From: dplatt@ntg.com (Dave Platt)
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic
Subject: Re: Wanted: Source of 'old' strains of seeds.
Date: 7 Sep 92 01:16:44 GMT
Followup-To: rec.gardens
Organization: New Technologies Group, Inc.  Palo Alto CA


>Maybe this is not <exactly> the right newsgroup...

rec.gardens is a more likely hunting ground;  that's where I've directed
any further followups.

>I have heard of 'heritage' seed programs, but I don't know of any addresses.
>
>Specifically, are there any old strains of tomatoes? Before they became
>hybridized for shipping? I grew some tomatoes from seed this year (admittedly
>not a good year) and the texture was the same as commercial tomatoes trucked
>in from wherever. (And, I don't care for.)

I've had exactly the same reaction to Better Boy, Early Girl, etc. etc.
ad nauseum.  There's a good reason for it... these F1 hybrids are very
similar (genetically) to the commercial market-garden varieties.

Yes, older cultivars are still available.  You can get both old
open-pollenated market-garden varieties (I'm particularly fond of
Rutgers), heirloom open-pollenated types (e.g. Brandywine), and some
very old, very strange types (Purple Calabash, Red Currant).  Oddly
enough, this list of four types is what I'm growing this season ;-}

These varieties aren't easy to find in the commercial seed catalogs...
but there are a number of smaller companies which carry them.

Here are some companies I've dealt with:

	Seeds Blum
	Idaho City Stage
	Boise, Idaho

Good selection early in the season; they often sell out of many popular
varieties of heirloom vegetables by February.  Order *EARLY*... I
ordered on 1/4/90 and got my order promptly, but a couple of years ago I
ordered in February and didn't get my seeds until early April.  They
tend to get very badly backlogged, and are hard to reach on the phone.
It's too late to order from them for this planting season...  but you
could request a catalog next fall and order for next year's season.

	Abundant Life
	P.O. Box 772
	Port Townsend WA 98368

Smaller selection than Seeds Blum.  Good service, the times I've ordered
from them.  They have some short-growing-season, cool-weather tomatoes
(e.g. Siberia) which might be well suited to your location.

	J.L. Hudson, Seedsman
	P.O. Box 1058
	Redwood City, CA  94064
	[no phone, don't bother asking Information]

Wonderful "World Seed Service" catalog... ornamentals, herbs, and food
plants from all around the planet.  Has a small selection of open-
pollenated vegetable seeds, and a collection of seeds collected among
the Zapotec Indian tribes in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico.  Good
service, nice folks.  Has seeds for Purple Calabash tomatoes... a
variety which must be seen to be disbelieved (it's INCREDIBLY ugly) and
tasted to be appreciated (the most tomato flavor I've encountered to
date).

	Redwood City Seed Company
	Redwood City, CA

	I don't have their street address handy;  they do have a phone
	in the 415 area code.

Decent selection of open-pollenated varieties, and other useful plants.

All of these companies are small, and would certainly appreciate your
sending a dollar or two for their catalogs.

Also worth having is a catalog from

	Gardens Alive!
	5100 Schenley Place
	Lawrenceburg, IN   47025
	(812) 537-8650

This is an excellent one-stop source for gardeners who want to purchase
pre-blended organic fertilizers, diatomaceous earth, Safer insectidical
soap, beneficial insects, milky spore, cover-crop seeds, botanically-
derived insecticides, BT, Tanglefoot, sticky-traps, pheromone traps,
floating row covers, bee attractant, and other garden-without-
poisoning-the-whole-neighborhood materials.  The catalogs are very
informative;  several times a year they include pictures of common
insect pests and diseases, and describe low-impact ways of dealing with
same.  The prices are good... more often than not they're lower than
prices for similar products at local stores (when the stores even have
them).
-- 
Dave Platt                                                VOICE: (415) 813-8917
              Domain: dplatt@ntg.com      UUCP: ...netcomsv!ntg!dplatt
 USNAIL: New Technologies Group Inc. 2468 Embarcardero Way, Palo Alto CA 94303
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic