If you’re wondering where to buy vegetable seeds and other plant seeds, we have a couple extensive lists of best garden seeds companies to help.

As you’ll see when you read on, during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic all seed companies experienced shortages. So now, no matter the time of year, it’s a good idea to order seeds for an ample supply of more than one season’s planting for survival preparedness, just in case.

Planning, Picking and Ordering Seeds for the Garden

In typical times seed catalogs start coming in around January, and many during the week between Christmas and New Years, and the sooner you place your order, the better the chance of getting your selection.

Planning What to Grow in Your Garden

Gardeners longing for planting time can easily go overboard in ordering too many seeds. The best way around that is with a clear garden plan.

In addition to the garden planner app, as an investor and investment educator, I use the value investing approach to help decide what to plant. Beyond that, most gardening seed companies also have a lot of useful information on their websites to help you in whatever you’re wanting to plant and grow.

Online Saves Time

The Garden Planner app has a built-in program which generates a plant list with the seed companies that sell your variety.  This has been a real time-saver for us.

Two other advantages of going online are the quick search capability, and shortening the order/delivery time.

We actually order a lot of things from Amazon because it’s fast and easy and by signing up for Amazon Prime, we’ve save lots in shipping. You can get a free 30-day trial to see how you like it and get free shipping on most or all orders, plus free movies, music, etc., so lots of perks.

We’ve been satisfied so far with seeds ordered from there as well. We’ve ordered a number of seeds from different vendors, including purple sweet potatoes, cucamelons and the new hybrid of Brussel sprouts and kale, which we’ve written about here: Kalettes.

No matter where you get your seeds from, just make sure to follow the seed packet instructions for planting them. Some seeds fail to germinate because they’ve not been given their best chance through scarification, stratification or soaking.

Gardening is a lot like cooking or painting. The best results come from proper preparation and cleanup, both of which take a lot more time that the gardening itself. Start with good soil and compost, heed the seed packet instructions, keep your garden watered, and you’re well on your way.

Seeds Are Our Future

At GardensAll we are very encouraged to see so many people interested in gardening, homesteading and self sufficiency through growing our own food. Many in the Gardens All Facebook community are also interested in earning a living—or supplemental income—from gardening and farming, on anything from acres of land to 1/8 of an acre.

No one said it would be easy, but many are proving it’s possible, and many more want to and are heading in that direction.

So whether you’re a beginner gardener, just getting into vegetable gardening for the first time, or a seasoned old-timer, this article includes information you might find helpful. From ordering seeds and planning your garden, this is a good place to start.

While some say it can’t be done, others are just doing it.
~GardensAll.com

List of Seed Companies – Includes Status During Covid-19

This list of seed companies was researched, compiled, and shared by Planting for Retirement community member, Paulina Circelli. Thanks to Paulina for sharing this excellent, well-researched and alphabetically organized resource!

If you don’t see your favorite seed company please let us know the name and status and we will add it to this list. Or, if you see a status that needs updating as well.

All of the companies on this list have taken the Safe Seed Pledge and Paulina has researched to the best of her ability, to ensure they don’t sell seed from Seminis, Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, etc., or any of their affiliated companies. These companies sell heirloom, open pollinated, land race, and organic seeds.

Seeds Companies are Swamped With Orders

All garden seed companies are reporting unprecedented volumes of orders. Those who are already gardening are ahead of the game. Those who are just starting… congratulations on taking action now! Once you grow your own food, chances are you always will as long as you’re able.

Many small seed companies have either closed due to being unable to meet demand while also tending their farm or homestead. Most, are experiencing delays. This list should help you find your way, and we will update it as often as possible during this Covid-19 lockdown, especially.

