7 Recommended Seed Sellers on Amazon

As much as I love Baker Creek Seeds, sometimes I just need to shop Amazon. I really do love shopping there, as I feel safe knowing if a problem arises with the shipment or product, Amazon will take care of it without question. The sellers are held to consumer standards, not their own, so getting scammed on Amazon is very, very rare.

Over the past year we’ve tried out seeds from several different Amazon sellers. Most were wonderful, although there were a few bad apples in the bunch. Even still, we were out nothing because Amazon is quick to refund or replace.

This list only includes the sellers we had fabulous results with. All seed were shipped safely and grew properly, and some even threw in extra bonus seeds with the shipment. Their prices are also fair, and don’t require Amazon prime or a $35 minimum to take advantage of decent shipping prices (all of these shops sell outside of the Amazon warehouse, yet still must follow the guidelines and policies of Amazon).

All Good Things Organic
We’ve only purchased one package of seeds from this seller, but that one seed packet produced amazing results. We ordered Organic Hopi Red Dye Amaranth Seeds from this seller last winter, and immediately planted a test seed in a container. The amaranth grew, although it stays small being in a container, so we did as planned and planted them outside. However, before we got the seeds in the ground, we make a pretty bad mistake that I thought would have destroyed the seeds. We accidentally left the package outside overnight and it rained a bit. We planted them anyway, although I didn’t expect much. How pleasantly surprised we were to see just about every single seed pop up as it was suppose to. HIGHLY recommended individual seed seller out of California.

Red Hopi Dye Amaranth

Renee’s Garden
From this store we purchased organic cat grass mix, which grew like, well, grass. Very fast, very furious, and the cats absolutely love it. No issues whatsoever, and I feel safe knowing my cats are getting the grass they want to eat without the chemicals or Round-up ready grass you find outside. I found it so easy to grow that I purchased another package of seeds from this seller – Alpine Mignonette Strawberry Seeds. These proved to be a bit trickier to grow, however, the germination rate was perfect. No fault of the seeds or seller, just a gardening curve on my part to keep a pickier plant alive. They do have their own website and fabulous articles about growing their seeds, so there IS help. I’ve managed to keep two plants growing for 8 months now, mostly thanks to the tips and care instruction provided by this seller. Again, highly recommended.

Alpine Mignonette Strawberries

No Thyme Productions
We couldn’t be happier with the seeds that came from this seller, even if they aren’t specifically a seed store. We purchased Dill Bouquet Certified Organic Heriloom Seeds and Lettuce Butterhead Buttercrunch Certified Organic Seed, both from Botanical Interests. Now you could purchase Botanical Interests seeds from any seller on Amazon, but I will say this: we purchased two packages of the same brand from a different seller and nothing grew. I really, truly believe seeds can be mishandled and stored incorrectly to the point they become non-viable and believe that is what happened with the other seller. However, the seeds purchased from No Thyme Productions germinated perfectly and are thriving like weeds. So if you do purchase Botanical Interests, be sure the seller is “No Thyme Productions” or another on this list, even if it costs a few extra cents.

Little Lettuce Sprouts

Seed Kingdom
This storefront on Amazon seems to sell a lot of other brands of seeds, although our Boston Pickling Cucumber Seeds were packaged directly by Seed Kingdom. They came in a small bag with a label, along with their website in case we ran into problems. Well, we didn’t. The cucumbers are TAKING OVER the garden and producing more cucumbers than we can handle. These seeds were for sure a winner.

Boston Pickling Cucumber

Seed Needs
We’ve only purchased one package of seeds from this seller, but it was enough to decided they were alright in our book. The Cape Forget-Me-Not (Anchusa capensis) Seeds by Seed Needs sprouted as they should inside, although I’ve been struggling to keep them alive. I always judge a seed seller on germination rates, as I feel that’s a seed sellers main responsibility to ensure the seeds will at least grow. After sprouting, it’s up to the gardener to take proper care of them. All the seeds we’ve planted have grown properly, even if I’m not being a very good plant mother.  I’m sure with a little TLC they will grow just fine.

The Dirty Gardener
Two successful batches of seeds have come from this seed seller: Morning Glory Seeds and Roman Chamomile . Morning glories aren’t difficult to grow, so these sprouted and bloomed without fail. Even after planting a 100 foot row of morning glories (with a few replanted seeds after bunnies got them) and several inside, we’ve still got a ton of leftover seeds. The chamomile is also thriving indoors in two places and germinated without issue. HIGHLY recommended seller!

