Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: fletcherbaker on September 09, 2010, 16:41
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Hi everyone this is my first year growing veg and considering iv not done any gardening before i think iv done well!!!grew chills,peppers,spuds,carrots.cabbage,broccolli,onions etc but im already planning ahead does anyone know of any cheap sites that i can get my veg seeds from for next year so im already!!!
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Hi Fletcher,
Well done on what you've grown so far! I'm not sure about 'cheap' sites, but I would thoroughly recommend a company called Real Seeds:
http://www.realseeds.co.uk (http://www.realseeds.co.uk)
Basically, you buy the seeds once and then save them from your harvest - the idea being you don't have to buy seeds again! Their website is really good and gives you illustrated instructions on how to save seed from various veggies - plus they've got some rare varieties on there which look like they would be good to have a go!
Good luck with your search and well done so far!
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Get down to Wilko's.
Cheap seed - no postage!
Loads near you.
http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/page/store?searchbox=walsall&submit=search
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www.seedsbypost.com are quite reasonable and free postage, with a good selection, or www.garden4less.co.uk are also a bit cheaper than retail. If you've got a Wyevale garden centre near you, they often have specials on their seeds where they sell them at heavily discounted prices, and in fact my local one has a 50p special on at the moment.
I'd do your planning first, though, and work out exactly what you want before you start buying them. If I don't do that, I always end up buying stuff that I never use.
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I'll put in a word for 2 companies :)
first D T Brown...they stock all the old faithfulls and some of the newer types. The seeds are normal size pkts at very reasonable prices and the do not charge for P&P.Specially useful if you forget to order a pkt and are not near a shop.
secondly...Seeds Of Italy....you get a huge number of seeds in the pkts, useful for things that you will grow over and over again.(I finished a pkt of mixed salad that 5 or 6 years old :) ) and the varieties are tried and tested regional varieties not many f1 seeds.
The p&p is reasonable if you opt for the snail mail option.....and who's in a hurry for next years crops :lol:
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I'll mention another.
Price per seed wise, Moles Seed take a lot of beating and postage is free.
OK if you want a lot, or can share.
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and of course there's Kings who have deals with allotment societies....
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Kings every time for me. I find that they're the perfect balance of reliability and price. I've tried cheaper with v. poor germination but I balk at paying Suttons or T&M prices.
Packets at our allotment shop are about 65p and online are usually about £1.00-1.20
Our local Wilkos is pants for seeds, loads of flowers but little veg.
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If you belong to an allotment association or horticultural society it is likely that they will operate a bulk scheme through one of the seed companies. Suttons and Kings do this.
My local scheme with Suttons works like this.
- the association secretary distributes catalogues and order forms to members.
- members complete order forms and return to secretary who sends them off to Suttons.
- seed orders are sent to members home address with invoice.
- members pay money to the association plus £1 towards postage
- secretary pays Suttons.
Discount on seeds depends upon the size of the order. Last year our association order was about £1,000 and the discount was 50%.
Discount on sets, seed potatoes and sundries is a fixed 10% but is still covered by the £1 postage contribution.
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i use www.vegetableseeds.net. They are as cheap as you can get and i had great germination rates this year. They great if you only want a few seeds of each type or you want to bulk buy.
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I like the organic catalog (http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/)
Not cheap but their ethics are good and I like to support HDRA.