Twenty years ago, I was the head of a small hobby farm specializing in heirloom tomatoes and peppers. On the hunt for Matt’s Wild Cherry seeds, I stopped in at a remote garden center advertising Heirloom Vegetables. I told the old woman running the place about these cherry tomato seeds rumored to be found in the ruins of an old Mayan village near the Mexican town of Hidalgo.
After giving me a thermonuclear eye-roll, she put her hand on my shoulder and said, “You’ve got the disease.” She was right, I just didn’t realize it at the time. Once the flavor and aroma of heirloom vegetables gets into your bloodstream it rages on. Craving more and more until one day you find a seed company that is just as afflicted as you are.
If you’ve just caught the disease, or you’re looking for something special, the internet can feel like a wash of confusing seed company websites. It’s true, there are a lot of pretenders out there, and it’s nearly impossible to tell a true heirloom seed from a generic hybrid without growing it.
I’ve been down these dark alleys and checked-out some dubious carts. I’ve also found some true gems, and some rock-solid heirloom seed companies to bring you what I think are some of the absolute best places to buy heirloom seeds.
Baker Creek Seed Company
https://www.rareseeds.com/2024-the-whole-seed-catalog
For some heirloom seed enthusiasts, Baker Creek is the be-all-end-all source for heirloom seeds. Their founders have a passion for heirloom seeds and gardening that goes beyond obsession.
If you’re looking for a visually stunning heirloom tomato, a mutant pepper only known in the deepest corners of the Amazon, or a type of bean you thought went extinct a century ago, chances are they’ve got it.
The problem is all the fanatical obsession with heirloom seeds means Baker Creek is swamped with overhead costs. Their seed catalog alone is filled with such stunning photos that you could use it as a coffee table magazine in your mansion, and no one would blink.
If you want a copy of that seed catalog, you have topay for it. Then they unapologetically ship it to you via snail mail. You can bet that they’re also covering their overhead costs in the markup on seed packets.
If you’re looking for a place to buy heirloom seeds that are truly exotic, rare, or hard to find, Baker Creek Seed Company is your best bet. Just be prepared to pay a little extra for it. If you pay for the catalog, the photographs alone deserve a place on your sitting room coffee table.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
https://www.southernexposure.com/
If you’re looking for the best place to buy heirloom seeds from people who truly know what it’s like to grow plants, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is the perfect place to start. I’ve been ordering heirloom seeds from these people for the last twenty years, and they are the one heirloom seed source that has never let me down.
This is a grassroots company that grew up from the wayward dreams of a couple with a passion for ethnobotany. Their motto is “Saving the Past for the Future” and many of the seed varieties they carry have deeply rooted personal stories behind them.
Today SESE has grown into a large association of farmers and horticulturalists based loosely out of the Southeastern United States. Most of what they offer grows best in their region. Yet they also have some exotic things like real Aji Dulce peppers, and French heirloom pumpkins that are hard to find outside of Western Europe.
Hudson Valley Seed Co.
https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/pages/2024-hudson-valley-seed-catalog
The Hudson Valley probably isn’t the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of the best places to buy heirloom seeds. Yet if you take a moment. It’s where some of the big names in heirloom gardening make their home. Guys like Tim Stark and Dan Baker, who to some are the Daniel Boulud and Paul Bocuse of Heirloom vegetables.
The farmers who grow these seeds and provide them to Hudson Valley Seed Co. have to be good at what they do. You get the opportunity to grow and enjoy their successes.
The Hudson Valley is also the place where a lot of the produce is grown for New York City green markets. They offer a lot of culinary delights that are staples at high-end vegan and vegetable-centric restaurants, along with a beautiful collection of flowers.
They have meager overhead costs, with only a digital catalog and no mail-order option. This translates into low costs for seed packs, making them one of the best places to get heirloom seeds if you’re working with a limited budget.
MIgardener
Michigardener is another passion project place for some of the best heirloom seeds. I’m not from Michigan, but I travel there a lot and the versatile climate of the Great Lakes States yields an abundance of small farms selling some of the best fresh fruits and vegetables you’ll find in the Midwest.
Michigardener’s founder Luke Marion realized the bounty his home state offered and has spent years building an eclectic array of quality heirloom varieties. You can find midwestern favorites like Old German Tomatoes along with exotic options like Black Garbanzo Beans, and Tendral Verde Tardif Melon.
