I’m an American living in New Zealand heading to Ontario this time next month to see my sister and meet her Canadian boyfriend.
New Zealand is pretty dire for domesticated plant diversity. We have basically one guy, at one small seed co-op that specifically sells grexes and landraces. I will, in future, start working on our own breeding projects, but I’m probably 3-5 years away.
I’d like to bring in some more diverse seed to help our kickstart our personal garden and possibly to diversify the offerings of good seed currently available in New Zealand. Our bio-security laws stipulate what I can and can’t bring, and that any seeds that I bring in are clean - totally free from detritus - sealed, and clearly labelled which suggests to me that I need to be looking at seed companies.
Anyone have any recommendations for Canadian seed companies that have genetically diverse seed? Google has given me a few results, but nothing that has, say, more than one or two species of grex/landrace.
As a separate, related request - do you have any recommendations for places where I can buy seeds for Canadian trees and shrubs that bear edible fruit - things like Saskatoon berry? The prices in New Zealand are, well, prohibitive.
One of the more interesting selections of landrace varieties I’ve found is this tiny company in Quebec:
Annapolis Seed has some interesting landrace-ish varieties (unfortunately not all labelled as such) including a short season Okra grex and a hardy collard grex, as well as a selection of tree/shrub seeds
Opposite end of the country from where you’re visiting, but perhaps more relevant to the kiwi climate:
There is this tool as well. The global seed house index of sorts. Don’t know about landraces, but organic for sure.
The tool is at the bottom of the page and you van add shops as well. If you care to grow the customer base of your favorite shop.
On a similar note, Sage Gardens is a Winnipeg based seed supplier who carries Fruition Seeds and Hudson Valley Seed Company, among others, in addition to their own range
Thanks so much folks. I’ve done some early digging in most of those links and, what can I say, I’m envious of the variety you have available! It’s clear before I hit “Add to Cart” I’m going to need to set myself a firm budget…
If you are in the Ottawa area I suggest trying to connect with Manish at Gaia Organic Seeds. He has a heap of interesting landrace and other breeding project going. He’s super friendly and generous with sharing seeds and stories.
