I once did a series of posts on four of my favorite seed companies. These companies feature heirloom and rare vegetable seeds (and more) for the home gardener. Rather than linking to the old posts, I’m going to fresh-post my reviews this year. (I’ve copied with minor edits and noted updates from the originals.)
I’ll begin with a review of the seed company I go to– and order from– first each season…
New Hope Seeds is a small, family owned and operated organization located in Tennessee. We specialize in open-pollinated and heirloom vegetable seed varieties that are rare and not readily commercially available.
What I like about New Hope Seed Company (in no particular order & no, I don’t work for New Hope):
– Cantaloupe/Muskmelon. Without a doubt the melon varieties available at New Hope are the best I’ve ever had. Mind you, there are only six varieties but once you found perfection why go elsewhere? Mr. Big Food is a very big fan of melon and both he and I agree that there’s no contest; Old Tennessee Muskmelon is in a class by itself.
– Customer Service. This follows from the melons. There had been a failure of our favorite melon, and seeds were not available for 2011. When I placed my order, I noted in the comments section that I was disappointed. When my order arrived, it contained a packet of those seeds with a hand written note. [Added 2015] My experiences with New Hope continue to be exceptional.
More things I like about New Hope (and a few you may not) below.
— Seed Packaging. Seeds come in a small plastic baggie within the paper package. This may not sound like a big deal but here in The South it is. The plastic protects the seeds from humidity, which is important for seed storage. (It’s also an added layer of protection in my back pocket!)
– Variety. New Hope Seed Company offers varieties that just are not available anywhere else. Aunt Hattie’s Red Okra is a spectacular plant with gorgeous red pods. Iopride Watermelon is unbelievable. I could go on & on.
– Tobacco. I discovered New Hope years ago when I was in a snit over Nanny Cincinnati. I was looking for tobacco seed to plant on city property– namely the patch of earth between the sidewalk and the street. Rare, non-hybrid tobacco is one of New Hopes specialties. There’s a wealth of information on growing it on the web site. Try it as an annual specimen plant. It’s a stunning plant, especially if left to go to seed. Plants are also available.
– Sweet potato plants (slips). New Hope functions as an intermediary. A nearby local farm specializes in sweet potatoes which can be ordered from New Hope. Slips– seedlings about 12″ long and ready to plant– ship according to your location. As with tobacco, lots of information on the web site. Nancy Hall sweet potatoes are delicious. They are a white sweet potato and bit smaller than a typical Vardaman. See the banner photo above. Those are Nancy Halls in my wheelbarrow!
– No GMOs.
What you may not like about New Hope Seed Company
– If you are looking for a one-stop seed shopping experience, this is not the place to go looking. Excluding tobacco and sweet potatoes, they offer just 13 kinds of veggie seeds (beans, corn, eggplant, and so on). This is why I shop New Hope first!
– If you are a novice gardener, you may be disappointed to see that the seed packets have no basic information on them: no planting dates, spacing recommendations (although packets do include “days to harvest”). This doesn’t bother me, and it shouldn’t bother you because the information is readily available elsewhere. I’m just noting it.
— [Added 2015] If you like to place orders on websites with bells, whistles, and sliding photos, you’ll be underwhelmed. The folks at New Hope Seed grow extraordinary things, collect seeds, and sell the seeds on a website. It’s a small operation. The look of a website has no effect on your harvest!
My order was horribly botched, (my fault), so I wrote to see if I could change it, knowing that it’s often difficult or impossible to retract a faulty order once placed. I pretty much expected a range from a polite “No”, to the usual, “We’re not responsible for your stupidity!” response that’s so common these days.
Alas!!!!!!, David replied *promptly* that the changes I wanted had been made, *AND* thanked me for supporting New Hope, in a totally non form-letter sort of way.
{"id":null,"mode":"button","open_style":"in_modal","currency_code":"USD","currency_symbol":"$","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":1000,"top_media_type":"featured_image","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Whats-happening-copy-4-1.jpg","featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"All current contributions go toward redesigning the cover, and publishing an eBook of Miss Missy's School.","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Tip!","payment_request_label":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","form_subtitle":"All contributions go toward cover redesign and eBook publication of Miss Missy's School: Book I A Pack of Farm Dogs Starts a School","currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for your help and encouragement!","payment_confirmation_title":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to tip?","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please choose a valid currency."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}