Last Updated on May 17, 2023 by Lori
You don’t need a Seed ‘n Feed store in your town in order to grow top-quality vegetables. Here is a collection of the best places to buy top-quality vegetable seeds online. These are the seeds that are sure to provide you with lush, bountifully producing plants for your garden.
Do you enjoy gardening?
It’s estimated that 27 million people across the U.S.A. consider gardening to be a favorite hobby.
Gardening is the #1 hobby in the US!
It’s not just flowers either – vegetable gardens are popular across the country. In fact, one in three American households grows some of their own food. That’s pretty remarkable if you think about it!
Gardening is certainly one of my favorite ways to spend a sunny afternoon. I even enjoy the planning aspects, such as designing gardening layouts and sourcing top-quality vegetable seeds.
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Planning Your Garden – Choosing the Best Seeds
I love planting, digging in the dirt, weeding, and of course, eating the fruits veggies of my labor.
Planning each season of my garden is an activity I look forward to. It’s an opportunity to try new things, and of course, apply lessons learned in prior years.
Each season, it’s good to change the garden layout to best suit the types of plants being used. I also like to try new vegetables and unusual varieties of my favorites. Because it’s not just choosing between peppers and cucumbers – most vegetables have dozens, if not hundreds, of varieties.
Believe it or not, there are more than 15,000 documented varieties of tomatoes! They all have a distinct growth pattern, maturation rate, and even flavor.
You can start a vegetable garden either from seeds or starter plants.
When I joined a community garden a few years ago, I planned to start my first round of plantings from seed. I based this decision mostly on cost-effectiveness, as seeds are so much cheaper than starter plants.
I also like to see my veggies grow from seed to sprout to harvest. There is nothing quite like the experience of planting a tiny seed and seeing the growth process through to maturation – and then eating the produce!
Quick Tip: Sunflowers, beans, and radishes are especially quick to mature, so be sure to include them in your garden plan for quick encouragement!
The Best Quality Seeds Produce The Best Quality Vegetables
Vegetable seeds can easily be found in the garden section of any big-box store, but there can be a huge variation in quality.
I wanted to make sure I used only high-quality, non-GMO seeds. I also was concerned that they were fresh seeds, and hadn’t been sitting in a warehouse for years.
This is not to say that all of the seeds from the big box stores are bad – but there are better places to get them to ensure quality.
Fortunately, there are plentiful online sources of excellent seeds.
I have compiled a list of eight reputable vendors, and I hope this list saves you time deciding on where to order so you can move quickly into choosing what to order.
The Best Places to Buy Vegetable Seeds Online
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company
Baker Creek was started in 1998 by a 17-year-old. (Really) They now offer nearly 2,000 varieties of vegetables, flowers, and herbs – the largest selection in the USA.
I ordered all of my seeds from Baker Creek last fall. I do think their quality and selection are excellent.
The company is dedicated to promoting and preserving our agricultural and culinary heritage and carries many seeds from the 19th century, including many Asian and European varieties.
According to the website, the owners “work extensively to supply free seeds to many of the world’s poorest countries, as well as here at home in school gardens and other educational projects. It is their goal to educate everyone about a better, safer food supply and fight gene-altered frankenfood and the companies that support it.”
Eden Brothers
Eden Brothers offers over 1500 varieties of 100% pure, high germination & GMO-Free seeds that have not been treated with pesticides.
Their website categorizes seeds in many helpful ways – based on planting season; culinary, medicinal, heirloom, and pollinator varieties.
They even let you know which seeds are best to start indoors or direct sow. This makes it really easy to find what you are looking for.
All of the Certified Organic seeds meet requirements set forth by the National Standard for Organic Agriculture.
Annie’s Heirloom Seeds
Annie’s is a small company based in Michigan, that has focused on providing top quality seeds for the last decade. Seeds are categorized under organic, heirloom, and Annie’s favorites.
Seed Savers Exchange
Seed Savers Exchange is the only nonprofit on this list.
This organization aims “to conserve and promote America’s culturally diverse but endangered garden and food crop heritage for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants.”
