* Totally Tomato
* Vermont Bean Seed Co.
* Burpee (you see these EVERYWHERE!)
* Cook’s Garden
* Johnny’s Seeds
* Territorial Seeds
* Earl May Seed
* Gardens Alive
* Lindenberg Seeds
* Mountain Valley Seed
* Park Seed
* T&T Seeds
* Tomato Growers Supply
* Willhite Seed Co.
* Nichol’s
* Rupp
* Osborne
* Snow
* Stokes
* Jungs
* R.H. Shumway
* The Vermont Bean Seed Company
* Seeds for the World
* Seymour’s Selected Seeds
* HPS
* Roots and Rhizomes
* McClure and Zimmerman Quality Bulb Brokers
* Spring Hill Nurseries
* Breck’s Bulbs
* Audubon Workshop
* Flower of the Month Club
* Wayside Gardens
* Park Bulbs
* Park’s Countryside Garden
The first six are in bold because these are companies that I have purchased seeds from in the past. BOOM. I was SO hurt to find this out. Thankfully, the company I purchased from this year does not get its seeds from Monsanto or any Monsanto owned companies.
On that note, here is a list of seed companies that I have purchased seeds from before that YOU CAN safely purchase non-GMO, non-Monsanto owned or supplied seeds from (the names are links to their websites):
Pinetree Seeds
Organic Seed Alliance
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
High Mowing Seeds
Seeds Now
Until next time garden gals and guys! Happy garden thoughts!
There is a lot of info on the Territorial and Johnny connection. One of their suppliers was gobbled up by Monsanto with very little notice.
Territorial no longer has seeds from that supplier.
http://www.dropstonefarms.com/2009/01/the-relationship-between-monsanto-and-territorial-seed-not-as-bad-as-you-think/
Info on Johnny's Seeds
http://www.nwedible.com/2012/12/a-brief-history-of-monsanto-and-seed-houses-who-got-screwed.html
"Oh my God! Thanks for sharing this info…I will certainly have to make a note of this. This has really shocked and hurt my feelings as well because I have purchased seeds from several of these companies more than once
( Burpee and Parkseed to name a few. It's bad enough that we have hormones and GMO's in just about everything we eat….. It's a deceptive insult to grow them thinking you are eating something healthy!
Thanks for Sharing Audra!!
@ Rachel…thank you for your thoughts. I very much value feedback from anyone who reads my blog, and I welcome correction. However, I am still very hesitant to buy seeds from Johnny's or Territorial. It's not only about the seeds, but about where the money goes that I spend on seeds. Since Seminis is owned by Monsanto, I won't purchase seeds from any companies that are supplied by Monsanto or Seminis. I do see that Johnny's is slowly replacing their Seminis product. Once they have completely replaced them I may consider purchasing from them again. Also, the safe seed pledge that they claim to follow is not strongly worded enough. It's not enough to say "we don't KNOWINGLY purchase GMO seeds." I want seed suppliers that do their due diligence, thus the seed list at the end of the blog post.
The company that I purchased my seeds from (Pinetree Seeds) has this to say on their site:
"…Moreover, Pinetree has signed the Safe Seed Pledge in the past but has chosen not to this year because we do not feel it is worded strongly enough and is used more as a tool for marketing than a political statement. More than promise not to "knowingly" sell or buy GM seeds, Pinetree promises not to sell or buy them. Period. In the interest of full disclosure, Pinetree has purchased seeds from Seminis in the past. We did not purchase their seeds this year, nor do we intend to in the future. Our relationship with Seminis predates the Monsanto acquisition by many years and we had always felt they were a responsible company but have chosen not to support Monsanto in any capacity."
That's what I look for in a seed company. The fact that neither Johnny's nor Territorial has no seed policy displayed on their site also gives me great pause.
@ Vetsy…. I found through further research that Gurney's, Henry Fields, and the Michigan Bulb company are owned by ONE conglomerate, though they still advertise as if they are individually owned. Check out this blog link:
http://www.captivatedbymandie.com/blog/2006/04/sorry-for-lengthyness.html
I've unsubscribed from several email distribution lists because it's just wrong to position yourself as individually owned when, in fact, it is just the opposite.
I will definitely be looking at seed companies very closely before purchasing from them from now on.
*in my Rocky voice* A yo Adriannnn….you are most welcome!!! :o)
Audra Thanks for the link and the info….. I have saved these to my email.
Thanks again! I also saved the Non-GMO seed companies as well!
Audra, this was an eye opener *throwing Michigan Bulb catalog in garbage
Lucy. Glad I could help. It was an eye opener for me as well. Seed companies are tricky because many of them design their catalogs to look like they are still "mom and pop" shops, but if you look closely you'll see many of these catalogs have the same address. As gardeners we are constantly learning and growing. That's what it's all about!
What about when you buy plants from places,such as a Wal-Mart or your home town florist or even those pop up in the parking lot of your local grocery store tents? How do you know?
Another clean seed source is Seed Savers – lots of diverse options, all unaffiliated.
seedsavers.org
those sources are not clean at all… full of chemicals and god knows what.. sad….
Thank you for this article so informative and helpful!
Does anyone know if seed saver is owned by monsantos?
Hey I just posted a question about seed savers. I read it was owned by Monsanto but wasn't sure if source was reliable. I guess I could always email them lol 🙂