all-around better dogs. And who knew they liked to garden, too?!
I really like Burpee, but I definitely recommend exploring some of these heirloom companies. Burpee is great for a large, national company with a wide variety of plants, but the depth that some of these smaller seed companies go into is exciting. They have such cool stuff. I agree about rescue dogs. There are so many countless dogs out there who are healthy with diverse genetics that need a home right now, I can't justify paying a breeder to inbreed a dog that's prone to so many health issues. The wonderful thing about visiting a shelter is you not only save a life, but you get to find a personality that matches yours instead of rolling the dice. We hit the jackpot with Dale.
I'm trying to save seeds to keep variety for the future. I like heirlooms and lines that have been around for decades. I want to preserve as much as possible. What is the best company that you know of that I can order from? I am mostly just wanting to preserve/protect to continue into the future. I bought over $10 worth of burpees this month at a local store. Any suggestions from anyone? Any other savers out there? What needs to be saved more? I'm interested in organic/non GMO as I feel it will be needed some day. PS: I am just starting. Haven't planted yet.
I watch your channel often and have learned a tremendous about about many aspects of gardening. I am looking to transform my backyard into a vegetable and fruit garden. do you have any suggestions for how to plan out each section of land? I have sun most of the day in 80 % of my backyard. I want to add fruit trees and bushes plus many varieties of vegetables. I usually groww a small garden with 5 different vegetables and have been pretty successful. Lastly I have been growing 10 fig trees for several months and in zone 7a I'm thinking all will go into containers. I grew 6 from my white fig tree and 4 Violette de Bordeaux trees I bought
When I built my garden, I assembled a series explaining why I did what I did. It may be helpful to you: ru-vid.com/group/PL1gY7BoYBGIHMf0bVzDMprnX-CazSKZL6 What's most important is orientation. Most things grown in a garden require full sun, which is defined AT LEAST 6 hours of non-stop, unfiltered sunlight a day. In reality, I think most plants enjoy 8-12 hours of unfiltered sunlight. For the overwhelming majority of crops, you're going to want full sun and the best way to do that is with a south-facing exposure. You should be tracking how the sun moves in your garden now and check out how the shadows fall at this time of year. The spring and summer have a higher sun angle, so if you can find a good spot now, it should be even better in a couple months. Also consider if you need shade to grow some things. If you want to grow a few things that require shade or part-sun, you'll need to plan accordingly. However, remember, you can always add shade by buying shade cloth.
I haven’t found anyone who carries more heirloom tomatoes than Tomatofest. I just ordered 9 varieties from them. The other catalogues you listed didn’t have many of the varieties I was looking for. I get my watermelons from Whilhite, a local Texas seed company.They have a lot of hybrids they’ve developed themselves and can only be purchased from them. Watermelon is my favorite thing from the garden. I grew one last year that was the best thing I’ve ever eaten from a garden, vine or tree. Im sure it would’ve won in a watermelon festival for best taste. I used to grow a lot of melons and sell on the side of the road. I’m not even sure if it was a seed I planted or a seed leftover from the previous year. I throw all my leftover seeds from the melons I eat back into my garden. I saved the seeds from it to plant this year and hopefully it’ll be the same and not a hybrid. I save the seeds from my best tasting melon each year and replant those along with others I buy. Maybe I’ll develop a amazing watermelon by saving the seeds from my best tasting each year.
TomatoGrowers has a similar selection to TomatoFest. I don't think I've ordered from TomatoFest before, but that's because TomatoGrower's selection is so astonishing.
I really think nothing compares to the flavor of a just-picked watermelon from the garden. While I'm not convinced that it is cheaper to grow them; the taste is beyond compare. The flavor of a supermarket watermelon will never match yours.
I ha e bought from almost all you listed. I can't recall their names right now but there several smaller west coast seed companies that are great as well.
Since I'm on the immediate East Coast, I haven't had a lot of experience with the West Coast companies. It would be helpful to review them for awareness!
Two are Redwood organic seeds and Sustainable Seeds. I had excellent service. And got high germination from their seeds. Both are very fast in getting the order out. I got their names from Southern Exposure when they ran low on seeds last year.
I’ve ordered from Bakers Creek n it’s usually the one I prefer. Had no idea Burpee does sales, gotta check them out. I was browsing their site n my eyes were like $$$ 🤣
I know this video is 2years old but I’m curious what you think about what the government and Big Pharma are working on doing with our gardening plants? I keep hearing rumors about how the reason gardens aren’t yielding as much is because of things the government is doing. Any thoughts on these subjects being that your channel is gardening?
yes i have used their seeds & they do alright. I will warn you though, Do Not waste your $ on any seed starter or potting mix..60-70 % wood chips & I got enough white flies out of it to kill off every thing i had started.
