Rare Vegetable Seeds from U.S. Government
During last week’s #SeedChat discussion group on Twitter, one of the participants brought up Plant Gene Resource Canada. I know this sounds like a boring, scholarly topic for a post, but stay with me, it’s really pretty fun and interesting for backyard gardeners.
Plant Gene Resource Canada (PGRC) is a gene bank where Canadians can get rare and unusual seeds and plant cuttings for their gardens at no cost.
This was intriguing. The thought of getting seeds for hard to find vegetable and fruit plants from the government just for the asking is right in Suburban Hobby Farmer’s sweet spot.
Think of it as an adventure. It’s kind of a flash back from the past when there were many more varieties growing in people’s kitchen gardens, and you didn’t know exactly what was going to come from the seed your neighbor or someone passing through town had passed to you.
Germplasm Resources Information Network
I felt compelled to look into the U.S. version of PGRC, called the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), which is part of the USDA Agricultural Research Service. There are more than 500,000 accessions (distinct varieties of plants) in the GRIN database. These accessions represent more than 10,000 species of plants. How many vegetable and fruit plant seeds does GRIN have in its possession? I don’t know, but I bet it’s a lot.
But working with GRIN can be challenging. It’s difficult to find seeds if you don’t know exactly what you want. Someone searching by name for a specific plant would find it easy. However, plant descriptions are not very detailed and there are no photos. I resorted to finding plants with names that looked promising and then Googling to find other information sources.
The search page for seeds and cuttings is on this Agricultural Research Service page.
Seeds I Selected
I settled on seeds for three infrequently-grown tomatoes:
Kwand Hsi Hung Shih, a red tomato of Chinese origin that looked promising. See the picture of a mature Kwand Hsi Hung Shih plant embedded within this post.
Pomodoro Palla Di Fuoco, a red, Italian tomato that takes as much as 5-months to ripen and has a reputation for excellent flavor.
IXL Bolgiano’s Extremely Early Tomato, a red variety that was listed in seed catalogs around 1910.
Once I settled on these varieties, I clicked on the “Request this germplasm” link and it brought me to a checkout cart to review what I had selected. Then I clicked “complete” and filled out the form on the next page with my address information, etc.
The Sticking Point
The one sticking point is that the information form asked what kind of research I planned and could GRIN publish the results. I explained that I was going to grow the plants, save the seeds and publish the results in my blog. We’ll see if they think this research is worthy enough to send me the seeds.
I have no idea what kind of luck I’m going to have with these tomatoes, but it certainly is a great adventure with the added benefit of very little out of pocket cost. As best I can tell, the U.S. government even pays for the postage.
On the other hand, it may be a dead end if my request doesn’t live up to their standards. I’ll let you know how this turns out.
Related posts:
1. Free Seeds: How I got 19 Heirloom Varieties
2. My “Kick Start” Seed Trading Package from DG
3. Free 30-page Seed Saving Guide
4. Free Vegetable Seeds
5. Free Vegetable Seeds, Part II
Comments (27)
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How long was it before you recieved you request? Did they notify you that you were approved and getting teh seeds or did they just show up. I am excited! I requested for blue berry cuttings also.
Steve — I received an email soon after the request saying that they had received my request. About three weeks later the seeds came in the mail. I didn’t even have to pay postage. That was over New Year’s, so it’s possible you could get them sooner.
When you get the package from the ARS, can you stop back here and let us know how it works out? I’d really like to know what kind of blueberry cuttings you ordered.
Bill Brikiatis recently posted..9 Guidelines for Pruning Apple Trees
This is very helpful information. I have done tomato trials to find out what varieties grow best in my county, but it would be interesting to look at heirloom vs. hybrid.
Stephanie Suesan Smith recently posted..Using Dormant Oil
I’m trying to switch over to open pollinated varieties of tomatoes. I’ve seen a noticable improvement in my brandywines after saving seeds for a couple of years. I’ve read in a number of places that, after you select the best tomatoes, the variety improves and adapts to your location.
Bill Brikiatis recently posted..Growing Peas with Growing Kids
[...] See how I got three unusual heirloom tomatoes from the USDA Agricultural Research Service at Rare Vegetable Seeds from U.S. Government. The USDA would have sent me more if I had [...]
[...] Getting heirloom tomato seeds from the government has been an adventure. You can learn how I got the seeds by reading my article at free vegetable seeds. [...]
Wow, I not only already recieved my seeds but some have already sprouted. My only prob is that I recieved an email telling me that my peppers would not be sent, and have yet to recieve tomatoes.
How long did it take for you to get the seeds that you did get?
Very interesting! I have never heard of this program but if it means free plants, I am on it
Thanks for sharing!
Ellen
Hi Ellen — Yes you can get free, rare seeds and cuttings. Please stop back and let us know how it turns out for you.
Seeds came right away for some things, however got a letter from USDA saying these are not for home gardening uses and it is a one time distribution. You are supposed to be in a group doing research. So they are free but they are strings attached. Thought that was important for people to know.
Hi Kathy — Thanks for the update. I think many people have asked for seeds, so the ARS is probably getting tired of fulfilling requests. I suspect that if people are planning to save the seeds from the heirloom plants and publish the results of their “experiment” as I have and will, it could be considered research. What do you think? I’m pretty sure that the ARS doesn’t want to be seen as replacing seed catalogs for heirloom seeds.
hi can anyone tell me where i can get free veg seeds its for my son he just started gardening and he going to sale the food 4 the pore kids over seas
Hi Susan — The USDA ARS is not really the right place to get seeds for charity. The goal of the ARS is to continue to make rare seeds available. As you can see from Kathy’s comment below, the purpose of giving these seeds to people is so that they can do research. I would ask some of the seed companies if they would be willing to provide seeds for charity.
Question…I got some of these seeds and they all say in big bold lettering “DO NOT USE FOR FOOD OR FEED PURPOSES.” Did yours have the same warning and you consume the fruits and veggies? Thanks!
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Hi Lisa — Mine did not have the same warning and I will consume the tomatoes that are growing in my garden now. My tomatoes look great. Please keep in mind that before I wrote this article on my blog, very few hobby farmers had requested seeds. These seeds were intended for research purposes, not as free seeds for kitchen gardeners. Now that I wrote the article litterally hundreds of gardeners have requested seeds. I think they are getting tired of sending out seed packages. Why don’t you contact them using the site and see why they put this warning on the package? My guess is that they don’t want home gardeners asking for any more seeds.
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Thanks so much for this info! I have class and am always last to #seedchat, and did not catch this mention! Heirloom tomatoes, here I come!!
Good. I hope it works out.
I think there is too much beating about the bush without any real info about getting free seeds!
John — I’m sorry that you feel that way. I’ve been really please with what the government has sent me. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. It’s quite an adventure to grow plants that very uncommon. Plus the government sends you the seeds at no cost … you don’t even pay postage.
Just interested in getting some heirloom tomato seeds from the government. Can someone help me?
Jason — Just read the article.