I had the aggravating experience recently of having ALL of my purchased seeds confiscated returning from a 2 week trip to England in May. They were all in commercial seed packets, but the ag folks at Newark didn’t care that I was a gardener, work at a botanical garden, etc. etc. – I just didn’t have the permit that I needed.

I made them empty all the seed packets so I at least had the packets to remind myself what I had bought! Mostly unusual varieties of vegetables. I could have smuggled them in, but actually thought seeds were OK. Geez, they weren’t plants with roots…

We do have a marvelous array of garlic proprietors here in the US — great fun to grow garlic.

Best wishes,
Lisa

Thanks for the comment!

I mostly only grew garlic last year, and my seed list was so out of date I recently removed it. Because you are in the US you would need a USDA ‘Small Lots of Seed’ permit in order to import any seeds I might have. If there is anything you see mentioned in a post, I can probably send some seeds, just let me know.

Astoundingly cool blog you have here! I am truly amazed to see all these unusual edibles you are growing. Makes me wish I lived nearer to you, so I could more easily grow some of what you are growing. I live in Hawaii.

I also do wonder what info “cookie” was looking for… maybe English isn’t her primary language, or maybe she was a Web reader trying to do some 4-H homework?

Interestingly enough, navy beans are indeed sold canned in much of the USA. They are sold in a product called Pork-N-beans as well as plain. Pinto beans are indeed usually sold as refried beans here, but may also be bought as Ranch Style beans or plain.

Has your seed list been removed?? For some reason I am unable to locate it… and now my curiosity is piqued! I want to see your seed list.

Here is a partial seed list of mine…Needs some updating!
http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/grovespirit

We grew some ordinary dried pinto beans from the grocer, and some cheap mammoth sunflower seeds, nasturtium seeds, and some veggie seeds that went on end-of-Spring clearance in a local store. Not only was it educational, we got a few edibles out of it too.

Many stores do have seed clearances in late Spring. The clearance seeds do grow, and are very cheap seeds to get, and you can even use food stamps to buy them if you are really broke!

Some store clerks don’t know this, but US law clearly states that food stamps may be used to buy seeds of any plant that produces edible food. So that includes all veggies, nasturtiums (edible flowers and leaves), calendulas (also has edible flowers and leaves), and sunflowers because sunflower seeds are food!

If this suggestion does not work for you, I suggest you contact marbles_n_the_garden (Robin). She is a member of Gardenweb.com who is running a seed donation service for poor people.

I have some great chillis and loads of other edibles i could swap. I’ve posted my seed list of 2007 online at http://www.masdudiable.com/fluxit/mdd.nsf/dx/Seed-List-2007.htm?opendocument&comments most of which i have seed for so if anything takes your fancy be glad to swap for Mangetout peas # Taiwan Sugar or # Mammoth Melting Sugar.
I am very keen to collect some new chillis this year if anyone else wants to trade for chilli seeds I am looking for chillis to grow as perennials see http://www.masdudiable.com/fluxit/mdd.nsf/dx/perennial-peppers.htm?opendocument&comments

Thanks for the comment!

I have heard of both of these places, but have never purchased anything from them, and so don’t have personal experiences. I have no reason to think they aren’t fine seed companies. Thanks for mentioning them!

http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/default.php
https://www.vermontbean.com/vbsitedefault.aspx

Looking forward to hearing you on AKG.

Instead of just regulating the import of corn, they check all seeds to be extra safe…

The other reason for doing it this way is part of the US concept of free trade. By requiring a permit that only US residents can apply for, it prevents small foreign companies from competing with US companies. Like you said, it protects the large-corporate interests, because there are other permits large companies can apply for especially if they have ‘free trade’ agreements with the US.

Like you said too, if you show up at the border with a few seeds that are obviously not corn, and the customs officer is in a good mood, you might be allowed to bring them in.

I have taken seed into the US (post-9/11!) with the permission of the customs guy! Showed him the seed and explained it was for a friend… “Yeah, that’s OK.” was the answer. I wouldn’t take too much notice of the regulations, personally. For instance, its “totally illegal” to bring seed into South Africa, though much gets through (YAY for incompetent government! The fact is that many of these seed-movement regulations are simply there to protect large-corporate interests. To hell with that.

Thanks for all the kind words!

The US now requires a permit to import seeds. You must be a US resident to apply for this permit, and I’m not. There is also a lot of paperwork to do in order to comply with the terms of this permit, and at the moment it’s too much work. Several people have mentioned to me that they are just a lot stricter on this kind of thing after 9/11.

I would like very much to be able to send seeds to people in the US, and I hope to be able to work something out soon. In the meantime, almost all of the seeds offered here are available in the US through the seed companies listed on the front page of this blog (click on ‘Home’ above). If you need help finding a particular variety, please let me know and I will help you find a source for it.

Garlic is more of a problem. I don’t think it will ever be possible for me to send garlic to the US, it’s simply not allowed. However, most of what I have was originally purchased in the US, and is available through the companies on the front page of this blog. The same offer applies, if you can’t find a particular variety, please let me know and I will try to help find it in the US for you.

Chitting potatoes simply means to put them in sunlight for a few days or weeks so they sprout. Many people who grow potatoes in their garden do this before planting them, in order to give them a head start. In the comment above Rebsie was just joking that she didn’t have to put her potatoes in the sun, as they had already started sprouting in her root cellar.

Here’s a list of what I have readily available at the moment, though it’s likely that I have *some* seed available for most things that appear on my blog.

Climbing (pole) beans:
Mrs Fortune’s
Kew Blue
Spagna Bianco

Bush beans:
Canadian Wonder

I also have small amounts of these broad/fava beans:
Red-flowered
Grando Violetto

Also some potatoes, though they’ve taken it upon themselves to start chitting already:
Shetland Black
Salad Blue