Don't think either Home Depot or Lowe's or Burpee have the best varieties. I buy from Fedco, (good germination, good prices), Vesey's, Johnny's......
It makes a huge difference what exact variety you get - not just generic string beans or generic spinach. For pole beans I perfer Fortrex and for spinach, Melody.
Best source of garlic for planting is your local organic veggie place. Their bulbs won't be treated to prevent sprouting as is a lot of garlic offered by supermarkets. Also a local farmer's market would have varities that do best in your area.

I think that it is natural to develop your favorites for what ever reasons as you experience gardening, but my experience with seed is that the ones that I have bought from any of the above mentioned places are just as good as any other seeds that I have bought.

I think that most whose reputation is at stake on the open market strive to produce and sell a good product. Some may fall short from time to time but consistent low quality would take them out of the market before long, in my opinion.

I think that most every thing is getting redicilously high, especially for people on fixed income, but the best values that I have found in seed has been at feed and seed stores where they sell seed in bulk amounts. Some of them carry a good variety of seeds, others not as much variety.
Just my .02
Bill P.

Marial, some places such as The Garlic Store seels garlic for 10-12$ for 1/2 lb. Ridiculous!!

Like Oldroser, I think it's best if you can find it locally at the farmers market or the organic grocer. I found Russian Red for $4.99 a lb at the organic grocer. In fact, it was grown at Tuscarora Organic Farms in Hustontown, Pa. I was told just this week that the local garlic would be in the store next week.

Here is a link that might be useful: Directory of farmers markets in Pa

i went back to read the spinach info for $4.40 at Burpee. It is 300 seeds. That's probably why it's so expensive. I guess I dont need that much, I only need a small packet. How much can two people really eat between now and Oct or Nov. Not that much.

I used to do more catalog shopping for seeds until they made their shipping rates ridiculous. I've also noticed that the seed catalog companies have changed to giving fewer options on the SIZE of an order. They used to offer the seeds for x amount for 100 seeds or x amount for a 1/2 pound of seeds, etc. for each variety of plant that they carried. Now its all packaged one way and you have to buy multiples with no price break for buying bulk.

Like gonefishin, I am a big fan of my local Feed and Seed store. I'm getting worried though...in the past 2 years we've gone from 4 Feed and Seed stores in my county down to just one.

Marial, have you gone over to the seed exchange forum to see if anyone there has Spinach seeds for trade or SASE? Also, if you do buy the big package from Burpee, keep in mind that you can plant just the 20 or 30 seeds that you want to grow and store the rest of the seeds in a cool, dry, dark area (basement, refrigerator) for use in the years to come. The pole bean seeds I used in my early plantings here were from 1999 and did just fine until the bunnies ate them to the ground (grrr!)

Good luck in your search!

Burpee priced themselves out of the market years ago,
as far as I'm concerned. And there were 2 Feed & Seed stores in the area, but no longer exist. I grow mostly what I can save the seed from, (tomato, zuccini, peppers, and cukes). I do buy garlic for gowing at the farmers markets, but don't need much as my garden is very small. Oh, and I only grow flowers that I can save the seed from, (marigolds, zinnia, and cosmos). Seed harvesting from
these flowers is extremely easy. But every winter I get
the seed catalogs and make up an order 'wish list', but
then when I total up the purchase, I am flabergasted and
toss the catalog in the recycle bin. It is actually
cheaper to buy the produce at the farmers markets,
than it is to buy the seed. I'm guessing the seed
companies are existing on 'newbies', that haven't
learned yet.

For cheap, cheap try Pinetree Seeds. Small packets at incredibly low prices.
No I haven't found it less expensive to buy at Farmers' markets. Even paying a high price for the Supersonic seed from Harris, the over 100 lbs of tomatoes I get certainly repay the seed money. The packet of zucchini seed from Fedco (I think about $1.95) has so far produced something like 20 pounds of zucchini and the end is not in sight.
The garlic I bought from a specialty company 5 years back is still giving me a crop each year and seed garlic for next year - it was a one time expenditure and I've harvested a good crop for five years now.
I did buy some fairly expensive cucumber seed (from Renee Shepherd - Garden Oasis) but even so, I'm harvesting 3 cukes a day for the past 10 days, and expect to go on picking so they've more than repaid the investment not only in seed but in time spent planting and weeding. Also they taste so much better than the kinds even at the Farmers Market that I'd gladly pay extra even if they weren't such good producers.

I want to second the advice on Pinetree and Fedco seeds. Both places are pretty cheap and give you plenty in a packet on most things, although I was kind of taken aback when I got 13 pepper seeds (Carmen hybrid), but on second thought I never have more than a few of each variety and they were STILL inexpensive. Their shipping is not bad either. If you think seed prices are high, look how much they charge for one ripe pepper at the grocery store.