Adding to Michigardener’s appeal is the fact that the seed packet prices are staggeringly low. Most are only $2. The caveat here is that your order needs to be at least $19.99, to get free shipping, or they’ll tack $19.99 onto the shipping charge. If you’re happy to buy $20 of heirloom seeds from them, this is a non-factor.
Botanical Interests
https://www.botanicalinterests.com/
Botanical Interests is a place to buy high-quality heirloom seeds and find a lot of great information on how to use them. While they have a great assortment of vegetable seeds, their heirloom flower seeds are equally impressive. I’ve grown some of their heirloom sunflowers, which make VanGoh’s art look like elementary school paint-by-number.
This is a seed company without the deep grassrootsentrepreneur story you find with a lot of other heirloom seed purveyors. Their prices are fair, their policies are well-established, and they have a strong reputation for taking care of their customers.
Their shipping prices are fair in the continental US. If you want free shipping you have to buy $49. Otherwise, you’ll end up paying a flat rate of $5.99.
Seed Saver’s Exchange
Seed Saver’s Exchange is a non-profit organization with a phenomenal passion for providing heirloom seeds to as many people as possible. They’re based in Iowa, and I’m in Minnesota, which might make me a little biased.
They have a very respectable array of heirloom seeds from all over the world and their prices are fair. You also get the peace of mind that comes from knowing any profit they turn from your sale is going to support their preservation and education efforts.
In my experience, there are two notable drawbacks to buying your heirloom seeds from SSE. The first is that they have limited quantities of some seeds, so you really do have to act fast if you want a rare type of heirloom seed.
The second is that their shipping is “The Best Method” which can vary, and you don’t always get a clear quote. I’ve had times when I ordered from them, and the shipping cost was ugly, and other times when it was cheap. If there’s such a discrepancyin shipping just one more state over, I worry that the shipping cost might be even uglier if you live outside the upper Midwest.
Totally Tomatoes
https://www.totallytomato.com/
Tomatoes are the “Gateway” vegetable most heirloom gardeners start out growing. Totally Tomatoes understands this niche and they’ve positioned themselves to make the absolute most out of it.
You could lose yourself searching through the staggering array of tomato seeds they offer for days. Totally Tomatoes even sells a small selection of in-season tomato plants.They have reasonable shipping and handling charges and ship out live plants based on your growing zone.
Unfortunately, there’s very little else in their arsenal. They are positioned to cater to tomato lovers almost to a fault. I’ve also had a few times where I wasn’t completely happy with their shipping costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a disadvantage to buying seeds from Amazon and online general retailers?
The shipping charges Amazon and other online retail stores tack onto heirloom seeds are uncomfortably high. Depending on the original retailer, there can be quality issues and unexpected delays. I would only go through Amazon if you’re absolutely in love with one particular type of heirloom seed and your exhaustive search hasn’t been able to turn it up anywhere else.
Is there a difference between heirloom seeds and open-pollinated seeds?
Open-pollinated seeds are seeds from a source that will grow true to type. This includes heirloom seeds, which are defined as seeds that have a lineage that can be traced back to 1940 or earlier. In today’s gardening parlance, people often use the term “Heirloom” to describe any seed or plant from an open-pollinated source.
Conclusion
If you’re willing to pay a premium for the best heirloom seed assortment, then Baker Creek Seed Company wears the crown. No one else can offer the impressive array of high-quality seed varieties they do.
If you’re looking for the best place to buy heirloom seeds that have a grass-roots dedication to preserving seed heritage, then Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Seed Saver’s Exchange are the first places worthy of your hard-earned money.
If you’re just getting into heirloom gardening and you wantto get your feet wet growing exotic types of tomatoes, Totally Tomatoes is your best place to start. They’ve got the most comprehensive assortment of heirloom tomato seeds, but very little else.
Written By
Amber Noyes
Amber Noyes was born and raised in a suburban California town, San Mateo. She holds a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of California as well as a BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco. With experience working on an organic farm, water conservation research, farmers’ markets, and plant nursery, she understands what makes plants thrive and how we can better understand the connection between microclimate and plant health. When she’s not on the land, Amber loves informing people of new ideas/things related to gardening, especially organic gardening, houseplants, and growing plants in a small space.