[Ralphy]

one of my plot neighbours told me about these guys http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ they've put up loads of info on how to save seed and wotnot too. Well worth a browse!

[DD.]

They are very well known already on this forum, Ralphy, a lot of our members use them.

[Ralphy]

should have guessed as much really! 

[AnneB]

Most of the seeds I use come from Real Seeds.  Their germination rates are very good and they tend to be a lot cheaper than most commercial growers.  They have some unusual varieties too.

[Kristen]

I'm always intrigued by their business model:

"Here are your seeds, and here are detailed instructions on how to save the seed yourself for future years so you will never need to buy from us again"

Clearly some folk don't bother, and some others try but are no good at it! (I'm in the first camp )

[operabunny]

I keep buying seeds from them because they keep adding new varieties! They still get my money but I get something new every year because I have saved (most of) the previous crop's seed. Win win!

They are also great at providing seeds better suited to our climate than many from the 'major' seed companies. I also like the fact they preserve interesting heritage varieties and (because they are also growing to feed themselves) they only go for varieties with great flavour.

[starry]

Thanks Ralphy I have never seen them before will give them a try just my sort of thing 

[Ralphy]

I'm getting dead excited about next spring! so many nice things to try!
  I'd just decided to do something similar with habanero seeds i'd saved from a couple of chillis my long-suffering girlfriend brought back from a work trip to Trinidad, i've planted loads of them and got a 100% germination rate, which is better than most comercial seeds i've tried, so i figured if i saved the seeds of the plants that did best here, then after a few generations i'd have chillis adapted to Scotland.
they're still only an inch high though, ah well i can dream... at least now i know someones already done the leg-work if they all decide the weather here is too misrable

[mumofstig]

It's sad that the minimum order is £8 though 

[operabunny]

Totally agree MOS. So far I have done 1 seed order per year, but probably not too long before I reach the stage where there are only a few things I want and it isn't worth it.

[shokkyy]

Yes, that put me off them a bit too. There are some seeds on their site that I'd have liked to try because they look interesting, but a lot of the seeds I wanted they didn't have so I couldn't place my main order with them. And with a minimum order of £8 plus P&P charges on top, it makes it too expensive to just buy one or two sorts of seed.

[Kristen]

Unless you have a mate nearby you can bulk-up and order with ?