Roman Chamomile

Ohio Heirloom Seeds
The last recommended seed seller we purchased from more than once. The first time we purchased Catnip Seeds. Knowing how difficult these are to germinate and how germination rates are usually low, I was extremely impressed with how well these seeds grew. So impressed that we ordered from the same company again. The second batch was a larger order of Scallions, Fennel, and Atomic Red Carrots. So far only the carrots have sprouted from the new order, but we’ve only had these seeds a few weeks. After seeing the other successful sprouts, I have no doubts they’ll do just fine.

Catnip growing indoors under florescent lights.

Are there sellers on Amazon you recommend, or do you sell seeds on Amazon? We are always open to trying out new seeds and new companies, just as long as they are organic or non-GMO. Feel free to contact us if you’d like to see your Amazon store featured here. 🙂

Happy gardening!

After Challenge Update: The Seed List

It was a fun 30 days, but I have to admit I am relieved it’s over. My backyard is becoming a bit overgrown and my attention needed to be out there with all the currently growing plants. However, I have quite a lot coming on indoors which tickles me to see. I’m so glad we planted for a solid 30 days!

So here’s the breakdown of what we planted this month….

Cilantro 
For these seeds, we actually used three different sources. The first  was an older packet and they were planted in the north kitchen window. The next was also planted in the north kitchen window, but the seeds used were directly off a flower that had finished blooming. Both of these are growing a bit slow, due to low light conditions. The final seeds were from a free packet we received from Baker Creek Seeds, sown upstairs under grow lights with quite a few other plants. This one is strongest of the bunch, fully caught up and grown taller than the others.

Cilantro sprouts

Catgrass
Over the month I gave a few updates on the cat grass. It’s still growing fine, but may need replanted again soon. The cats are chowing it down at a fairly fast rate. We used the same seeds through the entire challenge and I do highly recommend them. They were from Amazon, specifically Renee’s Garden Cat Grass Mix.

Cat Grass

Forget-Me-Nots
These aren’t doing the greatest in pots. The flowers in the fairy garden were doing better than the ones in an individual pot, until the cats thought the fairy garden was a bed for them. I’ll have to do a bit of work on our fairy garden and hopefully the Forget-Me-Nots will survive. I don’t blame the seeds or the seller, just myself for improper care of seedlings. If you are interested in trying them out, they were Cape Forget-Me-Not (Anchusa capensis) Seeds by Seed Needs

Garlic Bulbs
I have a hell of a time keeping garlic alive, and this one was no different. For this experiment I did not use seeds, but rather scraps that we had from a store-bought garlic clove. It was sprouting just fine when I planted it, but I believe the soil was far too rich and moist to keep it going. I started over with new scraps since I am determined to grow garlic correctly.

Lettuce
I’m happy to report the lettuce is doing just fine in the big indoor box in our south window. The seeds we planted this month are still little sproutlings, yet the lettuce that went in a month ahead is nearly ready to harvest. It’s hard to find the little guys right now, but I assure you there are there and growing. I’m sure they will grow a little better once the big guys are out of the way. If you do purchase Butterhead Buttercrunch Lettuce Seeds from Botanical Interest on Amazon, make sure the seller is No Thyme Productions as we have had no issues with their seeds.

Butterhead Lettuce

Salad Mix
Growing beautifully with a random amaranth under grow lights, the salad mix is getting close to harvest. I can’t wait to mix this with the buttercrunch lettuce! These seeds were purchased last year at Target, so obviously they were Burpee brand.

Catnip
These seeds don’t have the best germination rate (and honestly, I doesn’t matter where you purchase them – catnip just IS hard to germinate from seed), yet we’ve got a few just beginning to sprout.  I see no problems with this plant as the hardest part is over. Now it’s just a matter of keeping it properly watered and growing along side the other two plants.  If you are interested in growing catnip from seed, I highly recommended Organic Catnip Seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds on Amazon.

Oregano
Also just beginning to sprout and going strong. The other oregano growing in the house is also doing well, even when I don’t get them watered right away. The oregano actually prefers not to be overwatered. Organic Oregano by All Good Things Organic can be found on Amazon.

Dill
Sprouting like mad, although not nearly fast enough to keep up with the amount of cucumbers we’ve harvested. I had to break down and purchase dill seeds to make pickles. Hopefully we can keep a better stock of both dill and dill seeds in the future. There was enough in the packet we purchased (Botanical Interests Bouquet Dill Seeds) and they germinated perfectly, we just haven’t planted enough. Really these should have gone outside earlier this spring, but too late now. We just have to make due with them indoors.

Dill sprouts

Potatoes
The original bucket of potatoes is still growing strong, with the newer ones just starting to sprout. So far the weather outside has cooperated and given us plenty of rain. When it starts to cool off this fall, both buckets will have a home inside to finish flowering. Thankfully the spot is all set up and currently growing carrots and peas.

