Where to buy Broccoli Seeds?

[delmar]

Where is the best online deal you have found on broccoli seeds? I think I know why they are expensive, cause they look sort of hard to harvest.

[Living Food]

I get them from sproutpeople.org, although there's probably a cheaper source out there somewhere. I just use them very sparingly to compensate for the price (the same thing I do with most of the more "exotic" sprouts).

[SunshineMN]

Azure Standard has them for $7.60 per lb. They seem to sprout well though we've only had them long enough to sprout them once so far. I don't think these seeds are organic however but even sprout people says organic ones are very hard to come by.

As far as being expensive, I was just reading on Sprout People's website that it was actually illegal for people to sprout them for a few years. The patent was eventually invalidated but it may be people haven't caught up on that news? I think it was insane they got a patent in the first place! Patents really annoy me, but mostly because I'm in the software business and software patents are nuts.

[Living Food]

Azure Standard has them for $7.60 per lb.

What??? I thought that was a typo the first time I read it, lol...you sure you didn't mean $17.60? If it's really only $7.60 per Ib, I'm going to be eating broccoli sprouts 'til they come out my ears :)

[delmar]

Azure Standard has them for $7.60 per lb.

Thanks, I just book marked the page. I haven't taken the time to start an account so I can sign in, how high are they on shipping?

[streetsurfer]

A few years back I found broccoli seeds in the Burpee seed section (specifically for sprouting near their sprouting containers) of a Home Depot.

[SunshineMN]

If you get stuff shipped on the Azure truck it's only 8.5% of your bill. I find it's way cheaper than UPS shipping especially when you are order pounds of stuff. This month I ordered 61 lbs of stuff and shipping was only $12.44. I get glass ball canning jars from them as well. Often we order their apples and oranges too. Organic oranges 38 lbs for $29 I think now, previously they were only $23. Their fresh produce and frozen fruits (I don't buy any other frozen stuff) are only available with using their trucks for shipping. They will ship UPS but it does cost more of course. They just added Indiana this year so there might be a route close enough to you to make it worth while.

They only ship using their trucks once per month and they prefer you only place an order in the week before they ship. For instance this month we had to order by the 10th and the truck leaves them on the 14th. They stop here on Fridays so it will be here the 18th. We are about 3 miles from the place they deliver to so it's a quick drive for us. The people that receive the shipments just pile the stuff in their garage if we aren't there on time to meet the truck. They have a very detailed order/delivery pdf you can download on their website that shows all the routes.

And yes, broccoli seeds are $7.60 per pound, $31.75 for 5 pounds. You can even get 25 pounds but it's $140.80 ($5.63/lb). :)

[MysticTree]

Farmers are not necessarily rich because they sell organic products. Farmers in this country are not rich people a lot of times. Especially if they are tenant farmers. Being certified organic is horrifically expensive and many settle for using organic methods and not registering as organic.

[Living Food]

Very few farmers are rich. Many many farmers here are dirt poor because they spend all their money on expensive GM seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and grow crops that we already have an insane surplus of: GM corn, wheat, and GM soybeans, mostly.

Very few organic farmers are rich, either, but my point was that big, national suppliers tend to get their products from big farms, and the larger the farm the more likely it is that they can afford organic certification (even though small farms tend to be far more productive per acre). Small family farms are going out of business at an astounding rate here, the big industrialized farms are making them bankrupt. Thankfully people are starting to wake up and buy from small, local, generally organic (even if not certified) farmers.

There are lots of small farmers who grow organically but aren't certified organic, much much fewer very large farmers who grow organically and aren't certified. And big national chains tend to get their products from the large farms.

[MysticTree]

We do have large farms here but very few if any that are anywhere near as big as some of the farms in the US.

[SunshineMN]

Azure Standard isn't like those big companies though. They have lots of information about what they believe and why they operate the way they do. They are very health conscious with their products. They are not strictly raw, but they are against GM and lots of chemicals. The only thing we've purchased from them that we were not completely happy with was red lentils which were too broken up to sprouts, but their green lentils sprout like crazy as well as the broccoli and every other seed we've purchased from them. Even sprout people have had problems getting organic broccoli seeds for sprouting and for years sold conventional broccoli seeds (though I believe they finally have a source for organic ones).

[delmar]

Azure Standard isn't like those big companies though. They have lots of information about what they believe and why they operate the way they do. They are very health conscious with their products. They are not strictly raw, but they are against GM and lots of chemicals. The only thing we've purchased from them that we were not completely happy with was red lentils which were too broken up to sprouts, but their green lentils sprout like crazy as well as the broccoli and every other seed we've purchased from them.

I have heard enough good things to give them a try!

Even sprout people have had problems getting organic broccoli seeds for sprouting and for years sold conventional broccoli seeds (though I believe they finally have a source for organic ones).

In fact they are still selling their "conventional" broccoli seeds for $25/lb. Given a choice between paying that much for seeds and not sprouting broccoli I would have to choose not sprouting broccoli. especially when I can get organic Sunflower Seeds for $2/ lb, organic flax for $1/lb and organic peas for $0.50/ lb

[delmar]

I just made my first big bulk seed order with Azure Standard.

Bulk Radish Seeds, Organic 1 lb.
Bulk Clover Seeds, Red, Organic 5 lbs.
Azure Farm Wheat, Hard, Red, Organic 25 lbs.
Bulk Sesame Seeds, Brown, Organic 5 lbs.
Bulk Broccoli Seeds 1 lb.
Azure Farm Flax Seeds, Golden, Organic 25 lbs.
Bulk Sunflower Seeds, Raw, Organic 25 lbs.
Bulk Peas Green, Whole, Organic 50 lbs.

It is supposed to arrive Sept 5

[MysticTree]

I just made my first big bulk seed order with Azure Standard. Bulk Radish Seeds, Organic 1 lb. Bulk Clover Seeds, Red, Organic 5 lbs. Azure Farm Wheat, Hard, Red, Organic 25 lbs. Bulk Sesame Seeds, Brown, Organic 5 lbs. Bulk Broccoli Seeds 1 lb. Azure Farm Flax Seeds, Golden, Organic 25 lbs. Bulk Sunflower Seeds, Raw, Organic 25 lbs. Bulk Peas Green, Whole, Organic 50 lbs. It is supposed to arrive Sept 5

How exciting. That's a lovely selection of seeds too. Hope the price is good. Stock up coz prices are going to soar.

[MysticTree]

I reckon that's a good price. Keep a note of how much you spend over the next 5 years. It will make interesting reading. If you like onion, garlic etc microgreens then you really can produce a lot of that seed yourself. Might save you a few dollars and the flower and seed heads are beautiful.