Was that post title a little overboard? Sorry about that…I’m a sucker for free, organic, high-quality seeds, and (be honest) most of you, my wonderful readers, are too.
Part Two of our awesome giveaway week is here, and it rocks. (If you missed Part One of giveaway week, there is still time to go enter to win a copy of Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard from the guys of Seattle Urban Farm Company.)
High Mowing Organic Seeds emailed the other day and offered to send some free seeds to one of my readers. Yes, please!
This is High Mowing:
They sell organic vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Don’t they look friendly, and pretty much exactly how you’d picture organic seed farmers from Vermont to look?
Why Organic Seeds?
All of High Mowing’s seeds are 100% certified organic. You probably grow your vegetables organically and we’ve all heard about the various ways organic food is better for you, the environment, farmers, etc. But you may not have thought about seeking out certified organic seeds.
There are a couple good reasons you might want to buy and use organic seed whenever possible.
1. Plants raised organically over several generations for seed tend make future plants that do better under organic culture. This is straight up adaptation at work. It’s like how heirlooms grown in one area over generations will become more and more adapted to the climate in that area. A plant raised successfully over time without the protection of chemical fungicides, insecticides and whatnot will tend to pass on genetics that make continued organic culture easier. A plant requiring more chemical help to get it to the reproductive finish-line (making seed) in one piece is going to tend to pass on more genetics for plants that do best with that same kind of chemical supplement.
2. Seed crops get hit with a lot of pesticides and fungicides (far more than typical food crops) which is pretty bad for the land and people involved in growing seed crops. In Oregon, for example, most vegetables grown for seed qualify for “nonfood/nonfeed site” status, which diminishes the labeling and pesticide residue test requirements for those crops. Further, since applications of pesticide and fungicide can be applied throughout the growing and seed development stages, minuscule amounts of these chemicals could remain on the seeds you plant in your garden. For someone very diligent about avoiding chemical inputs in their garden, that possibility alone might make the higher cost of organic seeds very worthwhile.
Thankfully, more and more growers are popping up to supply seed to organic home and small market growers, and so a broad range of organic seeds is now available from seedhouses like High Mowing.
So, About Those Free Seeds?
High Mowing Organic Seeds has put together several beautiful Seed Collections filled with up to 10 seed packets and worth up to $27.50, including this Heirloom Vegetable Garden Collection…
…and this Garden Starter Collection.
There are a lot more collections to choose from (Container Garden? Kids Garden?), and High Mowing is giving one of these collections away to one lucky NW Edible reader. The winner of this giveaway can pick the collection of seeds that is most appealing to them. Some kits contain more seed packets and are therefore worth more. Just so you know when you are thinking about which you’d want.
How To Enter
To enter to win this giveaway, leave a comment on this post telling us which one the new 2013 High Mowing seed varieties you’d most like to try out. You can see all their 2013 introductions on one page here. The Iko Iko Pepper and the Prinz Celeriac look great to me.
While you are poking around the High Mowing site, check out the Seed Collections and tell us which one you’ll pick if you win.
Contest details: entries accepted until Thursday December 20th at 6 pm PT. Contest open to residents of the US and Canada due to seed shipping regulations.
Good luck!
Update: Contest now closed. Congratulations to Aibrean, the winner of the seed giveaway. Aibrean, please check your email for details on how to claim your prize!
Which seeds don’t I want to try?!?! I’d love to try nearly every single one, but if I had to choose, it’s a toss up between Rhazes Lettuce (how pretty!) and Blue Coco Bean (does it taste like coco???). I also like the Summer of Sunflowers Organic Seed Collection–the year before last, I planted several different varieties of sunflowers on a whim and was surprised at how much I loved them. For whatever reason, I didn’t plant them last year, but they’ll be in the garden next summer for sure!
You had me at “free seeds”, lady. 🙂
(Of course, now I’ve got a shopping cart full of stuff in that window. My VISA may not be thanking you all that much right now. Ahem.)
The three new things in my cart: the garlic (spanish roja), the Klondike Blue Ribbon watermelon, and the Black Trifele tomato (despite the fact that I have roughly four billion saved tomato seeds from a bunch of heirloom varieties right now in my fridge. One can’t have too many tomatoes, right? Say yes, please. Please.)
Thanks for the chance to feed my growing plant addiction!
Heirloom Vegetable Lovers is the collection for me~! OMG everything I love & want to try. A juicers heaven~! I long for the taste of a “real” tomato & I KNOW that I will deny myself that pleasure until next Summer when I pick my own. Also I can just picture the ruby red juice (after roasting) from those gorgeous beets. Hold me back~!!!!