I notice on Burpee's website, they are offering a burpee credit card. Use it to make your purchases off their website and shipping is free.

I have to admit, I'm tempted. I've never ordered from Burpee.com before, so if I do go for this, I guess I'd be starting.

I agree with the others, I find that local feed/seed stores, and, if you have a farmers coop where you live, have good varieties, and usually types that grow good for the area you live in and they usually sell small packs to large quantities.....the seed catalogs are ok but..I like to see what I am buying, and their shipping rates are rediculous, plus like you said, you may have to buy way more than you need...

I love to look at the seed catalog, nice pictures, but I buy my seeds from Rite Aid when they go on sale. For example a package of spinach seeds is only .45c when it goes on sale. Seeds last forever so don't worry about them not sprouting. The variety is limited.

The major limitation of buying seeds from the feed/seed store is the lack of variety. Take a look at a catalog from a company that does seed trials and you'll see hundreds of varieties that you will never see at the local store. To me you're missing out on growing new and exciting varieties when you buy the local discount seeds. As far as price the cost of seeds is a bargain when compared to what you get. How much spinach do you get from 300 seeds that cost $4? For me growing new and different varieties is part of my fun in gardening. Tom

I agree with Tom. A big part of the pleasure of gardening for me is finding new varieties, even whole new kinds of vegetables that you'll never find in the supermarket. The cost to me seems justified in most cases because the seed companies that are working to maintain lines of open pollinated heirloom varieties are worthy of support. I get a lot of seeds from Europe and it has been really fun growing those varieties. I have made some woderful discoveries. Most of the tomatoes that I grew this year were from seeds I got from Michael Andersson in Sweden(www.tomatsidan.se). He has seeds for wonderful varieties that do well in short seasons and he charges $2 a pack, including shipping! Some are my favorites that I now grow every year.

Tom, I brought back lettuce seeds and Mache seeds from France. I am over there often and in the spring I run to see what they're doing in their nurseries.

I had told a neighbor that I planned on planting my french seeds and he got all upset for environmental reasons. He made it sound as though I was breaking the balance in the environment cuz these will not be natural american plants.

It's not like I'm breeding alligators in my backyard for release into his property. Any comment?

Maria11214, You're not "breaking the balance in the environment". That's nonsense. We're a country of immigrants and many if not most of the open pollinated vegetables grown here were brought here by people immigrating from foreign countries. By the way, my favorite French seed companies are Ferme de Ste. Marthe and Biau Germe. Do you ever see their seed packets where you shop? Lou

Marial 1214,
You ARE BREAKING THE LAW! Take a close look at the form you must sign and declare on when you re-enter this country. While I don't necessarily agree with the policy, THE LAW IS THE LAW. and those laws are there for a reason.
Someone in the past thought that Kudzu was a warm and fuzzy plant. If I knew who he or she was I would kill them on the spot.
We, you and I, are not informed enough to decide what is OK and what is NOT OK to bring back.
I am NOT an eco bunny. I do not hug trees. I don't think that I should let the rattlesnake in my yard just crawl away, BUT, I sure as hell don't or didn't bring back seeds of the beautiful vines I saw growing in Brazil when I worked there bacause as a young man I saw what happened when one of my neighbors, who worked in Brazil in his youth brought back the seeds of a beautiful morning glory vine and the F------ vine took over acres of land before he could get it killed. AND, he was the first person to admit, and in a rare happening, PAY for have the damn thing killed off.
WE ALL SHOULD THINK a little before we bring strange things back to this country that I hope that we all love.
IMHO
1eyedJack and the Dawg

old dawg is right. There are laws prohibiting the import even commercially grown vegetable seeds without a permit that is cost prohibitive. IMHO there is a good reason for this law, it allows the US seed companies who can afford the permit to suck more money out of your pocket. For those of you who do this keep it up but keep it quiet. Tom

There are lots of foreign companies that legally import vegetable seeds for the home gardener, either directly or through US representatives. The packages I receive are clearly marked on the outside. Here are some examples: www.organiccatalogue.com, www.growitalian.com, www.terredesemences.com, www.growitalian.com, www.italianseedandtool.com,www.eseeds.com, etc. There's a big difference between French haricot vert and kudzu. Lou

I got such a kick out of reading this thread. No one is satisfied with anything anymore. Everyone wants to shoot for the moon. Even in the bloody garden, it seems.

