Where to buy seeds
The Spring months are all about seed sowing, for an abundant array of flowers and vegetables in the Summer and Autumn. And you can buy seed from just about anywhere at this time, from the DIY shop, to the local supermarket, to a garden centre.
But if you want guaranteed quality of seed, and the biggest choice of weird and wonderful varieties (not to mention the pleasing thump of some swoon-worthy seed catalogues landing on your doormat in the Autumn), there are some places that are worth looking to when buying seed packets. This is our choice of some of our favourite seed companies. We’ve bought from all of these companies many times, and always found the seeds reliable to germinate, true to type, and all have such an excellent choice that we struggle to restrain ourselves to order amounts that we can reasonably sow (in fact, we have never once managed to only order a reasonable amount!)
Real Seeds
The excellently-named Real Seeds sells heirloom and heritage vegetable seeds, all trialled and tested on their farm based (like us!) in Wales. They have a great range of veg, from the standards like carrots, broccoli and beans, to the more unusual like okra, tomatilloes and oca (a gorgeous tuber, similar to potatoes, that’s in the oxalis family). This is a real veg growers’ seed company, only selling seeds that have been well -tested and checked, and popular with allotmenteers and country show veg experts (there are plenty of quotes on the website from people who have won “largest veg” categories with these seeds at their village shows). We also love to see that they offer a vegetable seed bundle of ten seed packets at a significantly reduced cost for low and unwaged gardeners.
Great seeds and gorgeous seed packets too…
Baker Creek is one of our favourite places to buy unusual tomato seeds
Baker Creek
Based in America, Baker Creek has one of the most incredible seed catalogues with lots of weird and wonderful varieties. Another heirloom seed company, they sell vegetable, flower and herb seeds – with interesting varieties as well as really unusual veg, such as sorghum, snake bean and tamarillo (a tree tomato!) Lots of the varieties are hard to source in the UK, so this is a good way to get hold of plants that aren’t readily available here. We’ve always been particular fans of their tomato selections, and try a new variety or two every year!
She Grows Veg
We’ve followed Lucy of She Grows Veg on Instagram for ages, and were very excited when she started up an heirloom seed company in 2023.
Specialising in unusual varieties (lots of which previously were only available from companies in the US, such as Baker Creek), this has been a great addition to UK seed companies…
The website is brilliant if you’re looking for inspiration. Check out the “rare seeds” section of the website for some really unusual vegetables. The “sow by month” page has seeds perfect for sowing in every month of the year. There are even separate sections to browse by colour, with some gorgeous photos…
She Grows Veg seed packets
Experimenting with squash last year, and a healthy haul of Tamar Organics seeds!
Tamar Organics
As the name suggests, Tamar Organics specialises in organic seeds, selling a large range of veg seeds, and a selection of flower and herb seeds too. This is the place for really good quality organic seed for tried and trusted veg – it’s not the biggest or zaniest selection, but everything is pretty much guaranteed.
Sarah Raven
We can’t resist any of the Sarah Raven catalogues and the seed catalogue is no exception! As ever with Sarah Raven, expect the most gorgeous aspirational / inspirational photos – bringing on the urge to try absolutely everything!
Predominantly flower seeds, specialising in annuals and cut flowers, there is also a selection of (aesthetically pleasing!) veg as well. The website is a great place to browse for inspiration, with categories for seeds to sow by month, for scent, for cut flowers, for pollinators, for shade, and a whole host of other appealing ideas.