Bucket Potatoes

Rosemary
These herb sprouts aren’t getting a whole lot of sun right now and are a bit blocked out by the rest of the plants growing in the big south window tub. It’s fine they take their time grown, as I really only planted them as a companion herb for the rest. I don’t cook with it often, so don’t have a clue what to use it for when it matures. Thankfully I still have time to figure it out.

Peas
Since they are just starting to pop out of the dirt, there isn’t much to report on how these are doing inside or how they’ll do this fall when I go to transplant them. I am pleased to see them sprouting inside the big bucket though, as I’m anxious to see if they produce well.

Snow Pea Sprout

Ground Cherries
I couldn’t believe how fast these guys sprouted as they were toward the end of the challenge. Yet there they are, every seed planted is coming up. They’ll be transplanted to the big bin upstairs with the peas as soon as they are big enough.

Onion
Apparently much easier to keep alive than garlic, the onion is sprouting and growing in a bucket outside without trouble. We’ve had some big storms roll through as well that didn’t seem to bother them in the least. In fact, they grew extremely fast and furious in the short time they’ve been sitting in a bucket outside.

Onion Sprouts

Carrots
I was afraid there would be enough light for the Atomic Red Carrots to sprout, but I’m please to see they are sprouting beautifully. It only took them about a week to pop out of the dirt.

Morning Glories
We’ve had a special set of issues with the morning glories. A few nasty storms knocked over the fence and I’m honestly not sure how many are going to survive. Lesson learned – wood posts don’t necessarily stay put in rich soil, especially when massive amounts of vines are weighing them down. We plan to replace the wood posts next year with metal, or at least set up a more sturdy structure for them to climb on.

 

So far, that’s all we’ve got growing. Some of the other seeds will take a good month to even sprout, and some I gave up on completely (like the Lemon Balm – I have been offered cuttings from established plants, so will go that route since the seeds gave me such trouble). All in all though, we’ve added a lot indoors and out, so the challenge was well worth it. 🙂

 

 

Challenge Day 30: Onion Scraps & Wrap Up

Here it is! Day 30! I had a few minor bumps and a handful of repeats, but overall, I MADE IT! Super proud of what I accomplished in the garden and around the house and even more excited to reap the benefits. For the last day of the challenge I pulled an onion scrap out of the fridge to plant.

Onion scraps – 10 days in fridge

I haven’t had the best of luck with bulb scrap starts, but I’m trying again anyway. The scraps we are using came from small organic onions and have been in the fridge for 10 days. I believe a gallon bucket might hold the contents alright. I probably should have used a larger bucket, but we have none left. It’s been a busy month! The upside here is that if this experiment fails we won’t be out anything, since we used scraps and not a purchased bulb.

Here within the  next few days I’ll have a complete list of everything we planted along with pictures and updates on growth. I’ll also make a list of recommended seeds and companies we’ve had good results with. Happy growing!

Challenge Day 26: Rosemary

As much as we have planted in the big south window bin, there’s still a little bit of space for a few new herb sprouts. Today we planted a few extra rosemary in the bare spaces with seeds my daughter had purchased a few months back.

I absolutely love the set up in the bay window. Less than 2 months ago we transplanted a few plants into a big tub and have been periodically adding to it ever since. It’s a huge water hog, though, as we also have a small fan pointed toward the window that tends to dry it out faster. So far, we’ve mostly used rain water and some “gray” water (water I used to give canning jars a water bath, to be specific).

Big Bin in South Window – Jalapeno, Buttercrunch Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, and Rosemary

I usually have to water it at least twice a week with nearly a gallon of water. For this reason, I want to make sure we’ve used all of the space wisely and to its full potential. Even though it doesn’t look as if there is any more room and I may even have a few too many plants in there, I still think there’s room for small herbs. Since we still had Rosemary seeds, I figured this was a good place to stick a few, even though some are already coming up. That’s the great thing about herbs – what you don’t use right away you can dry for later.

Full view of tomatoes in window garden.

You can see the tomato plant has really taken off now that I put him in a bigger space and trimmed it. That small tomato he’s got now was already there when I transplanted it from a small gallon bucket. The tomato plant was actually a surprise last summer when a seed hitched a ride in with the dirt and grew in the same bucket as the jalapeno plant on his left. I didn’t have the heart to just rip it out and I’m glad I didn’t. Even when he was stuck in a small container we had small tomatoes for salads just like the one you see in the picture.

