Our seeds, free seeds, shared seeds, and the small seed companies and nurseries we have loved supporting this year

~ Local Leaf

We grow plants from seeds. That is at the core of what we love to do. Year after year, our collection of seeds grows. This is in part due to our plants growing, us collecting seeds from our maturing baby plants, saving seeds from our existing harvests, foraging the vast unspoiled wild land near our cottage, and trading with friends, neighbours and like-minded crazy plant people. 

Thimbleweed / tall anemone seeds (probably one of my favorites to harvest. Softer than wool)
Packing some of our seeds last fall

That’s one part of it, and becoming the larger and larger portion of our seed source every year, especially where native plants and edible shrubs are concerned. The remaining seeds, we source and either buy, or trade for, throughout the year, to enable us to grow new things. We have a lot plants, but are always striving to experiment with new ways of growing, in different conditions, with varying degrees of successes and failures.

We love buying and growing new seeds from small businesses and farmers whose values and practices align with ours, and whom we want support and encourage to continue doing what they also love. I have compiled a full list of our seed sources this year at the of this post.

Tomato insanity got the best of us this year. We have typically bought our tomato seeds from EcoSeed Bank in the past with great success, but this year we decided to experiment with heirloom tomato seeds from several other seed vendors, as this is probably what we eat the most of in our house.
Organizing our vegetable seeds
So excited for so much more space to grow so many more types of squash
Managed to squeeze all the vegetable seeds into one container

We don’t sell seeds, but always have plenty and we are happy to share, trade or give them away when we can (and particularly where we are the source of those seeds).  We created our own mixes of native pollinator friendly flowers this year, grown and harvested from our own gardens right here in Aylmer, and our kids made and stuffed hundreds of seed packets, which we gave away to anyone interested in planting them.

Small but mighty table set up at Eardley Elementary Christmas market
And a slightly elevated setup at Nesbitts’ Christmas market

We wanted  to help simplify, and de-mistify the process of growing native plants. We also wanted to show people how beautiful native flowers are, and that they are not all weedy and unruly eye-sores some believe them to be. We have been humbled by the interest and positive reactions to our seed packs in our community, among gardeners, teachers, schools and community spaces right here in Aylmer, and across the bridge in Ottawa. Our kids have big plans to package and distribute even more free packets next year.

Our youngest taking her packing duties very seriously

Seedy Saturday Ottawa – March 01

We are so so excited to be attending our first Seedy Saturday in Ottawa this year, on March 1st. Details will be posted here as they become available, so save the date, come browse the event, and stop by and say hi.

Seedy Saturday Ottawa – March 1st, 2025

We’ll be bringing and giving away any remaining spare native seeds collected from our garden, and as we hope to finish our own planting and winter sowing by then, we should have lots. As we moved this fall, we collected far more seeds than we usually would from our own plants, but it was for a good cause, and we are happy to share our surplus. 

Tall anemone seeds ready to harvest

New home, new growing space

Our new home is a beautiful property edged by a mixed forest and a small stream. We have inherited nearly 2 acres of mostly luscious grass, and we have an ambitious goal to replace all that grass, once again, with a thriving ecosystem of native, pollinator friendly, perennial food forest and medicinal plants, shrubs, trees and whatever creatures and critters choose to share the space with us.

We’ve done it before, on much smaller scales, and really look forward to starting the journey of rewilding the space here.

I left most plants behind in our old garden, which took years to reach its current state. I was at peace with what we achieved there, and leaving it so much of that behind. Personally, I learned so much in the process of building that garden, was able to channel so many creative outlets into it, and I survived COVID and critical illness there. 

We replaced every last inch of grass in that garden with native and pollinator friendly plants, and convinced some wonderful neighbours to rethink their own gardening goals. The garden has been passed down to a new family willing to continue to nurture it, and we get to take all those learnings, mistakes and do-overs, and apply them on a much larger scale, in our new place, to something completely new.

