They have an excellent rating from that other gardening forum place that rates these things :-) And that includes folks gardening ALL over the US so difficult to understand why you are necessarily having issues. And FWIW, not sure the company is necessarily "withholding" specific varieties from retailers - typically the retailer selects what they choose to sell. And with over 1000 different types of seeds they offer, there's got to be some limitations :-) At least it was that way when I was buying seeds for a local retail nursery. Shipping IS somewhat pricey compared to other online seed places but it is a flat fee so the more you order, the less the impact.

Other local sources would be Ed Hume Seeds (Puyallup, some organic seeds) and Uprising Seeds (Bellingham, 100% organic or open pollinated seeds). Doubt either offers the full selection Territorial does - btw, Territorial only grows about 20% of the seeds it offers so exactly how local they may be might be up to some discussion.

Buy from all the independents in order to try and help keep them in business. Big Ag is taking over the seed selection and supply.

I just placed an order with Territorial. I was surprised at the cost of shipping but I shared an order with a friend so we were able to spit the shipping.

Another local seed company that wasn't mentioned was Nichols (Albany, OR). Good luck with your seed order.

I hate the shipping charges, too.
there is one particular seed from Abundant Life I want and can't find elsewhere, but Ouch! Can't do it.

Here is a link that might be useful: abundant life

Beans, peas, tomatoes -- all have not performed as well as seeds from other sources. I realize the company gets high marks from others; not from me. An employee at Molbak's told me when I was looking for a particular tomato variety that TSG "refuses" to provide it to its retailers as it is so popular. Now that I think about it (and after reading gardengal's response), that does sound a bit absurd. On the other hand, with the S/H gouging that goes on, perhaps there is a kernel of truth in there.

I do want to promote locals and/or independents over conglomerates, and have ordered from Nichols in the past, as well as Baker's, Renee's, etc. Seeds have been generally great overall.

Plantknitter, Tomatofest carries that tomato and it is on sale, too!

Rain (both my name and the weather condition, unfortunately)

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomatofest

As far as I could tell (I ordered from the once) the seeds they sold me were perfectly fine, good germination rates, true to type, etc. However I just don't think they're worth the prices they ask for, and their shipping is very high.

Nichols was not an especially good supplier for me; they sort of botched my order and I didn't feel like the germination rates etc. were as good as with other places.

I have bought seeds from many places, Fedco Seeds, Tatiana's Tomato Base, Nichols, evergreen seeds, Kitazawa, Seed Saver's Exchange, and the Ed Hume seeds off the rack locally. With the exception of Nichols (which was OK, but not as good as the other places) service was fast and all the seeds performed perfectly.

So the higher shipping fee and prices at Territorial make it not worth it, at least for the things I order. It seems also that other sellers are more generous with the number of seeds they put per pack in my experience.

If you order seeds from Territorial (or other big seed companies) and want to avoid getting any that originate from a fully-owned subsidiary of Monsanto, be sure to ask that your order NOT include any that originate from Seminis.

Monsanto bought Seminis some years ago and is a major supplier to most of the big seed houses.

You can read the full story at Fedco Seed's website.

Fedco is a seed co-op (nothing to do with the Feds) that carries lots of open-pollinated, heirloom, and organic seeds. They definitely are not local (Maine) but they're dedicated to keeping good seeds available for home gardeners.

And their printed catalog is really fun to read!

Just one opinionated gardener's opinion...

Here is a link that might be useful: Fedco Seeds

Yeah, if people are very particular about the Monsanto issue and all that (not saying you should be) I would say Fedco and SSE (Seed Saver's Exchange) are good places for OP and heirloom seeds. Good prices, good quality, good service. They don't have huge-huge selection, but they have something for almost everyone. Fedco's site is a little annoying, but not hard to use once you figure it out.

I used to make an effort to order from Territorial, but no more. They've become much like so many other outfits with their catalog overstuffed with all kinds of garden gadgets and kitchen gizmos. And trying to sell plants from all over the country. I'd prefer to order from someone who offers seeds and seeds alone. Not much of that anymore. I now consider Territorial just "one of the bunch". I'll buy from them if it makes sense to do so. I will say I haven't had problems with any of their seeds.

I had bad germination from some Territorial seeds, plus the prices and shipping charges keep me from ordering from them. I have ordered some flower seeds from T&M but they got bought out by Gurney's and their selection dropped. I like to order from the little family companies, and still order from Park's who have pretty low seed prices and have raised their shipping rates but not exorbitantly, and try to order more native seeds now so ordered this year from Western Native Seed, Alplains, Everwilde, and last year Horizon, Thyme Garden and Prairie Moon. I also order from J.L. Hudson who carries some vegetable and herb seeds, the rest are hard to find ornamentals from around the world, though some are edible. I also ordered from Gourmet Seeds (Italian- wide selection of European vegetable seeds) and from an ebay store- dragonfly###, that I assume is a individual grower and has cheap prices and shipping, and carries a lot of tomatoes that go for very high prices from some tomato specialists. I haven't received or grown their seeds yet so can't comment.

I ordered from Abundant Life a lot before the fire; I even have a packet of their Slava tomatoes left from 2003 in my collection.:-) I think I only grew them one year. I kept trialling tomatoes at that point so can't remember them well. Legend has been a stirling performer for me though.

I agree with buying from individuals and independent companies.

There are a couple of local seed companies down this way that I like.

Sustainable Seed Company out of Pinole, CA buys American grown seed, and they do what they can to make sure seeds they buy are not grown close to GMO fields. They also don't print a paper catalog, but you can download and print one if you want to. So far, I haven't been disappointed with their seeds or service.

Siskiyou Seeds is a tiny company out of Southern Oregon, and they carry a lot of varieties developed specifically for this region that you can't find anywhere else. I haven't tried buying from them online, but I buy their seeds at the local grocery store--a little pricey, but good quality.

Here is a link that might be useful: Siskiyou Seeds

Shipping is high for everyone this year. I've never been disappointed in their quality. Prices on merch a little high.

I placed an order for first time with Seeds of Change, all warm-seasons so no experience yet, but packets themselves are very nice, reasonable prices, plus they all look like hungry hippies, so why not?

Dan

Territorial raised their shipping cost too high. I don't buy anymore from them. I use Ebay for some veggies, cheaper, especially if I don't need a big package of seeds for my backyard garden. I bought onions, tomatoes, salads from ebay and quality was great without paying high price for seeds and shipping.

hemnancy, I've been wanting to find some of those slava seeds!
I just don't have a need to order anything else so don't want to pay full shipping for one pack of them.
any chance you could send me a few seeds?
Judy

Hemnancy, I usually order TS through Yard and Garden Nursery on Hwy. 99 and they pay the shipping. I've never had a problem with their seed in the 25+ years I've used them.

I have been a customer of TSS for several years and until recently I had only one problem and that was they sent me the wrong seeds. One call and they sent me the correct seeds with no fees. The last order was several broccoli , cauliflower and cabbage seeds all of which have a 3 year viability rating. Well the second year I planted these seeds everything came up except the red ball cabbage so I tried again with zero sprouts. I called customer service and told them and the response was they only go back one year. This is printed in the policy section.I don't agree with this So I have become a loyal customer of Rohrer seeds. They have better prices and the shipping is comparable even though it's coming from Pennsylvania.TSS has high prices and high shipping and last year the wait for certain seeds was over a month. My order to Rohrer took less than a week to get to me and it was complete.