Best Vegetable Seed Companies

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Traditionally, seed companies mail their new catalogs out in December and January. This is the time of year that I do my garden plan and place orders for any seed I need for the Spring and Summer. Over the course of the next several posts, I'll let you know what I believe is new or interesting in the 2012 seed catalogs and also share my 2012 garden plan with you.

To get things rolling, I'm providing a list of twenty of my favorite seed companies from whom I've purchased over the years. While certainly not an exhaustive list, these are companies that are dependable suppliers and you may want to check them out as you plan your garden. They are listed below in alphabetical order with links to the company's web site.

Baker Creek Seed - one of my favorite seed companies because of their incredibly large selection of heirloom open pollinated seeds. Beware: Baker Creek publishes a glossy catalog full of such gorgeous photographs that you'll want to order more varieties than you have room to plant.
Botanical Interest - A good selection of high quality seeds. Botanical Interest is also unique in that each seed packet provides a wealth of information including: growing and harvesting information, pests/diseases, recipes and more. Botanical Interest seeds can be purchased over the internet and also at select garden stores.
Bountiful Gardens - Bountiful Gardens is a garden seed and tool supplier that sells organic, open pollinated seeds. The company is a non-profit, dedicated to supporting a style of sustainable agricultural practice called bio-intensive farming. Vegetable seeds, plants and tools can also be purchased locally from their sister store Common Ground if you live in the Palo Alto, CA area, and you can learn more about bio-intensive farming at the company's educational website GrowBiointensive.
Burpee - Burpee provides one-stop garden shopping by selling a full line of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and garden tools. Most of the seeds you'll find here are hybrids, but Burpee is also selling an increasing variety of heirlooms as consumer interest increases in this area.
Cook's Garden - Cook's Garden provides a curated seed shopping experience for customers with a high interest in cooking; the company selects a mix of hybrid and heirloom, European and American varieties they believe are superior in the kitchen.
Fedco - This cooperative sells vegetable varieties that are particularly well adapted to the climate in the North East. Their catalog is a B&W PDF download. The company is solid, but be aware that the shopping experience is poor by today's standards.
Ferry-Morse - One of the oldest, and I believe the largest, seed providers in the United States. Ferry-Morse seeds (sold under the FM and Lilly Miller brand names) are widely distributed through garden centers and retailers including Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart, HomeDepot, Lowes, Farm&Fleet and others. The company sells a broad selection of vegetables but a fairly limited number of varieties within each vegetable type. Fortunately, they seem to have a good selection of heirlooms, although they are not generally called out as such.
Four Winds Growers - FourWinds provides a huge range of dwarf citrus trees from the common navel orange to the exotic - Buddha's hand, Yuzu, and Etrog etc. Potted trees can be found at select nurseries around the United States or can be purchased directly from their on-line store as bare-root trees.
High Mowing Seed - A nice selection of hybrid and heirloom seeds from this small company in Vermont. All seeds are organically grown on the company's own farm.
Italian Seed & Tool - As it's name implies, this company started out as one that specialized in Italian varieties but now carries a wider selection. If you are looking for a specialty Italian variety of lettuce, fennel, squash etc., this is a good place to look.
J.L. Hudson - Like Baker Creek, J.L. Hudson is both a seed company and an evangelist for open pollinated seeds and biodiversity. The company sells a wide range of heirloom veggies. Unfortunately, as with Fedco, the shopping experience is not easy. The "on-line catalog" is simply a list of veggies without photos. Ordering is by snail mail, email/PayPal.
Johnny's Selected Seed- Johnny's is one of my favorite seed companies. They have a very wide selection of hybrid and open pollinated vegetables, fruit and herbs, tools and supplies. Their catalog is well illustrated with photos and contains lots of growing information for gardeners. If you only want to shop with one supplier, Johnny's is the way to go.
Kitagawa Seed Company- This firm specializes in Asian vegetables and vegetable varieties from Japan, China, Thailand etc. If you are looking for a special Japanese pickling cucumber, hot Thai pepper, or adzuki beans have a look at Kitagawa.
Raintree Nursery - Raintree sells a range of heirloom and hybrid fruit and nut trees, berries, and other plants. The company's selection includes the commonplace (apple trees, strawberries etc.) as well as some very exotic items (Wasabi, thimble-berries, tea plants, jujubes, paw paws etc). They also sell a good selection of table and wine grapes and ornamental trees. Raintree sells its fruit trees on a variety of root stocks allowing you to choose a dwarf, semi-dwarf, or full size tree according to your needs.
Renee's Garden Seeds - This company sells a good assortment of vegetable, herbs, and flower seeds that are choosen by the owner, Renee Shepherd. Ms. Shepherd is notable for being one of the first seed providers to sell fine culinary varieties that had been sourced from around the world. As with Cook's Garden, Shepherd Seeds are a curated seed experience as all varieties sold need to get Renee's stamp of approval. Renee's Seeds can be purchased on-line and in select garden centers.
Sandhill Preservation - Sandhill Preservation is seed company run by a husband and wife team that are dedicated to saving heirloom seeds. They have a wide selection and is one of the places you might want to check if you are looking for a particular variety. Similar to J.L. Hudson and Fedco, the on-line catalog is just text with no photos. Sandhill also sells heritage poultry if that interests you.
Seed Savers Exchange - Dedicated to preserving heirlooms and fostering biodiversity, this is both a seed company and a non-profit organization. Anyone can purchase seeds from the on-line catalog but members get a 10% discount as well as a quarterly magazine published by the organization. Your membership also supports the organizations efforts to find and preserve heirloom varieties.
S ustainable Seed - Like many of the recommended companies on this list, Sustainable Seed sells heirloom open pollinated seeds. The company has a good selection of vegetables but is distinguished by the fact that it is the only merchant I'm aware of that sells a large selection of heirloom cereal crops for home gardeners such as oats, rye, wheat, barley, corn, spelt, etc. etc. I'm currently overwintering a rare variety of wheat that is supposed to make heavenly pasta flour. The seeds for this wheat were purchased from Sustainable Seed.
Territorial Seed - Territorial seed sells heirloom and hybrid vegetables and specializes in varieties that are good producers in the Pacific Northwest.
Trees of Antiquity- A very complete selection of heirloom fruit trees on semi-dwarf root stock including apples, apricots, plums, peaches, pomegranates and quince. If you are looking for a heritage English Apple or the amazingly delicious Baby Crawford peach, Trees of Antiquity will have it.