Of course we couldn’t leave completely empty handed, so I did divide a few (ok around 150 species)  of my favourite plants, along with many seed grown babies from last winter, and brought them with us, in our little trailer. 

First load in the trailer
Load 3, maybe?
Chief organizing officer

I also collected many seeds from the species I left behind in my garden, and far smaller quantities from many walks and kayak rides near our cottage in Blue Sea.

A thriving patch of Heartleaf Foamflower growing in deep shade next to a stream at our cottage

I’m always careful to minimize the environmental impact of collecting seeds in the wild, and only do so in very small quantities where a sizable patch of a plant is already established. 

1 year old Heartnut tree seedling, grown from wintersown seed last year

Edible trees and shrub seeds

We began growing trees and edible shrubs from seed 2 years ago. We learned a lot and had many casualties and failures our first spring, but then we tried again last year, with a far better success rate. We still lost a lot to the foraging critters in our yard, but eventually figured out how to protect the small tree seedlings, and many survived once we built them a critter proof cage.

Tree and berry seedlings the chipmunks didn’t get to last year
The squirrel and chipmunk proof nut-tree cage we built after some early losses

 I plan to plant many of these early tree experiments in permanent homes this year, but I feel confident I’ve learned enough how to successfully grow these from seeds, and keep them happy and alive in their first years. As such, we are starting even more new trees, shrubs and perennial vines from seed this winter, and will likely continue to do so each year, in succession, with a lot of patience, as trees from seed take a long time to grow.

Paw paw seeds
Testing out fridge stratification vs.winter sowing germination rates with some species this winter

Vegetable, herb, medicinal and companion plant seeds

Finally, we have vegetable, herb, medicinal, dye-maker and companion plants starting from seed, and we have been growing more and more of these types of annuals every year, and intermixing them in more mixed garden scenarios and designs. Some of these seeds are collected from my old garden as well, but many are new to us, particularly this year, and come from small seed farms of businesses I wanted to get to know, and support, whose practices and values align with ours. 

A striking mix of lavender and dyer’s chamomile from my old garden

Purchasing and growing heirloom, open pollinated seeds is a lot more important to me than any organic certification, and that is what I tend to gravitate toward, rather than an organic label. Some of these companies I’ve been purchasing new varieties of seeds from for several years, and some are new to me this year. 

So many seeds…

We may have gone overboard with our seed collecting and purchases this year, but moving from a new home with a small, urban garden, to a large, sprawling 2 acre property which we can’t wait to garden somewhat justified that.

As we are now sorting and organizing seeds, I am finding myself in the deep deep throws of winter sowing, feeling like I’m barely making a dent, but commited to my largest winter sowing efforts ever.

Just over 100 species in the dirt cold stratifying so far. These are the species requiring 90-120 days of cold, and I am starting to work my way through the 60 day pile, little by little, hoping to have those all outside in the next week or so

Today, I am watching the snow falling outside, on the first few batches of my winter sown seeds, and I wanted to take a moment to give thanks. Thank you to all of the wonderful people and small companies whom I have either purchased, traded or received seeds from this year. I am equally grateful to all the sources of plants that began their life in my care as babies, and have now flourished, or are flourishing into the plants which will breathe life back into this new space we find ourselves stewards of. 

I had to really sit and reflect on many of these, and if I have missed anyone, please let  me know, I will add you and tag you where I can find you. 

If you are a gardener, just starting to think about your garden this year, I hope you will consider supporting or at least checking out some of the places listed below.

Plant sources / nurseries

Local / nearby nurseries and plant sources focused on ethically sourcing or growing native and near-native plants. This is by no means an exhaustive list, it just includes the ones known to me

Seed Sources

*strictly speaking Prairie Moon is outside the typical range of native plants we look for, but they have an extensive selection of seeds native to our region, and I am happy to purchase hard to source seeds from them for species I struggle to find closer to home

I would love to learn more about any places we may have missed on this list, local nurseries and small scale seed farmers we should check out, and what it is you love about them. As always, if you managed to get through this entire blog post, we are ever so grateful and appreciative.

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