I have not. I wasn't aware they carried seed. That is absurdly cheap. Most packets have expiration dates, or "PACKED FOR YEAR XXXX" on them. As long as they're fresh, you'd think they'd be okay.
Those seeds are cheap, because they have been repackaged for the current year so many times, you are buying seeds from the late 90's. Poor germination rates. Most aren't labeled for what they really are, because the seed houses have to get rid of old stock. At DollarSeed.com our seeds are always fresh and we offer low to free S&H
I would base that on customer feedback. I would only purchase from sellers with a lot of positive reviews. I mean, I did it with my Martinique pepper plant. I had 19 of 20 seeds come up in my germination test.
I don't grow a ton of watermelon, so I'm not the best source. I grew one called Ali Baba last year that was good, but I've never found a variety that blew me away. I may want to try something yellow or orange this year because I never have before.
Absolutely. All these catalogs were free on their websites. They all mail them for free upon request online. Punch in your name and address and you'll get them.
No. The seed itself contains nutrients for the plant to germinate and grow for the first week or two. There is no need to fertilize until your seedlings become an inch or two tall, or you get a set of true leaves on the plant. I would recommend not adding any kind of fertilizer as that may cause decay.
I get my soil for my raised beds locally. I suggest looking for a local landscaping company that makes their own compost and garden soil onsite and mixes it all together. Have them deliver a few cubic yards and fill your beds with a wheelbarrow. That's what mine is - it's filled with locally made turkey compost garden soil. For containers, I usually make my mix since it's cheaper: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6DEjV3zaOBU.html
I'm having the hardest time purchasing from Baker Creek this year. The website is always down and when it is working they are out of what I want. I'm done with them. So tired of filling my basket and then getting a error message.
I'm looking for kaffir lime tree seeds and bitter melon seeds, for my wife. Can you suggest a company that is most likely to have viable seeds for sale for these plants ? Thank you for your time and consideration. Love your videos. 🕊️🙏💕💯
Thank you. Honestly, for lime seeds, you may want to check eBay. However, I would advise against starting citrus trees from seed. You risk growing a cross-pollinated seed, which won't grow true to type, and citrus grown from seed can take a very long time to fruit in some cases. It's much safer and easier to purchase a small grafted tree from somewhere like Edible Landscaping, One Green World, Four Winds, Fast Growing Trees, BriteLeaf and other online retailers since they'll fruit immediately. They're usually pretty inexpensive.
@@TheMillennialGardener I'm not going to be growing them for fruit. My wife uses the leaves to make her traditional Indonesian food/cooking. Also, she has a lot of friends whom she says would pay good money for fresh leaves and/or plants. Cuttings are fine but not always a sure thing, tedious, and we don't want to cut off too much of her only decent tree. I have started two trees from cuttings. But it seems to take forever to get established. Seeds are something I'm more confident with. Thanks again. PS: a kaffir lime tree is a whole different variety from your standard lime tree.
@@robertevans8024 Medicinal Seeds Only carries bitter melon seeds. They are in Oregon but have a huge selection of Medicinal herbs as well as a few vegetable seeds. They give fast service.
@@robertevans8024 I understand that Kaffir lime leaves are typically used in southeast Asian cooking and not the fruit. I would recommend you get a grafted tree, not scion wood to start from cuttings or seeds. You can buy a grafted dwarf ( www.briteleaf.com/product/kaffir-lime-dwarf/ ) or a rooted cutting ( www.briteleaf.com/product/kaffir-lime-rooted-cuttingbush/ ) from BriteLeaf. I've had good experienced with them in the past. They are both in stock currently. I would recommend this over seed or starting your own cuttings.
www.fourwindsgrowers.com has the kaffir tree available for sale. $29 for entry size n $49 for premium. I’ve bought several trees from them before n they’re pretty healthy trees.
I would strongly advise against that. Persimmons will take over a decade to fruit, and if you're growing an American perismmon from seed, you may get a male tree or require male and female trees. Growing persimmons from seed is a very bad idea in most cases. You should only purchase grafted trees of known, quality cultivars. They will fruit as soon as the next year.
