Thinking about buying seeds online?
Whether you’re buying seeds online for a huge vegetable garden, or you’re just looking to raise a few pots of plants, it’s important to know the best places to get your seeds! For a backyard farmer, buying seeds is just about as fun as buying a new pair of shoes.
But better.
Because you can’t eat shoes, man.
Living here in Arizona definitely has it’s detriments (cough, scorching summers, cough), but we get our own little slice of heaven here when it comes to planting seasons. We have three of them. Be jealous. From September, all the way to June, we can grow and harvest fruits and vegetables a’ plenty!
It’s like Christmas. But healthier.
Heirloom, Open-pollinated, Hybrid, Organic, Non-GMO. What does it all mean?
I prefer heirloom seeds when buying seeds online because they haven’t been crossbred for characteristics for at least 40 years. Why is this important to me? Well, crossbreeding plants is a natural process, but typically it’s done to improve things like pest resistance or thick skin, and not for optimal flavor. In my opinion, heirloom is the best option for a backyard farmer, when pests can be kept under control and flavor is the top priority. Also, heirloom seeds are always open-pollinated, which means they are pollinated naturally by wind or bees, instead of by hand, which can be a lot of work.
Hybrid seeds are not open-pollinated, and many times the seeds from a harvest of hybrid seeds cannot be replanted with high success.
Non-GMO seeds are something that I absolutely strive for. If I wanted genetically modified plants that were made in a lab, I’d get my produce from the store.
Organic seeds do not come from a chemical or pesticide-sprayed fruit or vegetable. For a company to become certified organic, it can be quite expensive, so I’m comfortable with taking the word of the owner when buying seeds online, if I feel like I can trust them:)
Buying Seeds Online: The Best Sites
Seed Saver Exchange
I love this place. It has such a great concept, and the quality is always there! They’ve been encouraging the preservation of heirloom seeds for over 37 years, so they really know their stuff. Plus I just love the idea of a community of backyard farmers sharing their seeds. Click here to shop.
Johnny’s Seeds
Johnny’s is kind of my go-to for purchasing seeds online. They have great customer service and they always seem to have great sales going on during planting season. They also have a handy online seed calculator and can help determine your hardiness zone, Click here to shop.
SeedsNOW
SeedsNOW advertises that they have Pure 100% Non-GMO seeds. As long as you’re buying organic seeds, they should be non-gmo as well, but I like that SeedsNOW shows how important providing 100% pure non-GMO is to them. They also have some easy search categories like, “can tolerate partial shade”, and “grows well with raised beds”. Click here to shop.
Sustainable Seed Company
The Sustainable Seed Company is a popular site to find heirloom and certified organic seeds. It’s also family owned and has a large selection of seeds! The company’s location is also sustainably powered, which is pretty cool! Click here to shop.
SeedWise
SeedWise is an Organic and Non-GMO marketplace enabling seed farmers to sell directly to home gardeners, giving a greater level of choice to the customer and higher income to the farmer. Click here to shop.
I like this idea. I’ve found places to purchase seeds that I’ve never heard of. I have a stack of the run of the mill catalogs for seeds, some good…some not so good. That brings me to the reason I stopped in. Could you do a listing on where to NOT buy seeds from? I could give a list of bad experiences I’ve had, but will hold off until I get the Green Light to do so. I’ve reported them to the Better Business Bureau, but their hands are tied. I just feel gardeners should be given the heads up on some of the shadier seed companies.
Hello-
If you have suggestions about where to or not to purchase seeds you can offer a few.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
I like getting my seeds from RareSeeds.com. They sell non-GMO, open pollinated seeds. They go around the world looking for heirloom varieties.
Hey DaNelle, thanks for the info. I have been buying seeds from the classic online shopping sites and for some obscure reason very few of them actually germinate. I will be trying your suggestions. Cheers, Elna
Wonderful blog! I and a sucker for the unusual and wild species and buy my seeds from centerofthewebb.com
They are local in Texas and do a wonderful job
Nice blog, thanks for sharing.
You do such a great job and you made a good site it very help us.Your site always giving us such a great and useful information.Thanks for sharing the best information on this topic it very useful to us.
