www.saltspringseeds.com/
Eagle Creek Farms (potatoes)

I buy my seed from Saltspring Seeds as well.

Here is a link for Hawthorn farms, Wellington County Ontario. All seeds are $3.00 per packet.

http://www.hawthornfarm.ca/index.html

http://www.richters.com/ Herb plants, seeds, books, dried herbs and more – Richters is your best source for everything herbal! Close to Stouffville - Nice people too 🙂

Southern Ontario heirloom seed company, just found out about them.
http://www.cottagegardener.com/

Silly question time. I understand the difference between Heirloom, Hybrid and GMO plants but really don't understand the sound reason behind NOT attempting to collect and grow Hybrid seeds. I do understand the Horse + Donkey = Mule that is usually sterile, part of the equation. How pray tell do the seed producers get hybrid seeds to start with? Are all hybrid seeds first generation seeds produced by cross pollination? I have germinated hybrid seeds and harvested some rather nice veggies from them. I would like to know why hybrids seeds are so 'frowned upon'.

My little heirloom seed source contribution located in interior BC is http://www.sunshinefarm.net/ Very nice people with big hearts who are also very strict about heirloom seed only.

Its frowned on because you get a mix of results..

Think of it as crossing a poodle and a lab, some folks adore their labdoodle, its got this or that from the mix.. now lets breed two of them togther, and the resulting offspring in size, color, coat type and temperment can be all over the place..

Same thing with the plants, if you want a row of X that breeds true, you want a heirloom seed and you want to breed it to keep it true and pure.. if you use hybrid seed, its like getting a 1st gen cross between two purebred parents, you still have a pretty rock solid idea of what you will get.. but start breeding mulit gens of hybrids and you can get all kinds of "what if?" throw into the mix..

Hope that helps answer your question.

Thanks for that Farmgal but what is to prevent a honey bee from gathering hybrid/different heirloom breed genes via pollination of your neighbors hybrid or heirloom crop and then traveling and introducing those genes to your crop in bloom? I do realize I am nitpicking to some extend but the reality of nature can pick some pretty improbable results as well.

About 30 years ago I had an almost brother in law (glad I dodged that bullet! 😆 ) who grows seed explain to me the requirements of a seed crops location (distance to, X kilometers) in relations to another crop of the same species (peas in this case) to prevent cross pollination of the seed crop. This 'buffer zone' was required for certification of the seed he was growing to be a pure breed of seed. Unless you own the Ponderosa (and the closest 6 huge ranches surrounding the Cartwrights) keeping your garden gene pool free of non heirloom genes is near impossible. Growing sugar cane in Alberta would be pretty safe, I think. Other than that separation from other similar crops is difficult at best and I would guess NEAR impossible.

I wonder how the heirloom seed producers get around that with tomatoes for example? The terms 'open pollination' and 'natural pollination' seem to surface a lot. This implies bee pollination if I recall correctly.

Nothing is preventing it, that's why if you want to save seed, you need to build and use seed cages, study and research what will and what won't outcross and why in many cases you need to stragger planting times to avoid just that, as well as hand pollinate and then tape the flower closed to prevent just this.

A good example, I stragger plant my eating corn so that it does not tassle out at the same time as the GMO cow corn that gets grown every 3rd year in my neck of the woods, the farmer is great about answering my questions about when his corn is to pollinate, this allows me to plan and plant my corn to avoid it.

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/isolation%20cages.html

This gives you some idea's on them, typically if you do seed saving each year, you just build one or two wooden with screen cages that can fit over a couple feet and at least two large sqaush plants

I highly recommend this book, its considered by many to be the bible on saving seed.

http://www.amazon.ca/Seed-Saving-Techniques/dp/1882424581

You can also help the process along by self pollinating...take the pollen from your male flowers and shake it into your female flowers...then close up the flower and collect the seeds from there.
Jack Spirko just did a show on seed saving and also discussed hybrids and how you can develop your own specific plant variety...
Here is the link...
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/1054-how-what-and-why-saving-seeds

OK, I think I'm getting get the picture. Instead of a screened cage could you 'quarantine' the flowers of the plants you wish to pollinate for seed by 'mosquito netting' the flowers to keep the bees and butterfly's out then hand pollinate those flowers and re-net them?

I truly thank you for sharing the information and links (I'll need a laptop and a flash drive put in my coffin to finish all of the reading I have to do 🙄 ). I didn't have a clue of where to start so thanks for being a guide.

Cheers!
BTR

I was watching a documentary by some Canadians from the East Coast as they woofed through Canada. They went to a place in Kingston, a convent that grows Heirloom seeds. The convent apparently received all the seeds from a couple in the Ottawa area, who ran the seeds and growing for 30 yrs, then retired.
No do not know the name.

Here is a link for Hawthorn farms, Wellington County Ontario. All seeds are $3.00 per packet.

http://www.hawthornfarm.ca/index.html

Great compay! I ordered 8 different type of seeds and the shipping was very fast! Will def order more when needed.