I would advise against buying citrus seed. Citrus seeds will take 7-10 years or longer to grow and fruit. Also, depending on the variety, some tangerines are hybrids and won’t grow true to type. If you want a tangerine, you should purchase a grafted tree. They will fruit within 1-2 years and grow true. I recommend calling Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC, if you need a specific variety.
Depends on how you store them. Improper storage can destroy them in weeks or months. Proper storage can last years. Some seeds have germinated after decades.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for responding so quickly. We have been thinking about raised bed gardening. Now that I know seeds can be kept for some time, I think I will order some.
@@lagatha1037 hi I just saw your question. I had successfully germinate many 5 to 7 years old seeds with success rate of about 70%. And I never took special precautions. Probably I got lucky. I think it really depends on the quality of seeds and storage.
I don't think people became interested in home gardening for food security. A home garden could never provide food security for the average person. It's just not feasible. There is a learning curve before you can even produce food. Most people have bad soils that need a few years to get going. Then there is pest and disease pressure. Also, people can't live off of tomatoes, okras, and cucumbers, radish, and Swiss chard. The yield just isn't there. You have to put in more that you out of it - pesticides, fertilizer, soil, tools, cups, etc. It's easier to hunt deer and turkeys from a economic standpoint. I just think people became interested because perhaps they need something to occupy them or perhaps because they "THINK" what they're doing will provide food security without having thought it over carefully. If it was a matter of food security, I'd stop gardening right then and there. There have been so many failures and I've lost so much money. I continue because it's a hobby and enjoy learning different lessons that make me better year after year.
Well, it’s definitely a money pit but it’s supposedly just below cycling for being good for one’s mental health, do maybe it’s it’s a beneficial hobby, especially this pandemic.
I disagree with a lot of this. 1. Disease and pests can be defeated by focusing on varieties of plants that thrive, and are native to, your area. People suffer from diseases and pests because they're growing things from other continents in their yard, so disease isn't always an issue. 2. You need to adopt a perennial mindset. Gardening "seems" seasonal when you focus on annual vegetables, but when you adopt a perennial mindset, you can turn your landscaping into edible landscaping and transform your garden into an orchard. 3. Canning and food preservation is a real thing. There is no reason why you can't make enough tomato puree and salsa for an entire year out of a summer garden. My grandparents have been doing it my entire life. There is no reason why you can't can a hundred pounds of peppers, string beans, peas, carrots, etc., over the course of a season. You can grow a year's worth of food in a backyard, and people have been doing it for generations. 4. It's not about growing 100% of what you eat in your backyard. It's about fortifying what you have. It's about knowing that you can bridge the gap if we have a big run on the grocery stores like we did last year. It's nice to know that you have some vacuum-sealed packages of broccoli, peas and corn in the chest freezer outside, can jars of crushed tomatoes and salsa out in the garage just in case. There is a reason why the pandemic caused a spike in gardening.
Oh how quickly we forget! During WWII, rationing stamps were issued for food, gasoline, shoes, and many other essentials. The government asked all Americans to have Victory Gardens to sustain their families during times of food shortages; on a rooftop, back or front yard, or even in a vacant lot. Coffee.......it was so scarce the grounds were dried, toasted, and reused several times. Sugar.......homemakers waited in line in the hope of buying it. Moving forward to the present, the current pandemic has been an epiphany to many in this great country, and I believe one consequence will be an uptick in home food preservation, converting a backyard from grass to a garden (as I have), and knowing that Amazon Prime may not be able to deliver an order the very next day or we may only find empty shelves at Wal-mart.
All of these companies still have seeds. Baker Creek temporarily shut down their website to catch up on orders, but it should be back up. All of the other websites are actively taking orders.
We got Bulbs or Hearts ? from local seller , they come back every year , (keep them watered well as instucted 1st yr ), just 1st year 's produce has to be left uncut , then 2nd yr expand to Harvest , YUMM and Healthy .
I haven't found a watermelon that blew me away yet. I grew Ali Baba last year and it was good, and I've grown bush style Sugar Baby's with mixed results. I plan on experimenting with other types.
Hello, I’ve grown “Blacktail Mountain” watermelon for several years here in zone 10a. I get 3-4 fruit per plant and the fruit quality is excellent, firm, sweet, juicy and few seeds. I’m experimenting with triploid melons this season to see if I can grow a decent seedless variety.
@@farmerbob4554 thanks for the tip. Looks like a Sugar Baby from the website I'm checking out. It says these are smaller at 8-12 lbs and one of the earliest varieties. Is that accurate?
