Part One Of Our Guide: Seed Growers
What can we do when times feel uncertain?
Aside from the obvious: staying informed, and building community online and —more importantly—offline, we can plant seeds.
Michelle Warren writes: Ironically, seeds do not look like they will grow into anything needed or beautiful. They look like something you would sweep into a dustpan and discard. Yet, the sheer act of placing them in dirt, believing they will grow, points directly to a crucial element needed in our community development efforts – hope.
In uncertain times, many of us are reaching for a little more hope, and we’re finding it in the garden.
With that in mind, we’ve complied a comprehensive guide to seed growers and seed sellers in Canada. Over the next three blog posts, we’ll introduce you to business we love, and businesses we are newly discovering.
Our hope is that you’ll be able to find all of the seeds you need this year right here in Canada.
Part One Of Our Guide: Seed Growers.
While many businesses offer seeds, their sources can vary. Seed growers, the businesses featured here in part one of our guide, sell only the seeds that they have grown themselves. Seed growers grow their own seeds, sometimes partnering with other local growers to grow alongside them, then harvest that seed, package it, and offer it to customers.
Seed growers are not bringing in seeds from other parts of the world, and the seeds they sell are often beautifully acclimatized to the particular regions they have been raised in. Purchasing seeds directly from seed growers is a wonderful way to directly support their important work, and it connects you to small family business that have spent years (sometimes generations) honing their craft.
It’s important to note that not all seed sellers are seed growers, and information differentiating the two can sometimes be difficult to find. All of the business listed here in this guide have been fully vetted as seed growers.
It’s also worth noting that some seeds are not able to be grown and produced locally, for a variety of reasons.
Seed sellers (business that do not grow seeds but do offer a curated collection of seeds for sale) are not the enemy of seed growers, and seed sellers work hand in hand with seed sellers to offer buyers plenty of options.
Many of the seeds we grow here at our own farm (lisianthus, eucalyptus, and other popular crops) come from other parts of the world and are not available directly through Canadian seed producers.
Seed growers, seed sellers, and business that sell both seeds they grow and a curated collection of seeds from elsewhere all play a vital roll in keeping the Canadian seed supply strong and abundant.
In the next two posts in this series, we’ll be introducing you to seed sellers, and business that sell both seeds they grow and a curated collection of seeds from elsewhere.
In the meantime, meet your Canadian Seed Growers below.
ANNAPOLIS SEEDS
Annapolis Seeds are all grown in the Maritimes, either on their own farm in Nictaux or by a small network of growers, so they're well adapted for the Maritime climate (and similar climates). They are known for growing and maintaining as many rare varieties as possible, and hope you are inspired to do the same.
BC Eco Seed Co-Op is incredible source of seeds all grown in BC by organic and ecological seed growers.
From their website:
We are based in beautiful Aldergrove BC (territories of the Katzie, Kwantlen, and Matsqui, and Semiahmoo Nations of the Stό:lō Nation) where our seeds are received and orders are fulfilled. 100% of our seed is grown by our members, across many Indigenous territories within the colonial borders of what is now known as BC.
Cicada grows perennial vegetable seeds in Canada for your garden, food forest, or permaculture project. Their seeds are ecologically grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers on their farm on Vancouver Island, unceded Kwalikum, Snaw-naw-as and K’ómoks territory. All seeds they offer are grown with care, and neither they nor any growers they collaborate with ever use pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or GMO seeds. All seeds are 100% open pollinated, which means that you can save your own seed from the plants you grow!
COCHRANE FAMILY FARM
Cochrane Family Farm has been in operation since 2009 and is a Certified Organic family owned and operated 30-acre farm in Nova Scotia, with a country store on the farm. They do not use any chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, chemical cleaning agents or growth accelerators in their farming practices. This farm offers a wide variety of flower, vegetable, herb seeds and more.
Fraiche is a flower farm and seed company specializing in sweet peas, pink flowers and rooted dahlia cuttings located in Tulliby Lake, Alberta, Canada. They pride themselves on being an organic farm, and while they aren't certified, they use organic practices free of pesticides and herbicides.
Hawthorn Farm produces certified organic farm selected, open-pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds in Central Ontario (zone 5). Certified organic by Pro-Cert since 1996, Hawthorn Farm started as most independent seed companies do, on a kitchen table with a single page printed catalogue filled by a handful of offerings. With over a decade of growing, selecting and saving organic seeds, they now have hundreds of exciting and tasty offerings.
At Dahlia May, we purchase seeds from Hawthorn every spring!
Heritage Harvest Seed is a Canadian heirloom/heritage seed mail order company specializing in rare and endangered heirloom/heritage varieties of vegetables, flowers, herbs and ancient grain seeds. With over 800 varieties to choose from, they'll surely have something you're looking for. For those of you who would like to learn more about seed saving, they have a Seed Saving Book written by Seeds of Diversity available for purchase.