80 Garden Seeds Companies

Vegetable, Flower, and Medicinal Plant Seeds Listed Alphabetically

Updated 07.14.2020

1. ✅ Adaptive Seeds: Updating catalog; expect to open for the new year 2021
2. ✅ Alliance of Native Seedkeepers: open and shipping
3. ✅ Amazon – multiple companies; check availability and reviews
4. ✅ American Meadows: wildflower and grass seed delayed, bulbs, bare roots, and potted plants now shipping
5. ✅Amishland Heirloom Seeds: reopened and selling again due to requests from customers
6. ✅ Annapolis Seeds: 3-4 day turnaround
7. ✅ Backyard Seed Savers: open and shipping within 3-5 business days
8. ✅ Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: allow additional 7 days
9. ✅ Botanical Interests: open and shipping
10. ✅ Burpee Seeds:
11. ✅ Chauly’s Favorite Seeds: open and shipping as usual
12. ✅ Clear Creek Seeds: up to 2 weeks delay
13. ✅ Diane’s Flower Seeds (+ Herbs and Veggies): no notes about delays
14. ✅ Eden Brothers: Shipping as usual, “The Seediest Place on Earth.”
15. ✅ Field and Forest Products: Mushrooms; some delay
16. ✅ Filaree Garlic Farm: Garlic, potatoes, asparagus crowns… open and shipping
17. ✅ Forgotten Heirlooms: no delays, great selection of tomatoes, peppers, beans, and flowers
18. ✅ Fruition Seeds: open, no notes about delays on website
19. ✅ Full Circle Seeds: some delays
20. ✅ Great Lakes Staple Seeds: open and shipping
21. ❌✅ Heirloom Seeds: temporarily closed – site under construction
22. ✅ High Mowing Seeds: shipping as usual, but check Covid banner for updates
23. ✅ Hudson Valley Seed Company: 7-15 business days delay on new orders
24. ✅ Hume Seeds: website open and shipping
25. ✅ Irish Eyes: open and shipping: Seeds, potatoes, garlic, onions, berry plants…
26. ✅ J. L. Hudson Seedsman: open and shipping
27. ✅ Johnny’s Seeds – 3 days processing delay only
28. ✅ Kitazawa Seed Co: open and shipping. Specializes in Asian vegetables.
29. ✅ Kusa Seed Society: no notes on delays
30. ✅ Little Shop of Seeds: Shipping as usual
31. ✅ Maine Potato Lady: some delays. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, peonies…
32. ✅ Mary’s Heirloom Seeds: open, up to 21 business days shipping delay
33. ✅ Mauro Seed: fulfilling orders in 1 business but selling out quick
34. ✅ Meadowlark Hearth: open and shipping same day if orders placed before noon
35. ✅ MI Gardener: Business as usual. Company donates one seed packet for every packet purchased
36. ✅ Milky Fork Farm: limited seeds, tubers and other products; open as usual
37. ✅ Native-Seeds: currently not taking new orders
38. ✅ New Hope Seed Company: no notes about delays. Seeds, sweet potatoes, tobacco plants/seeds
39. ✅ Ohio Heirloom Seeds: no notes about delays
40. ✅ Oikos Tree Crops: Business as usual. Seeds, roots, fruit & nut trees, tubers, rhizomes, berries, rare plants
41. ✅ Old House Gardens: Shipping, Heirloom bulbs
42. ✅ Open Circle Seeds: Shipping as usual
43. ✅ Pinetree Garden Seeds: (DBA: Super Seeds) Currently plan to resume accepting orders again on May 1st
44. ✅ Plant Good Seed: catching up with orders, open
45. ✅ Prairie Moon Nursery: shipping as usual; Amazing selection of native plants and seeds
46. ✅ Prairie Road Organic Seed: no delays, shipping within 24-36 hours
47. ✅ Project Purity Seeds: no notes about delays
48. ✅ Project Tree Collard: open and shipping. Tree Collard seeds, plants, and cuttings
49. ✅ Renaissance Farms: no info on website about possible delays, open; large selection of 800 rare heirloom tomato varieties, flowers and greens
50. ✅ Resilient Seeds: Shipping as usual
51. ✅ Restoration Seeds: no notes on delays
52. ✅ Richter’s: significantly longer order processing; rare and medicinal plant seeds
53. ✅ Roughwood Seeds: open and shipping
54. ✅ Salt Spring Seeds: open and shipping; restocked many varieties as of April 22, continuing to restock more
55. ❌ Sample Seed Shop: permanently closed – owner passed away
56. ✅ Sandhill Preservation Center: 3 day turn around; heirloom seeds, sweet potatoes, poultry
57. ✅ Seeds for Generations: Shipping as usual
58. ✅ Seeds From Italy: Shipping as usual
59. ❌✅ Seed Needs: closed since 6/2020; building a new 7,000 sf warehouse; will reopen; check back
60. ❌✅Seeds Now: Closed; check back
61. ✅ Seeds of the Prairie: Open and shipping
62. ✅ Seed Savers Exchange: open and shipping (except during holidays)
63. ✅ Seed Treasures: Open and shipping
64. ✅ Siskiyou Seeds: Open and shipping
65. ✅ Southern Exposure Seed Exchange: opens at 11am until sold out for the day
66. ✅ Sow True Seed: fulfillment in 2-5 business days; closed for holidays
67. ❌✅Stillwater Valley Farm: may resume limited orders in 2021; check to see
68. ✅ Strictly Medicinal Seeds: 3 week delay, good variety of in stock items
69. ✅ Sustainable Seed Co: Open and shipping
70. ✅ Territorial Seed Company: Shipping as usual; read message from president, Tom Johns for latest updates
71. ✅ Terroir Seeds: Open and shipping
72. ✅ The Rusted Garden: open, 3-5 business days delay
73. ✅ The Seed Guy: Heirloom seed shortages; shipping longer than usual
74. ✅ Tomato Fest: Open and shipping
75. ✅ Truelove Seeds: Open and shipping; some out of stocks
76. ✅ Turtle Tree Seed: Open and shipping
77. ✅ Uprising Seeds: Updating site and catalog. Will resume taking orders around the New Year 2021
78. ✅ Vermont Wildflower Farm: No delays; open and shipping
79. ✅ Victory Seeds: shipping orders but check message banner at page top for any updates.
80. ✅ Wood Prairie Family Farm: open; seeds, potatoes, cover crops; shipping as usual

