Seed sources, etc.?

Hi, David,

I'm not quite sure how this works, but I hope I'm in the running for your book, which I didn't know about until this minute. A friend in the UK started talking about sea kale and other perennial veg, and I've read up a bit and not been able to find seeds in this country. Perhaps you can help me? So far we're very into dandelion greens and purslane mixed and cooked, maybe with something from the onion family and bacon fat, and we look forward to branching out.

Thanks for your work!
Mary Fahnestock-Thomas
Hamilton, MT

I purchased my sea kale seeds from Nichols.

Thanks, Su Ba. Hadn't found them before!

Hi Mary,

Its a good time to be an adventurous gardener. The Internet offers access to a lot of seeds and other resources that were very hard to find a few years ago. A few places you might look (there are many others as well) for unusual seed varieties:

Chiltern Seeds
http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk
British based company with very large selection of vegetable seeds

Evergreen Seeds
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/vegetableseeds.html
250 varieties of Asian vegetable seeds and books for Oriental gardening and cooking

Johnny's Selected Seeds
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
large selection of organic and non-organic vegetable seeds especially for cooler climates; garden supplies and informative catalog

Kitazawa Seed Company
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/
US company specializing in Asian vegetable seeds

Nichols Garden Nursery
http://www.nicholsgardennursery.com
family owned source of seed for many unusual leaf vegetables

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply
http://www.groworganic.com/
very large selection of organic seeds and supplies including good range of cover crop seeds and agricultural tools, geared toward organic farms and larger gardens

Sakata Seeds
http://www.sakata.com/
Japanese seed company with distributors throughout the world

Seeds of India
www.seedsofindia.com
US company specializing in vegetable seeds of the Indian sub-continent

Terroir Seeds
http://www.underwoodgardens.com
specializing in heirloom vegetable seed

Thompson & Morgan Seeds
http://www.thompson-morgan.com
British company with huge selection of vegetable seeds

VNR Seeds
http://www.vnrseeds.com/
Indian vegetable seed company with branches around the world

You might also check in Eric Toensmeier's book Perennial Vegetables

Wow! Thanks, Dave. Looks like a lot has changed just since last spring, when I first started looking into such things. You're right, it's a good time for adventurous gardening. All best with your own