Allotments 4 All

Hi

I am looking for the best place to buy seeds and other stuff like chitted potato's, for growing this season.

I am still new to this and dont want to pay for poor overpriced goods, any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Ace

http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/ for seeds (not spuds, too dear!)
and your local B & Q for spuds (now in stores)
Welcome to the site!! ;)

watch out in
wilkinsons..seeds, onion sets and spuds, general  good stuff
poundland..seeds
netto, lidl and aldi..seeds, fruit trees and bushes
quality save, instores..seeds, onion sets and general gardening stuff, e.g..netting, weed control etc
did I forget anywhere ?  ;D

I like Thomson & Morgan, you can buy online and they will send you the plants when they are due to be planted out, as you are new this will be of some help to you

I started my lottie last year and I found them realy good, I put a big order middle this year and have started getting things like Garlic onions a thingsfor planting for 2009 you also get some good free offers I got some onions and pots from this order. well hope this helps  ;D

Click on the WIKI section at the top of this page and follow the links from SEEDS through to SEED Suppliers.  There is a list of suppliers with points posted by A4A forum members.

I use T&M for the odd seeds but they are expensive compared to some others.  I get 85-90% of my seeds from www.kingsseeds.com    These are one of the cheapest seeds supplier around.  my 2nd choice of supplier is  http://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/

Try and find a local allotment society if you can and support them

Local potato days are good places to get seed potatoes from.

If you want small amounts of lots of different seeds I'd recommend moreveg as they are cheap because the amounts are small.

http://www.moreveg.net/

Your own society may be involved in the discount scheme with Kings throught the NSALG, if not they would be if someone would organise it!!  ::)

I use Tuckers or real seeds. Both seem to be reasonable quality and not too expensive. Last time I compared (few years ago), Tuckers had a wider range of organic varieties than the organicgarden caltalogue did.

Sally

Ahem!

You might like to have a look at our Seed Sale here http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,47834.0.html

And it's all in a good cause!

Many of the recommendations are for "organic" seeds. How can any non-soil association approved substances enter a seed? What is the mechanism?

www.alanromans.com - v. cheap and reliable.

Quote from: RobinOfTheHood on December 31, 2008, 17:51:27
www.alanromans.com - v. cheap and reliable.

I second that. Got lots for £13 quid ;D

Oh don't forget Thompson & Morgans do a half priced seed sale in early May.
Still plenty of time to take advantage for sowing flowers and veg for the season

QuoteHow can any non-soil association approved substances enter a seed?

There has been a lot of debate about this subject and I think the buyer should go with their heart. What I will say is generally the grower that grows organically probably exerts more quality control and you are more likely to get fresh seed that is true to the label. This applies more to the lower volume lines but all seed companies buy in most of their stock and have little or no control over what is in the packet.

Anyone starting out finds that the matket is a bewildering minefield of choices but my advice is to either buy very cheap at the bogoff shops or be selective and purchase from the smaller firms with a track record of service. Whenever possible, save your own seed and swap surplus with other like minded souls.

Has nobody mentioned www.realseeds.co.uk yet?

Not the cheapest, but maybe the best.  :)

I see they have........ not at me sharpest today!

Just looked at alansromans seeds and well impressed, ill be getting a lot of mine from him, thanks for the info

i get most of mine from http://www.kingsseeds.com/Ko-Transact/catalogue.asp  and some from http://www.realseeds.co.uk/index.html

Hello all!
I'm new to all this and being the completely methodical person that I am I got a book to tell me what to do...that is to say what plants to go for. I went off the recommendations of How to Plant Your Allotment by Caroline Foley and used the varieties recommended for the "Big Family Plot."
I should mention this is all possibly wishful thinking as I don't yet have a plot...ahem...but I am 7th and 8th on a few waiting lists!!
So anyway I made rows of the ideal seeds, I made columns for each of the main seed companies and if the company supplied the seed I wanted I ticked the appropriate row and column. Where the recommended variety wasn't available I went with my best guesstimate on what would be best. This narrowed my selection down to two providers:
http://www.dobies.co.uk/
&
http://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/

I know, I know...I can hear you Hectare members laughing away, but to my simple mind rows and columns made sense. Anyway I got varieties that I feel I can trust and spent minimal amounts on postage.
I did however, spend the outlandish sum of £23.31! I'm sure they saw me coming  ;D