With spring right around the corner a lot of us are itching to get started on
growing something (anything!). Seeding is probably the number one garden
activity across most of the country in February so it seems like a good time
to take a look at what organic seed sources we have available to us here in
Canada.
There are quite a few companies supplying organic heritage, open
pollinated and native plant seeds and, happily, some fairly comprehensive
lists of those suppliers have already been compiled:
Canadian Organic Growers supplier list
Seeds of Diversity seed list - includes a search tool for finding the variety you
are looking for from a long list of suppliers
Canadian Wildlife Federation Native Plant supplier list
With your seed orders placed, the next step is finding supplies for getting
them started. Organic garden supplies are a bit less widely available than
organic seeds since they are often bulky and difficult to ship but a couple of
online stores include:
The Organic Gardener’s Pantry - for organic fertilizers and soil inoculants
Gaia Green - Organic fertilizers and mineral supplements
For seeding it is always best if you can find a good local source of organic,
compost based potting soil but that can be difficult, or even impossible, in some
areas in mid winter. While not everyone’s favourite company due to their use of
peat, ProMix has an organic certified line of potting soil, made from coconut coir
and inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi, which is available from most large
garden centres across Canada and can help fill the need for organic potting
soil until a local source becomes available to you.
We’d love to hear from the SOUL community about where you source organic
products for your projects. If you have recommendations for where to find the
supplies you need to create and maintain organic gardens and landscapes
please share them with us on Facebook, Twitter or send us an email. If we can
collect enough recommendations we can put together an organic suppliers
list for the SOUL website to make it easier for all of us to find what we need
to help make the places we live a little, or a lot, greener.