Fedco Seeds: Heirloom Seed Highlights From the 2012 Catalog

Reader Contribution by Staff
1 / 3
2 / 3
3 / 3

As I mentioned in my previous post about Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, you can learn a great deal about gardening just from reading seed catalogs. One of my all-time favorites is the black-and-white newsprint catalog produced by the folks at Fedco Seeds in Maine. I like Fedco because I love to try new varieties and Fedco’s jam-packed, fine-print 140-page catalog has one of the widest selections together with the lowest prices, of any companies I know. Plus, the company is constantly running trials and reporting on how varieties compare for flavor, yield and other qualities. Fedco’s variety descriptions include the cons along with the pros — you can’t say that about very many seed catalogs. I appreciate knowing that the company actually grows and studies the seeds.

Fedco is also a company that I feel very comfortable supporting. Established in 1979, Fedco is organized as a cooperative that stands “on the middle ground between capitalism and socialism …We choose to charge only what our business requires to survive and thrive and what our workers need to feel fairly paid.” Consumer memberships are available.

Fedco is one of 82 co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate 23 patents on GMO seeds granted to Monsanto, on the grounds that “they lack beneficial social utility and original art that our patent law requires.” The lawsuit also asks the court to enjoin Monsanto from suing farmers whose fields are inadvertently contaminated by Monsanto’s GMO crops. Fedco’s catalog and website include more details about this ongoing lawsuit.

Fedco offers the largest selection I know of, of certified organic seed varieties as well as non-certified but “sustainably grown” seeds. Here are some of their listings that caught my eye this year:

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368