Seed Starting and Where to Buy Heirloom Seeds

Here in the South, January is seed starting time. Before we know it, winter will draw to a close and our gardens will be going in, so it’s time to get ready! In this post, I will share with you my favorite places to buy seeds for our garden and why we love heirloom varieties.

Why to plant heirloom varieties

Although hybrid varieties have their perks, heirloom vegetables often have a richer flavor and are found to be more nutrient-dense than hybrid varieties. You can often find heirloom plants that have adapted over time to your area, making them hardy and resilient in your local climate and growing conditions. I have seen and grown some beautiful heirloom vegetables with striking colors and shapes, such as tomatoes with stripes, purple carrots and rainbow-colored popcorn. Heirlooms are not only beautiful, but they might even encourage your kiddos to eat their veggies! 

Seed saving is also possible with heirlooms. These old, open-pollinated varieties produce true-to-type seeds, which means you can save seeds from your harvest and replant them year after year. My husband wrote about this in our old blog years ago. You can read that post here.

Lastly, heirlooms have history. And if you know me, you know I love things that have a story. These seeds have stood the test of time and have the ability to connect us to gardeners of old.

Where to buy heirloom seeds

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. For the past several years, my go-to seed source for rare heirlooms has been Baker Creek Seeds. I so enjoy getting their catalog in the mail! They offer a wide selection of non-GMO seeds, ranging from vegetables to flowers. If you ever find yourself in southern Missouri, I highly recommend visting their Ozark Village and gardens. They also host multiple festivals every year.

At Baker Creek, our mission is to provide sustainable, heirloom seeds for everyone, preserving seed diversity and food security for future generations. We believe in the right to save and share seeds, ensuring that farmers and gardeners can protect against corporate-controlled, hybridized, or genetically modified seeds. All our seeds can be saved, shared, and traded, and we encourage seed saving as a vital practice for food sovereignty.

True Leaf Market. True Leaf has been a non-GMO seed source since 1974. They offer 1000s of high quality affordable seeds and a huge selection of organic heirlooms as well as gardening supplies. Their website is very user friendly and loaded with information.

Annie’s Heirloom Seeds. Annie’s is operated by a mother-daughter team and offers hundreds of clean, non-GMO seeds and gardening supplies. They have a very informative, user-friendly website filled with bright, beautiful pictures that give a great visual of what you can grow in your garden.

Heirloom seeds offer a tether to the best of our past and the promise of a healthy, diverse food system for future generations. We thank our heirloom gardeners for their stewardship, unique passion, and hard work. Our entire team is proud to support each one of you with superb seeds, helpful supplies, and exceptional service.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Southern Exposure works directly with small farmers who grow seed for them, as well as growing seed on their own farm. They offer approximately 850 varieties of organic heirloom vegetable, flower, herb, grain and cover crop seeds that are well-suited to the Southeast. They also participate in seed exchange. This company offers a unique buying experience that is not found in many places.

Plan your garden

Now that you know where you can get your heirloom seeds, it’s time to start planning. How much do you need to plant to reach your goals? How should you lay out your garden? When should you plant? I’ve got you covered there too! Hop over to my guide on keeping a garden, grab a copy of my free garden planner and make use of some of the other gardening resources I have for you there. Happy garden planning!

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