Here we go again: the second batch of greatsquash.com seed company profiles! Here, I’ll cover Two Seeds in a Pod, A.P. Whaley Seed Company, Stokes Seeds, The Plant Good Seed Company, High Mowing Organic Seeds, and Twilley Seeds.
The first post covered Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Kitazawa Seed Co., Native Seeds/SEARCH, Rupp Seeds, Seeds from Italy, and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Find a profile of each of these companies, and links to their sites, here.
Note: prices mentioned on this page were correct at the time of posting, winter 2020/21. If you are browsing here in a later year — Hello future people! — the prices will have changed, of course. Happy shopping!
Squash Seed and Beyond
Reminder: this site is all about squash so these seed company reviews and profiles look through a lens of squash seed shopping. But really, if a company is trying hard to source and preserve interesting or productive squash varieties, it’s probably doing the same for other vegetables, flowers, and herbs. Sadly, the reverse isn’t always true: I have left out a few of my (generally) favorite seed companies if they didn’t have much especially interesting or deep in the squash department.
I’m Sharing 18 Garden Seed Company Reviews. This Post is #7-12.
There are so many interesting seed companies that are all a little different, in size, focus, price, and presentation. I know the seed industry pretty well, and I considered about 90 different vegetable garden seed companies for these posts. In the end I narrowed it down to 18 seed companies I’d like to highlight for you. So, this will be a series of three posts, followed by a fourth post covering the truths and myths about terms like hybrid, heirloom, GMO, and open-pollinated. Each time I’ll try to offer a mix of big, medium, and small companies. If you bookmark this article and come back, I’ll link future installments right here as soon as they’re published.
Post 1 covered Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Kitazawa Seed Co., Native Seeds/SEARCH, Rupp Seeds, Seeds from Italy, and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Two Seeds in a Pod
Two Seeds in a Pod Heirloom Seed Co. is one of the companies I’m covering that is completely new to me. I learned of Two Seeds in a Pod via this research. I am delighted that I did and I’m eager to place my first order.
The company is family-run by Drs. Mehmet Öztan and Amy Thompson from their small farm. Both are also professors at West Virginia University. Two Seeds in a Pod focuses on varieties from Turkey and from Appalachia. The latter is a more recent pursuit, since relocating the farm to West Virginia.
Turkish crop variety preservation has been part of the company’s mission for many years. People in the Anatolian region, within modern Turkey, were some of the first humans to include agriculture along with hunter-gather practices. So, it makes sense that this region is one of the centers of vegetable crop diversity. Turkish family farms today may grow varieties not grown anywhere else. Other varieties have already been lost in practice, decades ago, yet are preserved in seedbanks such as at the USDA. Two Seeds in a Pod is dedicated to testing and distributing these varieties so that they may regain use and their rich genetic legacy is not lost. The company now offers close to 100 seed types in its Turkish Collection, very few of which I’ve seen for sale anywhere else
Two Seeds in a Pod has a small catalog of squashes, yet completely distinct due to the Turkish offerings. On the summer squash side, there are five selections including three widely-known favorites and two Turkish types. I’m excited to grow the Kars Yumurtasi variety from Northeast Turkey, which looks just like an egg. Winter squashes include a variety specifically grown to use in a savory Turkish pastry when ripe and in a dessert when unripe, as well as a lovely C. moschata type from Mexico.
There are some challenges with using the website. As I write this post, all the winter squashes and many other items are out of stock. There’s a “let me know when this item is available” subscription form which generates an error. I’m hoping the catalog will repopulate when the owners get time in the New Year and I can place an order with more choices. The site disallows all right clicking, which I’m guessing is to prevent uncredited re-use of photos. But it also makes shopping less convenient—my typical practice when seed shopping is to open three or four varieties of a vegetable for comparison in a series of tabs, rather than having to click back and forth endlessly from a listing page, and I can’t do that.
Prices are very affordable given the small scale of production and the unique focus. The Turkish Collection small packet sizes are especially small in terms of seed count, but I think this is a smart choice. Most gardeners, when trying out something completely new, don’t devote much space to it, so we don’t need a whole lot of seed.
Summary: Choose Two Seeds in a Pod to be part of supporting and forwarding an important human agricultural legacy, while having fun experimenting with many varieties you’ve never grown before.
A.P. Whaley Seed Company
A.P. Whaley Seed Company is a Wisconsin-based seed seller that is not widely known by home gardeners but deserves to be. The company is based at a 175-acre farm where some seed is grown and trialed. The focus is on providing bulk quantities for both vegetable growers and in wholesale to other seed companies, but home gardener purchases are also encouraged and supported. Many varieties in the catalog are offered as organic or conventional seed.