We like Baker Creek, Seed Savers and Sustainable Seeds, when we need to buy seeds. These days we also grow seeds, at Painted Desert Seed Company in Arizona. We would, of course, encourage consideration of our seeds, from anyone who’s looking for offbeat varieties. unusual colors and adaptation to the deserts of the American Southwest. Thank you for you!
Michael and Bettie Bailey
https://painted-desert.com
We’re in Phx, any local place where we could get them quick?
Hi Emily,
Really any nursery has good organic or heirloom seeds!
Looking for information and ideas. Want some home made food live in city no yard only slap of a deck .4×10 want tomatoes and peppers and Cilantro
Another Shop where the Delivery is kinda slow is https://OrganicalBotanicals.com/ – Despite their unique selection of Heirloom Poppy Seeds. So be sure to place your order EARLY cuz they take forever!
-jdub
Are they slower than Burgess Plant & Seed? I’ve been waiting over 7 weeks for a few packets of seeds. Nothing live, just seed packets. Planting season will be over soon.
Another great place to buy seeds if you garden in Arizona is Terrior Seeds. Based near Prescott they have a great selection of desert SW friendly seeds.
Bought some from humble seed awhile back. No complaints there except there selection is slightly limited. Great customer service. Thanks for the extra sites.
I purchase mine from the http://www.arkinstitute.com They also have amazing self-sustaining bundles. Great articles and information, thank you!
does heirloom seeds have a wide selection or is it limited?
There’s a pretty great selection, especially if you try one of the seed sharing sites!
This is a good list.I have purchased seeds from most of them.Another great place is Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds link is http://www.rareseeds.com and the shipping is also reasonable .
Thanks!
Don’t forget High Mowing organic Seeds! Awesome grassroots company!
Fedco Def deserves a shout out. Full disclosure and extensive info in their catalog. https://www.fedcoseeds.com
Annie’s Heirlooms in Beaver Island Michigan is also a great place. I order online from them every year and am very pleased. I am a Michigander & like to shop local the best I can. Sign up for their catalog.
I have, in the past, used various seed catalogs and store purchases, but since working at a garden center that sold Botanical Interest seeds I have been hooked on them…but Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com) is, in my opinion, the BEST source for seeds in the entire country! And they have the best customer service, the largest selection of heirloom varieties from all over the world, lowest prices on seeds and shipping…and they include a FREE pack with every order. So technically their shipping is 50 cents. Since using these 2 sources I have thrown out all my other catalogs (except Seed Savers Exchange) and have ordered more seeds than I could ever plant…lol.
Don’t forget to check Dave’s Garden Watchdog for other reviews of the seed sites you have chosen, before you order. 🙂
https://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/
You can’t be serious. The Garden Watchdog is laughable. Site uses robots hooked to competitor commercial account enrollees. Never sign up- there’s no way out. Site is considered “blacklisted” for user friendliness due to lack of facilities for editing one’s own account. Avoid!
These are great, thanks!~
Ive been buying mine from https://marysheirloomseeds.com/
She has fantastic seeds and great customer service!
Ill have to try out the links you shared as well.
I tried to order from https://weed-express.com… the stuff was ok, but the delivery was longer than they said, approximately 10 days.
Great list. I like buying from centerofthewebb because they have a really nice wild edible selection
DaNelle- I forgot to mention that their catalog is free! Ya can’t beat that. 😀
We’ve been buying our organic, non GMO, heirloom seeds from http://www.rareseeds.com. You really should send off for their 100% full color seed catalog. Their large variety of seeds is outstanding, and the catalog is simply gorgeous!!
Thanks!
Personally here on the west coast, Victory Seeds has been awesome to work with.
Thanks for the list! I’ve always used Baker Creek, but I’ll have to look into these others. I like the sounds of SeedNOW’s search options.
I always buy my seeds from SeedsNOW! Thanks for sharing this. I have a few friends who want to start a garden next year and this is a great place to point towards! 🙂
Thanks Margaret!
Oh dear. I think you’ve created a bit of a monster with this one! SeedsNOW has loads of $0.99 sample packs, which are the perfect size for my little garden, especially since I can harvest new seeds from what I grow. Let’s just say I was a bit more liberal with my mouse than I should have been. Thanks for the great links!
Haha, I know! I go overboard on the seed buying all the time!