Can You Plant Old Seeds?

If you have old seeds and you’re wondering if you can plant them, this may help.

The Good Arising from the Bad of Covid-19

Speaking of Covid and these strange pandemic times we’re in, we view more people taking up gardening and growing their own food as a very positive thing. If that’s the result of this Covid-19 scare, then that may also be the birth of more good to come, such as a return to the family farm.

RELATED: Finding the good in the bad.

Family Business Ideas Around Growing for Profit

Families working together and at home together more often is a tremendous positive as well. Many will end up starting their own businesses from home… yet another positive. If that’s a topic that interests you, we have a number of articles on ideas for making money from yard gardens and more:

Articles on Making Money from Your Yard and Garden

• Landscape vegetable gardening business
• Make money farming from home
• Small Farm organic gardening for profit
• Specialty crops to grow for profit
• Urban homestead growing on 1/8 acre – feeds family and makes profit
• The Market Gardener
• Mushroom farmer – she started it in her basement!
• The family farm and a millennial farmer

RELATED articles from our sister site: How to make money as an artist, and 15 reasons not to go to college.

And… you’ll find others linked from each of these as well, but this should get your creative juices flowing.

The Flag and Tag Hard Copy Method

Something about turning real pages, tabbing, and marking them up can be really satisfying. Some catalogs carry bonus features like planting charts and garden books. No batteries or Wifi required either!

Seed Shopping Tips

• Shop and Compare – You may find prices varying as much as 50%!
• Minimize Shipping Costs – Place orders with friends, family and neighbors. Order for the entire growing season as much as possible.
• Seed Storage – Safely store your seeds to keep them viable as long as possible.
• Think Local – Look for varieties and vendors in your grow zone.
• Make Contact – Chat, email, phone to ask questions and get direct answers. It never hurts to ask. The customer service you receive may help you decide which will be your favorite company!
• Have a Plan – To repeat, this will help you to avoid wasteful impulse purchases… don’t we know it! Create a garden plan, then stick to it. Mind you, that can include a section for experimental growing, but keep in mind what will most serve your family first, all things considered.

To identify quality seed vendors, we’ve listed a whole bunch of seed companies favored by fans of Mother Earth News and researchers at Organic Gardening. Also, there’s a list for those interested in heirloom seeds that allow you to collect “true” seeds and grow the same varieties year after year.

You may also be interested in this GardensAll article on saving and storing seeds.^[1]https://gardensall.com/tips-for-storing-your-seeds/

NEXT: The two best of garden seeds companies.

Mother Earth’s Top 15 Vegetable Seed Companes

1. Johnny’s Selected Seeds (Winslow, Maine)
2. Seed Savers Exchange (Decorah, Iowa)
3. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (Mansfield, Mo.)
4. Burpee Seeds and Plants (Warminster, Pa.)
5. Territorial Seed Company (Cottage Grove, Ore.)
6. Seeds of Change (Rancho Dominguez, Calif.)
7. Ferry-Morse Seed Company (Fulton, Ky.)
8. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (Mineral, Va.)
9. High Mowing Organic Seeds (Wolcott, Vt.)
10. Fedco Seeds (Waterville, Maine)
11. Nichols Garden Nursery (Albany, Ore.)
12. The Cook’s Garden (Warminster, Pa.)
13. Botanical Interests (Broomfield, Colo.)
14. Renee’s Garden Seeds (Felton, Calif.)
15. Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply (Grass Valley, Calif.)

