Lucky for us, there are a lot of mail order catalogs out there. It can be daunting, however, to start from scratch, without a way to narrow down the selection. A few distinctions I use are the following:

Organic vs. Conventional
Local vs. Distant
Heirloom vs. Hybrid

Organic seeds are produced by a certified organic grower, using only organic (non-synthetic) methods of weed suppression and fertilizer, upon clean earth. Look for the USDA Organic label to be sure.

Conventional seeds are grown from plants using conventional pesticides and fertilizers. Some seeds are treated with fungicide before packaging. These seeds often show the tell-tale marks of an artificial-looking color.

Locally produced seeds come from seed farms local to you and your garden and therefore come from plants that are growing in conditions potentially closest to your own. This may also be a greener solution since fuel and transportation costs may be lower to deliver the product. Another consideration is simple support of a local economy.

Distantly produced seeds should still come from climactic conditions that most closely resemble yours.

Heirloom seeds must be foremost “open pollinated.” That means that the pollen is spread by wind or beast (beasts being mainly insects and birds). They, by nature, pass on most of their true characteristics through to the next seed, so are good for planting when seed-saving is a priority. Often passed down from generation to generation, these seeds tend to have history and time-tested qualities.

Hybrid seeds are often open pollinated by a controlled method to produce new plants with improved traits; disease resistance, fruit size and durability, color, taste, etc. Unfortunately, these plants will not produce seeds with the same qualities, so you will have to buy new seeds to get more plants next season.

I have a large collection of seeds from far and wide. It includes shared seeds that friends or associates have given me, seeds I have saved myself, those I have purchased on-line, and others that came from Agway.

Here is a list of seed sources I most often use:

High Mowing Seeds (organic, local from Wolcott, VT)

Botanical Interests (organic, Colorado based, has heirloom varieties)

Burpee (organic and conventional, Pennsylvania based, has heirloom and hybrid varieties)

Johnny’s Selected Seeds (has organic, relatively local from Maine, heirloom and hybrids)

Annies Heirloom Seeds (organic, Michigan, specializes in heirloom seeds)

I propose that we, as local communities, consider maintaining local seed banks, perhaps at the libraries? It would take a caretaker, that is for sure, but might be worth it in times of trouble. I think that right now people might be wishing that we had a community seed bank, right?

Want to start your own seed bank? Annies Heirloom Seeds offers a how-to for us all to follow.

Click here to start your own seed bank.