NESTED PLANTS STUDIO
Nested is a plant nursery and garden design studio located in Gibsons, BC. Their goal is to bring you the plant friends they love. Growing on the unceded territory of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, they specialize in edible, meadow, and native perennial species. They currently offer pick-up of live plants at their Sunshine Coast nursery and delivery of seeds throughout Canada.
MARSHDALE FARM
Marshdale Farm: Three generations ago, the Balodis family arrived in Hopewell, Nova Scotia. When Dzintra and Hugo (Erik's grandparents) arrived on the farm with their young family, it was one of the few properties in the area without electricity. Together, they built the farm. Erik and Megan, the next generation, took the reins of the farm in 2014. Today it operates as a beef farm, and raises specialty cut flowers. A small selection of farm grown seeds are available.
Moonglow are an artisanal seed-production farm growing on Treaty 6 Territory on the Canadian Prairies in the Northern Glaciated Plains. All of their seeds are lovingly produced in zone 3 using regenerative growing methods focusing on fostering a healthy soil food web.
From planting trays of seeds in early spring all the way to harvesting and packaging up seeds in the fall, everything is grown in their very own Moonglow Gardens in Sturgeon County, Alberta. They do not outsource any seeds from other growers or growing zones. Moonglow are passionate about seed saving, pollinator preservation, regionally-adapted seeds, seed sovereignty, and preserving food biodiversity.
While they are not certified organic, they always follow organic growing practices. They do not use chemical or synthetic herbicides and pesticides- and instead rely on organic and regenerative agriculture practices. They do not sell treated or GMO seeds.
Moonglow Seed Co is proud to be woman-owned and is a 2SLGBTQIA+ friendly business.
(We love to see this, and LOVE supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ friendly businesses!)
Pacific Floral: Grower Katlyn has been involved in gardening all her life through her family and neighbourhood, but in the last hand-full of years that her obsession with gardening began. The culmination of that passion is a beautiful flower farm in BC that grows cut flowers, vegetables and seeds sustainably. All Pacific Floral seed is organically grown on Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada at Katlyn's farm. She offer a unique and hard to find selection of specialty cut flower seeds.
PEETERS GLADIOLUS
Peeters specialize in growing high quality gladiolus bulbs. They are a family operated business located in the heart of southern Ontario Canada, sheltered by the Great Lakes and surrounded by prime agricultural land. Peeters are growing over 200 cultivars in their gladiolus field to select from. Each spring, since the mid 1990’s, their corms (bulbs) are shipped to gardeners and growers all across Canada. Their selection is truly a treat to shop!
PRAIRIE GARDEN SEEDS
Founded in 1986, Prairie Garden Seeds is a small, family-operated seed company based in Saskatchewan, Canada, operated by daughter-father team, Rachelle Ternier and Jim Ternier. Between the original family farm near Cochin, SK and St. Peter’s Abbey near Humboldt, SK, the Ternier family organically produce about 95% of the seeds offered in the seed catalogue on their site. Included in that production is many seeds grown by Rachelle's Aunt Judy and farm partners at Largo Farm. Prairie Garden Seeds has always been and will continue to be committed to gardening/farming without agricultural chemicals or the use of synthetic fertilizers.
Ravensong Seeds & Herbals is a small artisan seed and herbal product business based in the beautiful Comox Valley, Vancouver Island BC. At Ravensong, their commitment to the land is woven into every seed they plant. They believe in cultivating a synergy between nature and their community, ensuring that their practices honour the Earth while providing you with quality seeds and herbal medicines. They are proud to produce and offer more than 180 diverse seed varieties that cater specifically to the organic home gardener, along with a wide array of high-quality herbal products. This wonderful selection includes unique and hard-to-find fresh-plant tinctures derived from a variety of herbs that are lovingly grown on their farm, as well as those that they wild craft in the beautiful and diverse region surrounding them.
REVIVAL SEEDS
Revival Seeds is located in the beautiful Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada. The farm and business is a 4th and 5th generation farm, owned and operated by Ken and Kathy, along with their daughter Mallory Byrka. It's their family commitment to provide hardy heirloom, open pollinated, and diverse seed varieties that are grown under organic production principles to their customers, continuing the tradition of the original family farm.
Satinflower Nurseries is built on the core principle of valuing nature with an aim of inspiring and empowering people to restore and conserve nature by providing native plants, seeds, and expertise. The plants and seeds they provide are native to a variety of habitats in the Victoria, BC, area, including meadows, woodlands, forests, wetlands, beaches and more. Every year, they build on the diversity of plants and seeds they offer. Owners Kristen and James strive for excellence in the health of their plants and seeds for their customers and the environment. Herbicides, pesticides (including neonicotinoids), and chemical fertilizers are NOT used. Their seeds are all Indigenous species of Southern Vancouver Island, from their field-grown plants, not collected from the wild. Seed can be ordered as individual packets, bulk quantities, and seed blends.