SOURCE: MotherEarthNews.com^[2]https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/best-vegetable-seed-companies-zm0z11zsto.aspx?PageId=1#axzz3MTK1TNIO

Rodale’s OrganicLife Favorite Garden Seeds Suppliers

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. (Not organic-certified, but open pollinated, germination tested, untreated and non-GMO)
2278 Baker Creek Road, Mansfield, MO 65704
417-924-8917

W. Atlee Burpee & Co.(Non-GMO, limited varieties of both Organic and Heirloom)
300 Park Ave., Warminster, PA 18974
800-333-5808

Fedco Seeds (Organic and open pollinated varieties)
PO Box 520, Waterville, ME 04903
207-873-7333

High Mowing Seeds (Heirloom and organic)
76 Quarry Rd., Wolcott, VT 05680
802-472-6174

Johnny’s Selected Seeds (All kinds of heirlooms and organics)
955 Benton Ave., Winslow, ME 04901
877-564-6697

John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds
PO Box 638, Bantam, CT 06750
860-567-6086

Nichols Garden Nursery
1190 Old Salem Rd. NE, Albany, OR 97321
800-422-3985

Renee’s Garden
888-880-7228
(no print catalog)

Seed Savers Exchange
3094 N. Winn Rd., Decorah, IA 52101
563-382-5990

Seeds of Change
P.O. Box 4908, Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220
888-762-7333

GardensAll Local NC Seed Companies

And last but not least, here’s a listing of our local North Carolina sources for heirloom seeds including many organics.

Sow True Seed
146 Church Street, Asheville, NC 28801
828-254-0708

Eden Brothers
34 Old Brevard Road,
Asheville, NC 28806
828-633-6338

For fun and historical interest, we enjoyed this story of the Burpee Seed company and thought you might as well.

The Burpee Story

One of our favorite companies is Burpee. The Burpee Seed Company is non-GMO with ample organic selections, and the origin story of this 135+ year old company is inspiring and shares many parallels with current times.

The Legacy of The W. Atlee Burpee company

In the year 1876, as the great Philadelphia Centennial Exposition opened, the United States was still recovering from the cataclysmic upheaval of the Civil War, the agonies of Reconstruction, and a severe economic depression. Yet the mood of Americans, inspired largely by the industrial revolution and westward expansion, was one of almost unrestrained optimism, along with faith in scientific, social, and cultural progress resulting from self-reliant, individual achievement.
SOURCE: Burpee.com

Optimism, Hope and Faith

We love the Burpee origins story. Besides the independent entrepreneurial spirit of its founder, W. Atlee Burpee, it parallels our current times, where there’s recovery, fear, struggle, concern, and yet a restorative energetic hopefulness, innate in the American spirit.

We see gardeners, homesteaders and those seeking to return to simpler times of growing their own food, family values and even working together on the family farm. This is the raw and real American bootstrapped, innovative work ethic, representing the best of the American soul in independence, freedom, resiliency and self-sufficiency, and we are very hopeful for the future.

There is an aching for a return to simpler times of family values and working together in family business and on the family farm.

Sure, it’s a rocky road but it’s leading to better things. From the Industrial revolution of the late 1800’s to the “Internet revolution” that places the world of possibilities at our individual and collective fingertips… to the seeds we each plant that grow vegetables, fruits, trees and more to feed our families and beyond.

There is much about which to be hopeful and positive and what we focus on grows. So let’s focus on the positives and we’ll have more of that.

Today is the seed of tomorrow. Let’s plant it well.
~LeAura Alderson, GardensAll.com

You may enjoy these other garden memes here.

Stay Well, Optimistic, Resilient and Hardy Friends

We hope this unprecedented historical event will find you resilient and pivoting into better things for you and your family. May you weather this storm well enough to enjoy the rainbows on the other side.

But if you’re feeling fear and anxiety, that’s normal. Take heart… there are solutions to help.

Thanks again to Planting for Retirement community member, Paulina Circelli for taking the time to research, compile and then share this list with us. It’s a wonderful example of how one person’s actions can create a positive ripple effect, benefitting many by the simple act of sharing.

LeAura Alderson

I’m LeAura Alderson, entrepreneur, ideator, media publisher, writer and editor of GardensAll.com. Pursuits in recent years have been more planting seeds of ideas for business growth more than gardening. However, I’ve always kept plants, been interested in medicinal herbs and nutrition and healing from food over pharmacy. I assist in our family gardening projects primarily (at present) through the sharing of information through our websites and newsletters.

As a family we’re steadily expanding our gardening, experimentation and knowledge around all things gardening, edible landscaping, fresh organic foods and self sustainability and hopefully, farming in our future. We thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the creative ingenuity of the GardensAll community. I also own and manage theiCreateDaily.com.