A good number of seed companies now sell "organic" seeds - Seeds of Change, Abundant Life, Territorial Seeds, Ed Hume, even the mainstream seed companies like Burpees and Park Seeds. Just check at your local garden center. "Best" is a matter of personal opinion - depends on what you want to grow and if you want heirloom varieties, etc. Seeds are seeds pretty much :-)

There are some differences of opinion on what makes organic seed 'organic'. In some cases, it is just any seed that is not genetically modified. With others who are a bit more dogmatic about the principal, it is refined to those seeds "certified" organic or derived from plants grown without any additions of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Unless you are splitting hairs, I'm not sure it makes any difference if the seed you start with is certified organic or not - it is the method of growing the plant that results from the seed that is of primary concern.

How you water the plant is of similar questionable importance. In more urbanized areas (and that includes most of the west coast) even rainwater will carry pollutants (i.e., "acid rain") that can deliver chemicals to the plants but typically in such minor levels as to be insignificant. And most tap water is treated as well for bacterial content and other harmful properties.

For most folks intending to grow organic foods for home consumption, just avoiding any synthetically derived chemical fertilizers and pesticides is sufficient. If you want to grow certified organic produce for sale, that's a bit different and does require other steps.

In Canada, Salt Spring Seeds, Two Wings Farm, Hope Seeds, Heritage Harvest Seed and Prairie Garden Seeds to name a few. Some are certified organic other just garden organically, hope this helps.

Annette

I should have stated the first two mentioned are in B.C. These are all mail order sources that I use myself.

Annette

Thanks for your help!

I'll look into both of those B.C. growers. It's nice to see so many farms looking after our needs.

I found a seed supplier in Oliver, B.C. - Sesan Farm.

I really like the website and graphics...

Here is a link that might be useful: Sesan Farm

Check out West Coast Seeds - they have a website, but their seeds are in all the garden centres in North Van. Great selection at GardenWorks on Marine.

Here is a link that might be useful: West Coast Seeds

I visited Minter Country Garden in Chilliwack the last week of February. They carry an extensive collection of seeds from quite a few different companies, including West Coast Seeds. Some were listed as "organic".

I don't know how far you live from Chilliwack, but it looks like they're just over an hour's drive from Vancouver & quite a scenic destination for a day trip (try for a sunny day!). A visit to Bridal Veil Falls was very impressive. I brought home a West Coast Seeds catalog.

I also got educated that the restriction on bringing plants across the border into the U.S. applies to seeds as well as live plants! Fortunately, the packets I bought were not confiscated.

Patrick