Company president Aaron Whaley grew up at Seed Savers Exchange, another seed source I’ll feature later in this article. At one time, Aaron served as the acting Executive Director of SSE, and before that he led their commercial division. He is the son of founders Kent and Diane Ott Whaley.
The A.P. Whaley online catalog offers great photography, an easily navigated range of packet sizes, and a smart mix of modern hybrids with well-selected heirlooms and other top open-pollinated types. Prices at the smallest packet size are not competitive with the cheapest in the industry, but quality will be dependably high.
I very much appreciate Whaley’s transparency. The site offers on the about page, “Each summer we grow many sizable crops for seed in Wisconsin, however, the bulk of our seed production is done in California, Colorado, Idaho, Chile and Europe.” This statement, or one like it, is true of almost all seed companies, but almost none are brave enough to say it this clearly and directly.
Most seed is grown in a few best-suited microclimates and shipped globally. If the industry didn’t do this, there wouldn’t be enough good seed to go around. Most seed companies don’t work as directly with seed growers as Whaley’s does, and most package (fine quality) seed grown in places that make some quick-to-judge consumers nervous, such as China. But most seed companies aren’t open and transparent about this. They let consumers persist in a happy myth: “if I order seed from company X in my home state, it’s special seed that company X grew for me right here in my home state.” This is only true for a few exceptional very small companies.
Perusing A.P. Whaley’s online catalog, you’ll find a collection that’s sparse but well-chosen for some vegetables, with a strong focus on offering a unique and deep collection for a few items. These include snap peas, tomatoes (147 varieties!), melons and watermelons, peppers, and, of course, winter squash.
Whaley’s wonderful winter squash collection includes some items barely offered anywhere else. It’s especially strong for the Cucurbita maxima species. This makes a lot of sense due to Whaley’s northern geography, in contrast with, for example, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange from last post, whose strength is the heat-loving C. moschata.
‘Nicaise’ squash is a beautiful looking French heirloom C. maxima variety. ‘Anna Swarz Hubbard‘ is a Pennsylvania family heirloom introduced by Seed Savers Exchange in 1999, with a buttercup appearance on the outside but very thick flesh and a small seed cavity inside. A.P. Whaley is likely the only place in the world where you can buy a pound of this seed at a time. You’ll find at least three banana squash types, including one completely new to me, ‘Pastila Shampan.’
Summary: Choose A.P. Whaley Seed Company to access a thoughtfully curated selection of squashes and other vegetables, in any packet size or in bulk.
Stokes Seeds
Note: The day after I finished a longer profile, Stokes posted a notice stating they are, for now, no longer providing home garden sized packets. For this reason, I’ve greatly shortened what I wrote as it’s likely not relevant to you for 2021 or until the Siegers acquisition is complete and the website and other operational systems are updated.
Note 2: Here we are in 2022, and Stokes is back online after the acquisition. Check out their website and let me know what you think!
Stokes Seeds is a larger multi-purpose vegetable seed company with roots back in the 19th century. Last year, Stokes acquired another century-old company, Michigan-based Siegers Seed. Caveat: my personal experience with Stokes predates the merger. This union gave more depth to an already impressive catalog that allows home gardeners to access varieties that are fine-tuned to overcome many of our persistent challenges. Keep an eye on Stokes as they retool their capacity to serve home gardeners.
The Plant Good Seed Company
Ojai, California based Plant Good Seed Co. was launched in 2011 by owner Quin Shakra and has since grown to provide a small, sweet, solid catalog of vegetables, flowers, grains, herbs, and cover crops. Seed is produced on the company farm and via a network of contracted growers. The packets are special: each illustrated by Philadelphia artist Goda Trakumaite; having them laying around your house will just make you happy.
It is in fact Goda (and Quin’s) work that made it impossible to exclude Plant Good Seed from my list, and made it imperative that I place an order. Plant Good Seed has published a 12-page comic book titled Adventures in Seed Saving #1: Squash. I have a copy and can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s wonderfully drawn, technically accurate, educational for people of all ages, and would make a great guiding text for a kid’s homeschool project.
The squash collection offered for sale is small, just a good selection of classic open-pollinated summer and winter types, and one hybrid kabocha. These are varieties you can certainly get elsewhere, but may choose to get here to support a small farm-based company and its grower network. Beyond squash, I note special interest in basil, dandelion, amaranth, and a basic selection of most vegetables, flowers, and grains.