I probably could have picked a better herb than Rosemary, but it was a bit tricky making sure nothing crossed badly with anything else already growing here and Rosemary was one of those few that didn’t have undesired side effects. (If you are interest, this is the Companion Planting chart I reference occasionally – although I always double check across other websites and gardening articles). And while I don’t worry as much about attracting certain bugs indoors, I still keep my eyes open for unwanted guests.

What do you plant together inside?

Challenge Day 24: Bucket Potatoes

Ever since we grew potatoes last year from scraps I’ve been anxious to repeat the experiment inside. We’ve already started a few potato plants in a bucket that is currently sitting outside, but we are ready to start more!

Potatoes growing in a bucket

The bucket started today still went outside for the time being, as we are still working to get a larger area set up under grow lights.  The others planted a few weeks ago were started late in the season as well, and all will end up being brought in this fall. However, I would like to start a rotation of sorts, because we can always use potatoes in our family meals.

These buckets are not a hard garden feat to accomplish. I did have my other half drill the holes in the 5 gallon buckets for me, as I tend to stay clear of power tools. We tossed dirt from the backyard in a bucket, added a few potatoes, and then more dirt. Ta da! That’s really all there is to it. If you want to read more about the technique or if you need to amend soil (our rich Midwest soil will grow just about anything), I recommend checking out growing potatoes by Homestead On Main Street.

Potatoes really are an easy crop to grow and will grow anywhere. Currently there are even a few sprouted in the compost. I’ll still have to keep a slightly closer eye on these, as I believe our rainy period to be over and it may need some extra watering to get growing. Overall, though, I don’t foresee any issues and believe we’ll have some tasty potato treats late this fall!

Challenge Day 20: Update

Today I planted the last round of cilantro for the month, but wanted to give a few update. There are all kinds of fun sprouts popping up from all the seeds and bulbs I’ve planted thus far.

 

Cilantro

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know I’ve planted different cilantro seeds twice before today. The first ones in the window are sprouting, but slower than the planter upstairs under florescent lights. I don’t believe the kitchen window gets nearly enough sun to get herbs started properly, but it’s an alright spot after they are established.

Cilantro Sprouts (grown under florescent lights) 

Catgrass

Have I mentioned how easy it is to grow grass for the cats? Even the seeds I planted a few days ago are sprouting already!

Cat grass is growing beautifully!

 

Forget-Me-Nots

I wasn’t sure how these were going to get along inside, but so far they are looking pretty good. Both containers we planted these seeds in are sprouting. Really can’t wait to see how these flowers look in the fairy garden.

Forget-Me-Not sprouts

 

Garlic Bulb

We planted this guy 2 weeks ago and he’s still going strong. I honestly think I should have used a slightly better draining and lighter soil, although I have resisted the urge to over water it. My other attempts at growing garlic outside have not worked out well, I suspect due to our backyard soil being too heavy and rich.

Garlic Bulb Sprouting

Salad Mix

Another set of easy growing seeds that have exploded in sprouts. SUPER excited about this one, since these little salad sprouts are right on track with the lettuce planted a month ahead. They should all be ready to eat at the same time.

Mesclun Salad Mix

 

 

Lettuce

The seeds that were planted this month probably won’t go with the salad mix, but are sprouting just the same. They should be starting to mature after the first round of lettuce is done. We’ll be sure to plant the salad mix again soon to go with this batch.

Little Lettuce Sprouts

 

 

Tiny Sprouts

Oregano, roman chamomile, and catnip have all just barely come up. The oregano and catnip  sprouted just fine under florescent lights (daylight spectrum bulbs, not generic fluorescent bulbs). The roman chamomile, which I was most concerned with in the fairy garden, is just barely peeking out through the soil.

Some of the trickier seeds haven’t come up, although I didn’t fully expect them to just yet. Some will take nearly a month to sprout and some haven’t even finished the stratification process. When they do, I’ll be sure to post updates of them as well!

Challenge Day 18: Bouquet Dill

Since my pickling cucumbers are coming on, I find myself in need of some home-grown dill seeds. Luckily last winter I grew some inside and had a few to make our first batch of pickles. There isn’t much, though, so we are going to need more soon.

Honestly, growing Bouquet Dill indoors was a little tricky the last time we tried. Dill gets huge – 3-4 feet is about what our last harvest grew to be. I had made this “cage” of sorts that kept it contained for a little while, but it really grew a lot taller. The seeds were a bit messy as well, with one even sneaking into the cat grass (yes, there was a tiny dill plant growing in the cat grass… the cats were very confused!). Even still, I’d like to give these guys another shot inside.

Dill sprouts in the “caged” pot.