SOW LOCAL SEEDS
Sow Local Seeds: Located on the east coast of Nova Scotia, this flower farm thrives during the short growing season. Sweet pea seed is produced in the protection of an unheated greenhouse, while a field of cut flower varieties sway in the ocean breeze. The healthiest, most beautiful and most productive plants are selected for seed saving. Sow Local Seeds sources additional seed from select growers in Nova Scotia. You’ll see the grower listed on each product page. Organic practices are used here at this farm.
THE SECRET GARDEN
The Secret Garden is tended to by Bronwen Heinrich, an avid gardener and grower with a love for plant diversity, growing in Blyth, Ontario. Bronwen's seeds are all grown on her farm. She has a lovely selection of annuals, perennials, biennials, foliages, grasses, pods and more.
THE SUPERIOR GARDENER
The Superior Gardener: Situated in the heart of Lake Superior in Northern Ontario, Canada, this small but mighty enterprise, based in Sault Ste. Marie, is the exclusive birthplace of every vegetable, herb, and flower seed they offer. Every seed is cultivated and produced on-site, truly embodying a commitment to authenticity and quality. Immerse yourself in the essence of Lake Superior's beauty, and let these homegrown, organic seeds, tailored for Northern climates, transform your gardening journey.
URBAN HARVEST SEEDS
At Urban Harvest, they are dedicated to providing their customers with certified organic seeds, seedlings and garden supplies that promote ecological diversity and preserve the health of our planet. Everything they sell is 100% certified organic. Their organic and heirloom varieties are specially chosen for their unique qualities for both urban gardens and market gardeners. All of Urban Harvests seedlings are grown in or near the Greater Toronto Area to support the economies of Toronto, Ontario and Canada. Their online store offers a secure, convenient way to shop for all of your favourite organic seeds and heirloom seeds. They can ship all of their seeds and soil amendments throughout Canada with the exception of plants.
WILDFLOWER FARM
Wildflower Farm is your source for organically grown, non GMO, native North American wildflower seeds, native grasses, and wildflower seed mixes. Miriam Goldberger, founder & co-owner of Wildflower Farm has literally written THE book on growing wildflowers: Taming Wildflowers - From Seed to Vase. Founded in 1988, Wildflower Farm has been a staple in this industry for decades, and a pillar of the flower and seed growing community. An early adopter, in 1999 Miriam began to build her first online shopping cart and on January 20, 2000 it was launched. This was one of the earliest e-commerce sites in the world. To this day, Wildflower farm offers an easy online shopping experience, and an INCREDIBLE selection of Wildflower seed mixes.
Windfall Flowers is a small family-run flower seed farm set in the semi-arid hills of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. They specialize in breeding zinnias and producing their own seed, and they are known for breeding the most dreamy colours and mixes (think the Canadian equivalent to US based Floret Flower Farm). Owner and breeder Barb (who has a masters degree in biology) grew up gardening and before long she was expanding her annual, perennial and vegetable gardens. Barb developed a fascination with seeds and began learning about saving the seeds from many of the flowers and vegetables that she was growing. Her fascination with seeds led her down the path of learning about plant breeding, and before she knew it, she had a zinnia breeding program and a flower seed farm on my hands!
An important note:
Barb's seeds always sell out (she has currently sold out for the season), and they sell our FAST! You'll want to get on her email list to be notified about when her seeds are available.
We were fortunate enough to get our hands on these seeds this winter, and we are beyond excited to be growing them here at the farm this spring and summer!
Yonder Hill Farm is Garrett & Chris, with children Ruth, Joyce & Flora, on a heritage homestead located on Nova Scotia’s beautiful South Shore. They’ve been growing seed commercially since 2009 – they established Yonder Hill Farm in 2012 – and believe it’s an important way to support food security & food producers. They produce over 200 varieties of vegetable, grain, flower, & herb seeds, all by hand & ecologically. They sell only what They’ve carefully grown ourselves, which means they can assure high quality seeds for your garden. Yoder Hill are also proud growers for Annapolis Seeds, a Nova Scotian Seed Company selling 100% Maritime Canadian Grown Seeds.
A NOTE FROM US
We've done our best to ensure that all of the information collected here is accurate and up to date. With that said, it may not be perfect. We have reached out to our network of Canadian growers through online forums, and we've sourced information through our online community. We've visited the websites of all of these growers, to ensure our information is as accurate as possible. Our aim is to provide you with a robust resource, but inclusion on this list is NOT a personal endorsement. We have purchased from some of these growers, and others listed here are new to us. Our hope is that you will discover some wonderful new Canadian sources in this guide, and that you, alongside us, will be sowing seeds and planting something beautiful this spring.
-Melanie and the Dahlia May Team
