Heritage harvest seed in Manitoba is who I'm gonna try

I order from Heritage Harvest in Manitoba and from Harmonic Herbs in Barrhead, AB. Unfortunately, neither of them carry seeds in sealed containers. I think the best luck you would have with seeds in a sealed can, is looking for ones that offer a variety of vegetables that have short maturation dates. Seeds that are grown and saved in similar growing conditions do tend to preform better.

Braden solutions does have a sealed can of mixed seeds. B&c do the heretige harvest seeds grow well?

So I did a lot of reading yesterday. This website lists all the websites that sell heirloom seeds.
http://www.off-grid.info/food-independence/heirloom-seed-suppliers.html

but like most of you I am looking for something in a sealed can, so after going thru every link for Canada / US, I narrowed it down to the following
http://secure.seedstrust.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=535&category_id=211&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2
http://shop.nativeseeds.org/collections/special-collections
http://www.myheirloomseeds.com/heirloom_seeds_survival_capsule.htm
http://sustainableseedco.com/safety-seed/
http://selfreliancestrategies.com/hub/stor/#!/Survival-Garden-Seed-Kit/p/16430067/category=5401524
http://www.hometownseeds.com/survival-seeds-c-213/preparedness-seed-bank-p-304

From this list I think I will go with
http://sustainableseedco.com/safety-seed/

These guys are not just a distributor or company that repackages seeds and sells them. They harvest their own seeds and are geared towards long term storage seem to have quality seeds. They will customize seed packages based on where you live, which is nice because many of the websites I looked at offered a great portion of seeds in their combination packs that are geared towards climates in the southern US such as Florida. I will also drop by Briden Solutions one of these days and see what they have to offer because I have always been happy with their selection of food and other gear

Best thing is to grow the plants and save the seeds each year. Gives you practice on how to do it (some plants are not so easy) and then you know what grows best in your local

I agree, I want to plant the seeds that I purchase this spring and practice drying them for use the next year, but I would like to have a seed bank ready just in case because trial and error could take several years to perfect.

Try Richters in Ontario. https://www.richters.com/ I've bought hundreds of dollars in seeds from them. Few fail to germinate, but I believe most of that is my doing. Went to visit them several years ago and asked if they had some 'hard to get' seeds in stock. I mentioned them by name and the woman said "you aren't from British Columbia are you?" (I am) I think they spend about 45 minutes helping me look for specific seeds.

Also try West Coast Seeds. http://www.westcoastseeds.com/ This was the first place I went when I started gardening. They really beat their chests about having a large variety of Organic, and Non GMO seeds. Bought a bunch of seeds from them 3 years ago and am still using them. I have Sugar Daddy Snap Peas growing in my Aquaponics setup in my basement, and they are going strong. Again these are THREE years old.

Many places are wound downright TIGHT about GMO and Heritage/Heirloom seeds out here in BC. I have a photo (somewhere) of a place on Vancouver Island where all you can see is a sea of NO GMO signs on their seed racks.

Cannor's Nursery in Abbotsford, and Buckerfields, also in Abbotsford are doing the same.

We may not be able to get the government to force the labelling, but these folks are sure making it known that Heritage / Heirloom seeds are their concern.

Another seed source , but not in sealed tins but others might like to try .
I've gotten mine from here for a long time.

http://www.terraedibles.ca/

I've also ordered a small amount from USA when I could not find tomato seeds I wanted to try.
Again not in a sealed container.
http://www.tomatofest.com/

I was recently discussing heirloom seeds with a cousin who teaches at Olds college. He was saying that it would be hard to collect seeds from carrots (and any vegies in that family) because they don't produce seeds till their second year. One would have to somehow overwinter the carrots to get seeds the second year. That kinda puts a roadblock into my plans. Has anyone else found a way to do this?

I was recently discussing heirloom seeds with a cousin who teaches at Olds college. He was saying that it would be hard to collect seeds from carrots (and any vegies in that family) because they don't produce seeds till their second year. One would have to somehow overwinter the carrots to get seeds the second year. That kinda puts a roadblock into my plans. Has anyone else found a way to do this?

Hi Zana, and welcome to the forum.
I grew some heirloom carrots last year and left a few dozen in the ground mulched with leaves and covered with a tarp.
The idea being that they will come back this year and I will be able to get the seeds from them.
I'll post the results...but maybe someone else here has already figured out a good plan for that.
Chime in folks!!!!!

Thanks Denob. I'll be watching for your results. That is what my cousin said I'd have to do. There is a place in Sherwood Park that handle freeze dried food and has boxes of heirloom seeds. I don't think I'd get those cause I really don't care for some of the veggies in the box. The store is called Boshe Centre Hills Pantry Dri Harvest Foods

Heads up that these guys have been in a 'closing down' mode for several months now as you can see by their home page http://www.dri-harvest.com/

They may not have much left in terms of seeds or anything else for that matter, so you should probably contact them sooner rather than later.

Masterchief, I have been getting my seeds from saltspring seeds for about five years. Order online and go through the seeds that will grow in Alberta. I too, live in central alberta in the foothills. Thanks to my raised beds/boxes I have a lot of success with many veggies. Saltsprings seeds are wonderful to deal with and will assist you in ordering the proper seeds for your area. I also order from manitoba and will continue to as they are good to deal with as well.