vendor Native Seeds Catalogue

MarianneW · Dec 1, 2015

It's that time of year--Native Seeds put out their catalogue.

These are the seed bank people that partner with the wild chile preserve in Arizona. They have extensive holdings. If you're looking for a rare variety with southwest roots that you don't see available, go to their website & search their holdings. They might be able to help you get what you're looking for.

http://www.nativeseeds.org/pdf/Seedlisting2016web.pdf?mc_cid=74cac0e7cf&mc_eid=b12ef8fa0a

Weed · Dec 1, 2015

They have some cool stuff. Thanks.

ThePepperTrent · Dec 1, 2015

Thanks for posting. Had no idea this existed!

MarianneW · Dec 1, 2015

Really?! You must be NAU. Native Seeds/SEARCH does amazing work preserving southwestern crops, especially chiles and beans. The big service they provide is acting as a back up seed source for all of the tribes so if crops fail the varieties aren't lost. They've had some years where Native Seed had the only seeds left. I really admire their work, they've made sure so many local chiles aren't lost.

They have a huge seed library and every year, offer different ones in their shop to help fund the enterprise. Their store in Tucson is really neat.

ThePepperTrent · Dec 1, 2015

You're right, haha

Well that's a great service for the tribes. I might sign up for membership. I will have to check out the Tucson store, I'm out there at least once a year. The more I read that catalog, the more I love what they do. Neat!

MarianneW · Dec 11, 2015

Couldn't resist posting--Native Seeds' crop preservation effort, including their work preserving wild & native heirloom chiles, was part of the recognition of Tucson's importance for cuisine & food culture

http://ediblebajaarizona.com/tucson-designated-unesco-world-city-of-gastronomy

Geonerd · Dec 11, 2015

They have a pretty good selection of SW seeds, salsa, cookbooks, plants, etc.

Most of their regional pepper varieties do well in the intense SW summer heat.

Once thing that rather pisses me off is their 'members only' catalog. They ALREADY get most of their funding from government sources (my money!), yet they hold out for donations and "memberships" in search of even more. And they recently hired a big-shot executive for umpteen thousand a year - for what purpose is unclear.

MarianneW · Dec 14, 2015

I look at it as about the same as a membership to the symphony or ballet. Public good that gets mostly public money that still charges for memberships & tickets.