Seed Catalogs I like to support

In the world of buying seeds, if you don't want to support Monsanto-Seminis and you are interested in buying from companies which support unaltered, open pollinated and heirloom seeds. There are many alternatives to buy from.
I think there is definitely a new trend going for open pollinated, heirloom seeds. More and more people asking for non hybrid, non gen. altered seeds, seed catalogs are responding in adding more of these seeds to their offering and if you search for Heirloom Seeds on the internet, every year there are more new catalogs in that category.

The only way we can stop Monsanto in endangering our food supply is by buying consciously. Buy seeds from the companies which sign the 'Safe Seed Pledge', buy from companies which don't sell seeds owned by Monsanto, support the companies which try to preserve our food heritage. Buy Heirlooms, Open Pollinated Seeds. Don't buy products made with genetically altered plants. Read the fine print, read your labels when you shop, inform yourself where your food comes from.

We are not all powerless, those companies are only as strong as we let them.

So these companies supposedly are not selling Monsanto owned seeds and quite a few of them grow their own seeds.

Companies I have bought from before are marked by a '*'

Abundant Life Seeds *
Amishland Seeds
Baker Creek Seed Co. * this is right now one of my favorites, they got a great selection of Seeds from around the world
Berlin Seeds - no web site
Botanical Interests * luckily for me, I can get their seeds locally in a garden store
Bountiful Gardens
Diane's Flower Seeds
Fedco Seed Co. - phasing out seminis seeds. Fedco's catalog notes for every variety they sell a number code 1-5, which tells where that seed. came from 1=small independent farmer, 2=family-owned seed companies or co-operatives, 3=domestic & foreign corporations not part of a larger conglomerate, 4=multinationals not engaged in genetic engineering, to Fedco's knowledge, 5=multinationals engaged in genetic engineering.
Garden City Seeds
Heirloom Acres Seeds - rumored to have bad germination rate & bad customer service
Heirlooms Evermore Seeds
Heirloom Seeds* nice variety, it took a bit longer this year to get my order, they said they were overrun with orders (a sign of the times?)
High Mowing Seeds
Horizon Herbs* I found 'Bärlauch' a German wild growing herb there, they built special meals around this herb in Germany when in season. It grows wild in Germany.
Irish-Eyes
Kitchen Garden Seeds* I have been buying from them in years, before they were affiliated with Van Engelen, Inc., they have signed the 'Safe Seed Pledge' and have a interesting assortment of seeds
Lake Valley Seeds
Livingston Seeds
Local Harvest
Mountain Rose Herbs* I ordered a few times from them when I lived in North Carolina. They sometimes had mislabeled plants. Otherwise a nice selection of herbs
Organica Seed
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply* I have not ordered seeds from them, because many of those seeds I can get locally. But I have ordered garlic, organic fertilizer and other garden related things from them. They have a great selection for organic gardening
Pinetree - this one I have been trying to order online a few times, unsuccessfully. Due to Shopping cart problems. I emailed them at least twice, never heard back. They got a nice seed selection if you can get them
Renee's Garden* Renee always has some nice seeds. I used to buy from there before she sold her first Seed catalog business. I do miss the old Renee's catalog. More selection and not so much packaged deals, like 2 different beans in a pack.
Richters Herbs
Sand Hill Preservation Center
Seed Saver's Exchange
Seeds of Change*another company I have bought from for a long time. They are owned now by M&M/Mars- this supposedly because one of the Seeds of Change founders is related person at the top from M&M/Mars, so when the seed company needed financial support they arranged the buy-out. Seed of Exchange say are in complete control of the company, the marketing and in choosing what seeds to sell.
Southern Exposure
Tiny Seeds
Tomato Fest - seed germination from this company is reputed to be poor
Underwood Garden Seeds
Uprising Seeds
Victory Seeds
Wildseed Farms
Wood Prairie Farm

Seed Savings Importance In Monsanto Times

When I started looking into it, which seed catalogs are selling seeds benefiting the Monsanto corporation, I was surprised how many of the companies I regarded highly and I often buy seeds from, because they do sell a lot of open pollinated and heirloom seeds, the kind of seeds I only use nowadays, how many sell Seminis seeds. They do not only solely Seminis seeds but it sure is very difficult to find out which ones are coming from Seminis. Some companies are not eagerly sharing which seeds are connected to Monsanto, a few are sharing this information. Some companies stopped carrying the controversial seeds and others are phasing them out.