This is another company currently showing a lot of out of stock items as of end December, 2020. Again, my guess (I could be wrong) is not that late-2020 orders have already depleted next year’s stock, but rather that the owner’s haven’t quite gotten around to implementing the full 2021 catalog update.
Summary: Choose The Plant Good Seed Co. to support a network of small growers and supply a garden with solid basic seed material. While you’re at it, get their wonderful illustrated guide to squash seed saving for just $5.
High Mowing Organic Seeds
High Mowing Organic Seeds, based in Vermont, is a big hitter in the organic seed industry. Especially for northerners who are organic growers or farmers, you can’t go wrong choosing High Mowing. Yet they do maintain a special list online of varieties suitable to Southeastern states. High Mowing has a small company look and feel that stems from owner Tom Stearns’ launch of the company from his backyard, while now producing seed with big company equipment and know-how.
There’s widespread confusion and misunderstanding among general consumers as to the environmental, ethical, and flavor elements of choosing hybrid seed as opposed to open-pollinated seed. In my experience, a lot of people think (very wrongly) that hybrid and GMO is the same thing, and I note High Mowing says “non-GMO” anywhere and everywhere, so I expect they’ve experienced the same confusion among customers. I won’t dive deep into those details here as I will in a special post in late January. But I will mention that High Mowing was, and continues to be, a pioneer in standing strong for the position that organic food production can often be best supported by hybrid breeding. Few other seed companies have done as much to test and refine the list of what seed works well for an organic farmer to achieve dependable, delicious results.
True to their New England roots, High Mowing’s squash selection gives ample hubbard and acorn varieties. They offer the trendy honeynut as well as a few other specialty butternuts, both OP and hybrid. In the latter camp you’ll find Tiana F1, bred by one of my favorite global veg seed companies, the Dutch powerhouse Enza Zaden. Among summer squashes, an unusually strong collection of yellow crookneck and straightneck varieties is also a nod to New England, where yellow squash is widely grown. High Mowing’s own breeding program has resulted in some summer and winter squashes. Others, like ‘Success’ summer squash, were introduced by High Mowing after development at regional institutions such as Cornell and UNH.
Beyond squash, High Mowing has a stellar array of lettuce, specialty greens, microgreens, peppers, and most vegetables. Overall, the catalog is a bit expensive for home garden size packets, but within industry standard pricing for organic certified seed.
Summary: Choose High Mowing Organic Seeds if you prefer to support a 100% organic seed company—they’re one of very few. Enjoy well-selected varieties, some bred in house, that include many hybrid choices to tackle the toughest garden challenges.
Twilley Seeds
Otis S. Twilley Seed Co. gets my vote for best bargain in the seed industry, if you’re willing to order without the convenience of an online shopping cart system. It’s a big catalog on magazine-style paper, reminiscent of widely-known mass mailers like Jung and Park. Interestingly, the first glowing review of Twilley I heard was in Haiti, where a school garden program leader told me he trusts Twilley seeds and could afford them.
Based in Hodges, South Carolina, Twilley Seeds is owned by George B. Park. This is a bit confusing as Mr. Park’s family historically ran the Park Seed Company, but sold it to other interests a couple of decades ago. So, Twilley Seeds is not part of the Park Seed group of companies, which suffers from a lot of negative reviews online.
Much like Stokes, Rupp, and High Mowing profiled earlier, Twilley offers a range of packet sizes from the usual home garden row or two up to by-the-pound and by-the-thousand selections. You’ll not find more sub-$2 seed anywhere. Digging in the catalog unearths some miracle prices, such as 100 ‘Almagro’ hybrid yellow onion seeds for $0.88 (is this a printing error?), and ‘Waltham’ butternut for $13.95 per pound (about 4,700 seeds!) or $1.65 per quarter ounce. You’ll also find expensive hybrids, priced fairly at all package sizes.
Squash varieties meet a range of commercial farmer and home gardening needs, with a wide range to meet every niche (early, late, big, small, disease resistance), but nothing too unusual. Organic seed is not offered. Seed is treated unless marked with a U (for untreated) in the catalog code. Taking squash as an example, around a third of varieties do have an untreated choice available.
Summary: Try Twilley Seeds to find great pricing on a solid range of vegetable seed, including most typical squash varieties, open-pollinated and hybrid.
What’s your favorite company for buying squash seed or garden seed in general? Tell me in the comments. Teaser: I haven’t mentioned my #1 seed source yet—that’s coming in the third and final set of profiles. Come on back or subscribe to my weekly update to see more squash seed posts!