Okay, I live in New York. Here we don't have to go to feed stores, to cataloguers, or to France or Mars for a packet of seeds. We go to the local Rite Aid drug chain or to the local Home Depot where they have a full display of seeds in early spring. I, personally, don't carry with me a wish list for tomatoes or green beans with exotic names. It's only a tomato that I will be eating, for heaven's sake, and I don't care if it's a Big Boy, a Big Girl, or a Lallapalooza. They all taste the same to me. And to whoever enjoys them with me. I NEVER gave a tomato away and had someone ask me what was its pedigree. The same goes for a bean, a pepper or anything else. If I can't find Cubanelle when I'm seed buying, the Hungarian Wax is fine with me. So forth and so on. Lighten up, folks. It's only a tomato.

YIKES

marial
The local hardware store I shop at is getting rid of their vegetable/Flower seeds at 15 packages for a dollar. They have a decent selection. If interested I will get you an assortment and mail them to you.

Yuall don't pay any attention to that Yankee from NY. He wouldn't know a really good tomato if it hit him in the face. There are tomatoes and THEN THERE ARE REAL TOMATOES and this poor Yankee has never had one. You ain't going to buy a quality tomato seed in no drug store period.
1eyedJack and the Dawg

If you don't have many (or expensive) seeds, why not just declare them at the airport? The laws may have changed, but about nine years ago I visited Japan and was given some heirloom fava beans (i.e., not even packaged) from the garden of a friend's parent. I declared them at customs when I arrived back in the States and the customs agents scanned through a list of plants and then said that it was no problem.

There are plenty of Yankees who know about tomatoes. AND there are plenty of quality seeds that can be bought cheap. Even in some drug stores. It is the tomato that's important, not where you buy it. Actually you can probably get them for free if you look at the seed exchange forum and watch for seed offers on this forum.
I'll bet there are plenty of SC boys who wouldn't know a really good tomato if it hit him in the face also. ;-)

"It's only a tomato that I will be eating, for heaven's sake, and I don't care if it's a Big Boy, a Big Girl, or a Lallapalooza. They all taste the same to me."

Ligardener, all I can say is; WOW!! You have been missing out on some really awesome tomatoes if you think they all taste the same. They definitely don't.

All tomatoes were NOT created equal.

*ducks from flying tomatoes*
I've found great buys on the internet (ebay and seed catalogs), local stores (HD and dollar stores) as well as neat trades right here on GW. Just have to check the date and if it's a reliable seller.
And I think we can all agree that a home grown tomato is better than any in a store.
As for international seeds, I know places like Pinetree sell international seeds.

ole dawg: When I make my big tomato salads, or my big pasta dishes, with my Big Boys, my Better Boys, or my Big Girls, which all taste the same to me BTW, my kids, who are no longer kids, come from miles away with their bibs on and slurp away. It CAN'T get any better than that.

aka peggy: It's in the eyes of the beholder. If I'm downing a big, juicy tomato and declaring, Oh this is the best tomato I've ever eaten, and you are downing a tomato and declaring, Oh this is the best tomato I've ever eaten, who is to be the final judge?

There is as much variety in human chemoreceptor genetics as in tomato flavor genetics. Ligardener just got the bad luck of the draw. :-)

Not a problem bringing seeds into the US - it's plants that they draw the line at. No permits required - just declare them to customs. And no customs duty either. I was asked if there were any weed seeds in the packet and replied that at the price I paid for the seeds, I would sure hope not!
Well, maybe if you wanted to bring in kudzu or something like that. But who would.
A great deal of the seeds we buy whether at Burpee or the local drug store, are grown abroad. It's what's in that little genetic package that counts, not the country of origin.
ligardener, I can well believe that to you Early Girl, Big Boy and Better Boy all taste the same. A lot of us older folk no longer have a good sense of taste. But the real question is whether you have ever tasted any other kinds. If not, then how can you make comparisons? And if you have and they still all taste the same, I'd say you have a slight problem.

Bravo, oldroser and npthaskell!

I seldom buy seeds anymore - I just collect and exchange here at GardenWeb and elsewhere. I sometimes support the heirloom seed places or rare/native plant companies, but Burpee and Monsanto and DuPont and their subsidiaries don't get my business anymore.

I just bought a bunch of tomato seeds for 12.5 cents a pack. Ace 55, Early Girl, Bloody Butcher, Jet Star, and others. I bet they taste just as good as if I paid 2 or 3 or more dollars a piece for them. :-)
Although I do love my seed catalogs, I also love a bargain.

I once bought a 10 cent packet of watermelon seed. The one plant I raised from it had a 35 pounder, a 30 pounder, and a couple more later for a grand total of 100 pounds for 10 cents. Granted that that Charleston Gray watermelon is not the very best variety, but I was pleased.

Seedsavers.org is a good cause and I think reasonable since I never plant the whole packet -- just store in the fridge in a glass bottle with a lid and a little powdered milk in a ziploc (opened) to absorb extra moisture, then plant the following year.

Also seedsave.org is helpful if you want to know how to save your own seeds for the next year.