The other surprise to me was, how more and more formerly independent seed catalogs are being owned by larger enterprises, being consolidated. I knew before I investigated that some catalogs I used to shop at had been bought up by another company but I had no idea how bad this is getting. This is a bad direction for the future of our seed supply. We do not want the control of our garden seeds in the hands of a few corporations.

To show you how hard it will be to stay away from Monsanto's owned seeds, look at the Seed companies which sell Monsanto owned Seminis seeds. Look also at the connections the seemingly independent small retailers have.

* Audubon Workshop... Owned by Scarlet Tanager, LLC
* Breck's Bulbs... Owned by Scarlet Tanager, LLC
* Burpee... merged with the Ball company in 1991, also bought up Heronswood Nursery
* Cook's Garden... I used to get seeds from there, but in the last years I wasn't as impressed with their selection. They were bought up by Burpee's.
* Earl May Seed
* Flower of the Month Club... Owned by Scarlet Tanager, LLC
* Gardens Alive... Owned by Scarlet Tanager, LLC
* HPS ... Also owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Johnny's Seeds.... I used to buy a lot of veggies from there, since I only buy OP or Heirloom, and they don't have the variety I seek, I stopped buying from there. This is from their website: "Presently Johnny's carries about 40 Seminis varieties,which is about 4% of our vegetable varieties. Our intention is to continue replacing them." and "I don't see plant genetic resources being locked up by the conglomerates, because the germ plasm collections are public.
My main concern about Monsanto is the consolidation." This statement makes me wonder where they stand. They have signed the Safe Seed Pledge, but then what does that mean, if they are still supporting Seminis/Monsanto.
* Jungs.... owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Lindenberg Seeds
* McClure and Zimmerman Quality Bulb Brokers.... I have ordered bulbs from them before and even though they have a great selection it's always a hit or miss. sometimes things are mislabled, sometimes they don't grow, sometimes bulbs are mediocre in size other times large. I stopped buying from them. They are owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella.
* Mountain Valley Seed
* Nichol’s.... used to shop there, but in the last years the catalog had ever smaller offering so I stopped going there. They are local to us. Their customer service used to be better when the parents owned the place. On their website they say:'We are an original signer of the safe seed pledge and offer no genetically modified seed, plants, or products'
* Osborne
* Park Bulbs.... owned by Park Seed Company
* Park Seed.... owned by Park Seed Company
* Park's Countryside Garden.... owned by Park Seed Company
* R.H. Shumway.... owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Roots and Rhizomes.... owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Rupp
* Seeds for the World... owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Seymour's Selected Seeds.... owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Snow
* Spring Hill Nurseries.... Owned by Scarlet Tanager, LLC
* Stokes
* Territorial Seed Co.... also locally, will give out list of their Seminis seeds if asked and say they are in the process to slowly replace Seminis seeds with new products.
* The Vermont Bean Seed Company.... owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Tomato Growers Supply .... I have bought a lot of heirloom tomatoes, peppers and eggplants from them in the last few years.
* Totally Tomato .... bought from them before, nice selection of heirlooms, most I can get somewhere else. Owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Mountain Valley Seed
* Vermont Bean Seed Co. .... owned by J.W. Jung Seed Company's umbrella
* Wayside Gardens.... owned by Park Seed Company
* Willhite Seed Co.

There is the rumor going around on the internet that these companies are now owned by Monsanto but this is not true. Nevertheless buying Seminis Seeds, supports Monsanto.

And remember not all of the seeds these Companies sell are Seminis Seeds. Some of them are in the process of phasing their Seminis seeds out.

For a list of which seeds varieties, which are now owned by Monsanto see here http://seedsandseedsaving.blogspot.com/