They’ve been around since 1975, so clearly they are making progress.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Johnny’s does not sell genetically modified seeds or breed new varieties using genetic engineering. Instead, they use traditional methods of natural crossing to create hybrid seeds that are healthy and safe.
Certified organic, heirloom, hybrid, and other types of seed have been offered for 45 years. They have extensive resources on their site, including a unique “ask a grower” feature.
Groworganic/Peaceful Valley Farm Supply
This company does not provide exclusively organic products. They clearly state “While many of our products are either Certified Organic, or approved for Certified Organic Production, we also offer a variety of products that do not qualify for this classification. But rest assured, everything we offer must live up to our strict, planet-friendly standards.”
In addition to seeds, Groworganic sells trees, mushroom kits, cold frames, and more.
Harris Seeds
Perhaps the oldest seed company on this list, Harris Seeds has been around an incredible 179 years.
They sell a wide range of organic and non-organic products and are a NOFA New York-certified organic seed handler.
Burpee
Burpee is possibly the best known of all seed companies. They supply a wide selection of organic products. They also have heirloom products and lots of resources for beginning and experienced gardeners.
Additional Online Retailers of Top-Quality Seeds
- Hudson Valley Seed Co
- Kitazawa Seeds
- Native Seeds
- Plant Good Seed Co
- Renee’s Garden
- SeedsNow
- Seedville USA
- Seedwise
- Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
- Sustainable Seed Co
- Terrain
- Territorial Seed Co
- Wild Mountain Seeds
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Final Thoughts on How to Find the Best Organic, Non-GMO Vegetable Seeds Online
There are so many sources for vegetable seeds, but clearly, some provide better quality than others.
And while it is possible to find healthy seeds at big box stores, it can be worth seeking out the best quality retailers for unique varieties, non-GMO, heirloom, and organic seeds.
I encourage you to seek out fresh, organic, non-GMO, heirloom seeds whenever possible. Your garden will thrive!
Hello Lori,
I have been selling incredibly productive heirloom carosello cucumber seed varieties, most of which are much older and tastier than a lot of other cucumber varieties. My little Cucumber Shop borders on philanthropy, so the payoff is not financial as in the satisfaction of helping others grow incredible cucumber varieties. I just wanted to share that there are some little seed shops out there that are doing much of the hard work of finding, maintaining and offering unique open-pollinated vegetable varieties.
Where can I get a calog
all the companys you have listed in your article, their seeds are over priced and you get less seeds for your money. I have all their seed catalogs. your local feed and seed store are much better for garddening supplies.
I agree that these are not the cheapest seeds around, but that is because they are organic, non-GMO, and heirloom, top-quality seeds. If you have a local feed and seed store, that can be an excellent place to find quality seeds at a lower price. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the great info, we are looking to get some veggies growing this year so this will come in handy.
Good luck with your garden! It’s so much fun to see the progress from seeds to plants to food! Thanks for reading, Eddie!
My boyfriend and I have our very first yard to garden this year, and I’m SO excited. We’ve bought our equipment to start seedlings in our basement, and all that’s left is to decide what seeds we want. What a great article! I’m going to follow your blog in hopes that you’ll have more gardening posts throughout the spring/summer 🙂
Congrats on your garden! You are going to love it! Just remember that some things are NOT going to work out – and those are just learning experiences! Plants are live creatures, so sometimes they foil your best intentions! That said, it is so enormously rewarding when you harvest your first fresh produce, whatever it is! I am very sincere about starting with top quality seeds – they only cost pennies more than the cheap ones. And yes, I will have more gardening posts in the future. Thank you so much for reading and following!
It’s that some people are gifted with green-thumbs. The last thing I planted was a cactus, so my hands aren’t that green. Good article with good information.
Thanks for reading! And don’t give up on your green thumb – some people are just better with certain plants! My mother’s amazing with African violets, and I have killed every one I’ve ever had. But I am much better with vegetable gardening! So, you never know!
Thanks for all the great info! We need to start tending our garden and getting starters going. I always worry about getting good quality seeds, I feel it makes such a difference. Now to decide what to plant this year 😉
I’m glad this list helped, Tiffany. Choosing what to plant is so much fun! Enjoy! Thanks for reading!