Connecticut Garden Journal: When you shop local, think of seeds, too

Happy New Year. January is time to go through all my old seeds, see what I need to replace and try some new varieties. This year let's keep our seed purchases local. There are vegetable and flower seed houses based in Connecticut offering a nice variety of seed to purchase.

NE Seed in East Hartford has been around since 1987, but the family goes back many generations. They offer a wide variety of veggie seeds, including a nice selection of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, and organic seed. They're geared towards larger sized growers and sell seed on line by the half ounce.

John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds in Bantam also offers a wide variety of veggies and flowers and are more geared to the small scale, home gardener. I particularly like their salad greens with many unusual selections such as dandelion greens and mache. They sell seed packets on-line.

Chas Hart Seed has been selling seed wholesale since 1892 in Wethersfield. You mostly see their seeds on seed racks around the state. But they also offer seeds on-line in their catalog and sell seed by the quarter ounce. If you're looking for lots of classic varieties, this company is the place to go.

Finally, Select Seeds in Union, Connecticut is all about flowers. They offer annual and perennial organic seeds and themed seed collections such as for pollinators, edible gardens, fragrance and containers. They sell seed in packets online and in stores.

Although not all the seed offered in these catalogs is grown and sourced in New England, but purchasing seed from these companies supports the local economy.

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