AGGGHHHH! You’ve discovered my weakness–SEEDS! I’ve found more varieties of seeds in a few minutes than I’ve seen for the past few years. My garden next year will be VERY different! Aren’t the Dragon Langerie Bush Bean the most beautiful beans you’ve ever seen?
The High Mowing Organic Seed website is going to cause some serious damage to my wallet. If I buy half the stuff I’ve already pinned, I’m going to have to sacrifice even MORE of my yard to expand my garden. Oh, well.
The Iko Iko bell peppers looks fabulous, although I must admit that I would also love to see the painted lady sweet peas.
As for the organic seed collections, I’d started with the garden starter kit. What a terrific selection!!
That’s where I bought my seeds last year! I’ll be going back there for the spring. My garden is a 10×10 ft concrete porch in the back of my condo so I would pick the container garden pack if I won. I also really like the looks of the Ocate lettuce. The picture looks so appetizing.
Not to sound rude or anything, but I WANT I WANT I WANT! GIMME GIMME GIMME! (OK, I think I’ve recovered now.) Erica, you make a compelling case for organic seeds. I hadn’t thought about the whole adaptation thing before, but it makes good sense. I would love the Summer of Sunflowers collection. It just exudes “happy” doesn’t it? 🙂
All of them?!? I’m specifically eyeballing the Cocozelle Zucchini, Winter Luxury Pumpkin, Prinz Celeriac, Blue Coco Bean, and the Red Swan Bean.
Now if only I had more space…
I would love to surprise my husband with the shishito peppers. He absolutely love them; grew up eating them, and we’re only just starting to see them in Chicago. He’d be thrilled.
However, as a collection, I’d have to go with the container collection. Wherever I move, I know I’ll be able to have containers. I don’t know if I will have beds too.
Of course, this all assumes I can make plants happen via seed, which I haven’t tried since I was in biology in high school…
I would love to try the Topepo Rosso peppers. We grow a few varieties of hot and mild peppers but I’ve been looking for a good variety to try my hand at making my own paprika and these look to be perfect! If I won, I’d definitely want the heirloom vegetable lovers collection. We’ve been slowly adding heirloom varieties to our garden every year and these would speed us up a great deal.
How exciting! Planning next year’s garden with FREE seeds is something to really look forward to. I just received the High Mowing Seed Catalog in the mail …..coincidence? I think not. I would be requesting the Heirloom Seed Collection (it was a toss up between this and the Garden Starter Collection). The most tempting “new” item to try would be the German Butterball Potato. Thank you to Erica and High Mowing Seeds for this offer!
all of them! but really, the Australe Lettuce and Garnet Giant Mustard are calling to me. My wish is to never have to buy greens from a grocery store again. Currently we’re growing kale and chard but have yet to find the perfect lettuces and spinach. Thank you for all your excellent posts, Erica, and for this wonderful opportunity!
I like the looks of the red roaster peppers, but I have never had good results growing anything but small hot peppers. The Topepo might work for me. I am also looking for a new bean for a trellis we have, so my eye is on the Blue Cocos.
For a seed package, I would go with the Garden Starter.
From the 2013 High Mowing Seed Varieties I would like to try the Iko Iko peppers. I had so many hot peppers this year I want all sweet peppers next year in my pepper patch. Free Seeds that really got my attention right away!!! I also like the Heirloom Vegetable lovers Seed collection every thing is in this one bunch to have a really good garden. Of course I would like to try the Three Sisters love squash and corn. Ellen from Georgia
I am a sucker for tomatoes, so I would really love to try out the yellow hybrid cherry tomatoes, the green tiger tomatoes and the annalise variety (which look like they’d be good for canning). I love cucumbers and never seem to have enough, but the Iko Iko peppers instead, would be fun to try as well.
Yay!
I’d have to go with the Topepo Rosso Pepper & the Kitchen Herbs Organic Seed Collection I think 🙂
I would love to try the Prinz Celeriac. I was hoping to grow some this year, but had to cut out a couple things to keep my seed costs from being too ridiculous. 🙂
Orange chard! Or really any of that family!
Yay! High mowing seeds! They’re out east just south of us and I know their stuff grows well here. I’m looking at the blue coco bean, just because we’re low on space and the kids would love the colour. Oh my, I just found the artichokes in their regular seed collection, I think they would would look just fantastic as potted plants! thanks!
Makes me wish for spring now!! I would love to try the blue coco bean and baron mache. And as for the seed collections, I would love the winter garden collection. I have been trying to keep gardening all winter for two years now, and this would motivate me to be more organized!
The Blue Coco Bean caught my eye, as did the Heirloom Vegetable Lover’s Seed Collection.
Thanks for hosting this giveaway!
Blue Coco Beans and the Des Vertus Mareau Slad Turnips look wonderful. I would love to try them both. The kitchen herb collection would really help round out my garden this coming spring.
Klondike Blue Watermelon looks particularly yummy. And the Bee’s Garden collection would be perfect for our second colony of little ladies planned for the spring!
Topepo Rosso Pepper
Great way to get us to look at the new stuff for 2013!
winter garden mix
Cocozelle zucchini! And the container garden collection; we’re trying some containers this year.
Oooh, I’ve never tried growing sprouts before, so the Fenugreek and Broccoli both look interesting to me. Then again, how could you possibly lose when something called the Klondike Blue Ribbon Watermelon is an option.
winter mix
Oh man looking at this website is putting me in the mood for gardening again! It will be our first spring with a real backyard and I’m just itching to get out there and turn all that space into something wonderful. I would love to try the Giant Corral Zinnia seeds and the green or pink tiger tomatoes.
The Kids Garden seed collection would be a great gift for my 2yo little boy. He loved helping me in the container garden I had at our old apartment and I want him to be excited about it here at our new house too!
Thanks!
Growing onions have been high on my list to try, so their new hybrid onion.
I’ve been curious about this company ever since I read the book “The Town That Food Saved.”
I like to try out a new tomato every year and the Black Trifele looks like a winner……the Iko Iko peppers too. I’d probably choose the Heirloom collection, but we are running out of “in the ground” garden space, so the the Container collection is in the running too.
Thanks!
The cocozelle zucchini looks good to me. I am always looking for a more interesting zicchini to bring a little interest. As for the seed collections I like the heirloom one. Looks like a no e mix of things I’ve grown and things I haven’t.
Black Trifele Tomato. And everything else.
Everything looks so fresh and delicious! I would love to try the German Butterball potato. Yellow fleshed potatoes are so beautiful and mmmm….butter.
The Heirloom variety seed collection looks very interesting to me.
I would love to try the red ciopinno onions! I would choose the garden starter pack, although the heirloom seeds pack also looks great! Thanks!
Oops! Meant red cipollini onions!
I’m a sucker for snap peas!
Definately Shishito Peppers. We love all types of peppers in this family!
The Red Swan Beans are gorgeous! I can’t wait to start seeds this year. I am rebuilding my garden area to increases its size quite a bit.
It is hard to narrow it down to just one. I’d love to try both the Blue Coco Bean and the Baron Mache.
I would try the red ripollini onions. I might choose the winter garden pack or the container garden pack. Everything looks good right now.
I’d love the Bee Garden kit, too cool!
“Was that post title a little overboard?” Definitely not, for free seeds I’d expect a happy dance as well. I think I’d pick Organic Blue Coco Bean if I have to pick one. If I win, I’ll have to decide between the kitchen herb and winter garden collections.
I would love to try the new Rhazes Lettuce, because the color is so deep and beautiful! For seed collections, I would love the Container Garden collection, because my space is limited, and I may have to move pots around at times to get enough sun. Looks like a wonderful collection.
All of these…so tough to choose. I want them all..:)
Wow, what fun! I am a sucker for tomatoes and finding ones that produce well even during our wet summers would be fabulous…I would take a look at their winter growing seed kit as well. I always say I am going to garden year round…maybe that would give me a good small starting point.
I didnt know they shipped to Canada, so that’s good to know. I’d grow the salad turnips. Turnips did uber well for us this year, but we dont eat many cooked, so salad varieties seem like the way to go. Seed collection wise, I’d like the new winter collection. I sucked at winter gardening this year and want to do better next.
The vivid choi looks amaaaazing! For me, I think the Kids’ Garden seed collection would be best. My four little ones love to get their hands (and feet and noses and bottoms and…) dirty, for sure. 🙂
Topepo Rosso Pepper look beautiful! When I win 😉 … I am totally getting the Heirloom Vegetable Lover’s Seed Collection!
Wow! So hard to choose! I am a sucker for unusual tomatoes, so I would try the Black Trifele. And I absolutely love sunflowers, so I would go for the Summer of Sunflowers collection.
Winter Luxury Pumpkin! Painted Lady Sweet Peas!
Easy Salad Greens Organic Seed Collection and/or Kids’ Garden Seed Collection