I did consider growing them outdoors because they really don’t take that long to flower. I really have no idea where to stick them, though, as they do need a bit of support and should be kept away from the tomatoes. There are too many other projects going on in the backyard at the moment to put much thought into it. We’ll just stick with indoors for now.

The dill seeds planted today were from Botanical Interests, same as the seeds I planted several months ago. I had also restarted our dill plant a few weeks ago before I started the challenge, and those little sprouts are coming up right now. This container and it’s mini-cage worked alright last time, so I used it again.

Challenge Day 17: Cat Grass Round Two

The cat grass planted at the beginning of this challenge is growing wonderfully and has done it’s job keeping the cats out of the big garden bin in the window. It was time to fill in some gaps and replant the older containers so they have a constant supply of fresh grass to snack on.

Love love LOVE this Cat Grass Mix from Renee’s Garden. It’s fast and super easy, even with my rambunctious bunch of felines. One of the planters we planted at the beginning of the challenge got knocked over almost immediately, and I never did put in more dirt or fix it back up very well. The grass grew anyway, but I finally fixed the missing section and added a bit of dirt.

This planter was knocked over the first day. It still grew!

Replanting these seeds is simple. All it requires is to be pushed slightly into the dirt and watered. Nothing special. I probably could be letting some of these plants go to seed so it could replant itself, but I rarely take them away from the cats in time. We did see one plant go to seed one time, but the cat ate it before I could collect it.

Cat grass is growing beautifully!

I’ll be ordering a new pack of seeds soon, as this pack is getting a little low. All in all, this was an excellent purchase, since the small pack of seeds lasted us nearly a year! I’m planning on trying out some other seeds from Renee’s Garden soon, since we’ve had nothing but good luck and healthy plants from them thus far.

Challenge Day 15: Morning Glories

Even though it’s a bit late to be planting morning glories, I had to fill in a few spaces where the bunnies have been snacking. Just when I think I outsmart them, they eat something else unexpectedly. This time it was just one end of my Morning Glory fence, so I replanted where necessary. That’s okay, because we still have leftovers from the 3,000 Morning Glory Seeds from The Dirty Gardener we purchased a few months ago.

Morning Glory in the kitchen window.

Part of this was my fault. In the beginning, I had multiple milk jugs over top many of the plants that protected them from rabbit attacks. Yet when I saw some plants with yellowing leaves, I pulled all the covers off so no more would get damaged. The younger plants that I planted later than the rest probably would have been fine, or at least, not eaten by the critters!

Morning Glory eaten by bunny.

I don’t expect the morning glories just planted to bloom much and most likely won’t readily reseed, but I do hope the foliage will fill in the gaps of the fence. Our main purpose was to add a barrier between our edible backyard the neighbor who loves to sprays chemicals and keep a pristine green yard. The two don’t exactly mix, thus the reason for our morning glory buffer.

Morning Glory fence, growing end.

Some see morning glories as a weed, some see them as an important garden flower. Which side of the fence are you on?

Challenge Day 10: Catnip

Hard to believe I’m a third of the way done with the 30 days already, with lots of seeds left to go. I am running a little short on room in places, but we’re figuring it out pretty well on the fly. Today I added another container that just barely fit upstairs: Catnip.

We’ve already got a few containers of catnip growing successfully, but since we snip from them so much (catnip makes a wonderful tea for me and my daughter), I decided we should have another plant. The current plants are struggling a bit with all the clippings and few attempts the cats made to eat them.

Catnip

 

In the new container, I used dirt from the backyard. Specifically, I took a few shovels from near a transplanted catnip plant. So I know the dirt is suitable for catnip, as the transplant about a month ago was successful. For the indoor plant, though, I used seeds purchased over the winter from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. These are the same seeds we used to successfully grow the current indoor plant.

I noticed that stratification is generally recommended for catnip seeds, although we did not do this step with any of the catnip seeds planted before. Instead, we placed about 10 seeds over wet dirt, then sprinkled a bit of dirt on the top before misting it with water. The new container is obviously in a safe place where the cats can’t get to, where it’s usually behind a closed door and under florescent lights.

Even though the germination rate of catnip is low, I still feel like the hardest part is keeping the plants away from the cats. We managed to set up a high enough shelf that they leave it alone while we’re watching, yet there has been a few accidents. Luckily, we caught them before they ate the whole thing and the plants grew back.

 

Upstairs Shelf and Lights

One thing I love about plants in the mint family is their ability to grow back stronger when cut. While I still have more seeds, I’m may propagate the next  plant from cuttings. I have never tried with catnip, but have been successful with actual mint and other plants.

Have you grown catnip before? How did you keep it from your cats?