I like gourmetseed.com....the seed quantities are generous.... my orders have arrived fast and accurate....so far the germination has been good....I'll be ordering from them again.

The seeds I ordered were in Italian origin packageing..... large colorful, rugged, seed envelopes.....generous packet size: 150 tomato seeds...50 eggplant seeds.

doug

Check them out over on the Rate & Review Vendors forum here. You can also just type the name into the Search bar here and pull up any and all discussions about the company.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rate & Review Vendors forum

It's been a while since I used them, but I was happy with them. And they do have certain seed you can't find elsewhere. Like Doug said, you can get european varieties from them. Cheers!

It has been a while for me also. Actually just about the time they split off from Harvest Moon. They still offer a few European varieties, but have largely gone to North American Op's with an occasional hybrid sprinkled in. Plantscout reviews generally favorable but few of them. Their sister company Italian Seed and Tool vends Bavicchi seeds and has more positive feed back. Grow Italian is the US vendor for Franchi and a large selection of European varieties.

They no longer mail out catalogs, fwiw. You can only access the online version.

I spent the afternoon yesterday online, choosing varieties of each vegetable to buy. It is so difficult! I want to try everything. Suddenly my life seems so short. 40 more years of gardening isn't enough time to get it all in :)
Thanks to all for your input. I will order online from Gourmetseed.com after I whittle down my choices a bit.

Lynn

A suggestion, you may also want to check with your local feed and seed store. Sometimes they stock or can get what you want at much cheaper prices.

Especially with something that you may want larger quantities of. Last spring I called my local one about some pea seed and they said they couldn't get them.

I found them online and paid about $7 a pound plus shipping. I was in the feed and seed about a week later and mentioned to them that they could get them from that company.

Two or three weeks later I stopped in for something else and they had the seed for $3 a pound thanks to my tip!

I agree with wertach that there are much less expensive sources for seeds. There are also numerous sources that offer a much wider variety selection than Gourmetseed.com offers. Their variety choices really are rather limited by comparison.

Dave

Wertach and Dave,
Okay! That is a great tip- I will check into my local feed and seed. I appreciate the timeliness. I was going to finalize my order tomorrow morning and submit it so I will check that out first. I am looking at about $100 in seed from Gourmetseed. If I can lower that, I will be so happy! Dave, the other sources you refer to- are they the companies mentioned earlier in this thread (Harvest Moon, Italian seed and tool, and Grow Italian)? Is there another you would recommend? I will check out a few more before I make a decision. Thanks everyone for the input.

Lynn

Lynn there are easily 25 previous discussions, on this forum alone, about favorite seed companies and where to buy seeds. Plus each specialty forum (tomatoes, peppers, growing from seed, beans, etc.) have just as many discussions about their favorites. The search will pull them up for you if you want to read them.

Then there is the Garden Bazaar here and the seed trading forums too.

There are literally 100's of recommended vendors that are often mentioned as a "favorite" or "best" seed source. To name just a few that are frequently recommended:

Pinetree
Baker Creek
Victory
Park's
Harris
Johnny's
Territorial
Gurney's
Cook's Garden
Irish Eyes
Seed Saver's Exchange
Tomato Fest
Tomato Growers.com
etc.

Which is best all depends on the type of seeds you are looking for.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Bazaar - Seed Vendors

I know you already ordered by now but I wanted to chime in on gourmetseed.com I ordered from them last year & was VERY happy with all of my seed. Lots of seeds for a great price & excellent germination rates.

I'm going to try some seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Library. Was very impressed with their mission to promote heirloom seeds. Met them at the Philadelphia Flower Show last year. I also love their ART PACKS. I'm starting my first vegetable garden and like that they grow the regionally adapted seeds near me in NY state. Hope this ensures success as I can use all the help I can get.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hamptons Garden

I hit the jackpot yesterday at Big Lots! They had yellow straight neck squash, zucchini, Red Brandywine and sweet 100's toms, yellow granex onion seeds, chives, and more. $1 a pack!

Plenty of seed in each pack too. I started some of them when I got home. I will report back in a few days on germination, they all said packaged for 2012. But I have never had problems with old seed!

Mamagnome,
I did end up ordering from gourmetseed.com. I am pleased with everything so far. Generous seed counts. The germination on my onions was very poor- but I think its because I buried the seed too deep. I have more sprouting now and so far it looks like the germ rate will be MUCH better. The leeks look wonderful and the rest I am either waiting for it to sprout, or it isn't time to plant yet.

Jclay321 how does a seed library work?

Lynn