Posted on by Patrick

Blogger Seed Network

Update: Please have a look at the Seed Network page.

In part as a response to my last post a number of other bloggers are now offering seeds or other plant materials from their own garden.

Here’s a list of the ones I’m aware of:

Ewa in the Garden

Spade Work

Mas Du Diable

Alternative Kitchen Garden Podcast or Fluffius Muppetus

MustardPlaster

Lusthof (Garden of Eden)

A Thinking Stomach (*new*)

The Veggie Patch Re-imagined (*new*)

The Cats Tripe (*new*)

Soilman (Leeks, trumpet lily hybrids and pure regale species) (*new*)

CityGarden (*new*)

I’m aware there are some others offering purchased seeds, or a combination of self saved and purchased, but for the purposes of this post I’m only mentioning people who are offering primarily seed saved from their own gardens.

If you know of anyone else, please mention it in a comment below!

While I don’t have a formal seed list right now, I do have a little bit of garlic planting stock left, and in a few months I hope to also offer Andean tubers.  Feel free to contact me if you are interested.  I also have some White Alpine Strawberry Seeds.  Beyond these things, if you ever see a post about something growing in my garden, feel free to ask me for seeds and we’ll see what we can work out.  In general, if I can just put a few seeds in a letter and send it, you don’t need to pay anything.  Otherwise, I expect you to reimburse me for postage and packaging, and I have ways of accepting payment in most common currencies.

In general everyone listed above has their own rules for payment and where they will send plant materials.  The one thing we all have in common is we are not expensive, and we are all interested in seeing our seeds used, and hopefully saved, by other people.

Seeds for Everyone

It’s important to make very clear here, these seeds are for everyone!  These are not seeds reserved for people with a blog, or any kind of special experienced plant geek or member of an elite club.  These are seeds for anyone who wants to grow them.  While most of them are listed in the context of seed swaps, generally anything is considered for something in exchange, even money.  Don’t be afraid to contact any of us, even if you don’t think you have anything to offer in return.

If you really don’t have any money or are on benefits, almost certainly something can be worked out to get you something for free, but please keep your expectations a little tempered because none of us are a charity and we don’t have unlimited money to send away free things.

Saving your own seeds and sharing them with others is an important way of promoting biodiversity, as well as a nice social things to do.  If you’re interested in getting started with this, don’t be afraid to get some seeds from these sources and use them as a place to begin!

Join In!

If you save seeds from your own garden, consider sharing them with others.  Of course there are many ways of doing it, with or without a blog.  For example seed exchanges or just informal swaps with friends.  If you have a blog and want to offer something, I would be happy to mention you here.  If you don’t have a blog, but want help offering what you have over the Internet, get in touch and I’ll see what I can do.

23 Replies to “Blogger Seed Network”

  1. The real magic of open-pollinated seeds is that they are adapted to the conditions of a specific climate. The best way to share the seeds you share is with those living near you. Each fall, attend a seed saving pot luck dinner with all the seed savers in your area. Trade your best for the other seeds you need. Don’t have a seed saving pot luck to go to? Start one. Use meetup.com.

    You can find detailed seed saving instructions on the website of this 20 year-old non-profit:

    http://www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html

  2. I offer seeds collected from my garden. I only exchange seeds from crops that were really successful. On my site, there is a link titled Kitchen Garden and Seed Exchange; I have listed my available seeds on that site.

    Thanks for collecting this information.

  3. I offered seeds of pea Carlin earlier this year to growers in the UK and Europe and also have plenty of the (rather abundantly available) Crimson Flowered Broad bean. Since I only give a small space to heritage varieties the options are limited but change yearly. I also hope to have oca and ulluco in small quantities later in the season.

  4. Hi,
    I’ve looked really hard for the andean tubers you mention, especially oca. I can’t find any in Canada. I’d love to get some from you. I live in se BC.
    Wish I had some interesting seed to trade, but I’ve got nothing you can’t find elsewhere. Usually I have nice garlic, but its got mildew this year so I gave most away and am eating the rest as fast as I can.

    Cheers!

  5. Hi Cat,

    Thanks for the comment! Your blog looks great. If you make a current post, specifying what you’re offering now, I’ll add it to the list above. Just let me know the URL.

    Hi Eva,

    Thanks too for the comment. I’m think it’s going to be easiest to sort this out by email, so I’m going to send you one in the next few days. The first thing we have to wait for is to see what my harvest looks like. The second thing is to figure out how to import them into Canada. I’m willing to give it a try if you’re interested!

  8. I just wanted to say thank you for my white alpine strawberry seeds and that I hope by spring to be able to be a contributer to the seed swap, rather than just a beneficiary!

  10. Pingback: Blogger Seed Network Addition | Bifurcated Carrots
  11. Pingback: Reasons for a Seed Network | Bifurcated Carrots
  12. Pingback: Seeds Offered | Bifurcated Carrots

  13. We’re in our first year, the soil has been neglected and is heavy with clay about 40cm below the surface. We’re on an emergency manure and organic matter digging in programme and we’re interested in growing heritage crops.

    If anyone has any seeds that have thrived in such conditions, gratefully received. My Belgian cousin has done a round up of heritage varieties and we will be growing them and saving seeds. Results will be posted and excess offered.

  14. Hi Peter,

    It doesn’t sound too bad to me. Clay is usually full of great nutrients and minerals, and having 40cm of top soil on top of that is a great luxury. Of course it could give you drainage or other problems, you’ll have to see.

    Organic matter is almost always good, but manure often brings with it a lot of problems. If you’ve already added it, okay, but reconsider it for the future. Besides giving a lot of plants diseases, stressing others and stunting their growth, there’s always the risk of spreading food borne human diseases or contaminating your garden like what happened to a lot of people last year in the UK:

    http://daughterofthesoil.blogspot.com/2008/06/contaminated-manure-alert.html

    I personally use very little manure in my garden, but rather make my own compost. Composting manure or ageing it for a year or two first is a better alternative to adding it fresh.

    If your soil is heavy or lacking nitrogen, growing beans is a great way to help these problems. Broad beans (fava beans in US English), are among the best. I have a dwarf French bean (bush bean in the US) called Dog Bean, from Croatia, and I’m going to send you an email and ask if you want some seeds.

    I suggest following some of the links on the seed network page:

    http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/?page_id=65

    And getting to know some of the other people offering seeds too.

    Looking forward to seeing your results, and maybe getting some seeds from you in the future!

  16. Hi Dave,

    Thanks for the comment, for helping out with the seed network and good luck with the new blog!

    I’m sorry this didn’t show up the first time, my anti-spam software mistook it for spam.

  17. HI Patrick thanks for the garlic, am about to plant it. just back from mexico where i got 2 more varities of chayote and some beans etc. will be able to offer them to people next year.
    right now i have round courgette, anna schwarz winter squash, rainbow quinoa,mexican sour gherkin and maybe some black cherry tomato seed.
    Interested in anything used to the cold, and anything strange.exotic(and tasty-not aking for much!)
    cheers
    dylan

  19. Hey Patrick,

    I’m sorting through my seeds to see which of my self-saved open pollinated seed I have extra of for trade and will post them today on my blog. Please add me to the list!
    Regards
    Anne

  22. Pingback: Seed Poverty « Mas du Diable

  23. Hi, patrick, i’m not a blogger. And i am new in gardening. i have recently grow one of the flower, i have saved many of the seeds. I am happy to share it.

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