How to Get Free Seeds

Now if you read my last post, you already know that I am on a mission to start a cheap or very free garden. Now to have a garden, before needing anything else, you need something to plant. I have been sitting here in the school library googling for the last two hours, and I have found some pretty good leads. But if they show up, that will be another post.

GRIN - Germoplasm Resources Information Network
This was my first real attempt at tracking down seeds. They have a huge library of different seeds from all over the world. I chose potatoes, carrots, onions, ect from places like China, Kazakhstan, or Montana. I chose to request a type of vegetable from three different places on Earth. It is a little confusing to work their website though. I found that if you go up the the top left search bar, and search something pretty basic like "carrot," you can usually find some good results. Stick with the plant names from the first page, and google any type of plant that you are unfamiliar with. And if you are like me, who thinks a carrot is a carrot no matter what differences it might have, then you will be unfamiliar with all of them. I ended up ordering about 30 different seeds. Make sure you have a legit reason for asking for these seeds, you can't just say I want them to make food. My reason was to document all of the information I collect, and or blog about it!

My next search was to find seeds through my trusty friend Hunt4Freebies.

Sunflower Seeds
Email contactus@somersaultsnackco.com
with this information:
The Subject:
Sun Seeds
The Body:
Hi Somersaults Team.
Send me my sunflower seeds so I can bring some sunshine into my backyard!
Please send to the following:
Name:
Address (no P.O. Boxes):
Thanks!

Obviously, there wasn't much found there that wasn't expired. I think this may have been the first time H4F has ever let me down. Woah. 

My next attempt at free seeds is to directly contact the companies selling them. Sometimes when you contact a company, they will send you free samples, coupons, ect. I am hoping this will be the case this time. 
And of course buying marijuana seeds comes up in the results. What is our world coming to when I google buy seeds online and it is all for a plant that is illegal? SMH.

Burpee 
 This is my first attempt to get sample seeds from a seed supplier. I notice if you actually look around their website and chose a few items that you like and talk about them, you have a better chance at getting something. I also find that if you ask for the cheapest, you usually have better luck then with asking for their most expensive item for free. 

I chose to ask for broccoli and carrots. And although these carrots weren't the cheapest, look how cool they look!  


This was the email I sent them:
To whom it may concern:

I am extremely interested in purchasing your seeds. I was wondering if you gave away any free samples of your products? I would love to try the Di Ciccio Organic Broccoli and the Carrot, Kaleidoscope Mix. I have never seen a carrot that wasn't orange! In exchange, I would be willing to review them on my blog, OMG! A College Student's Life.

Thank you for taking the time to read my email.
I look forward to your reply.
Nina McClain


Simple, basic and to the point. Make sure you are polite and you have a chance. 


Parkseed
For this website, you actually have to send the company an email from your email address. DUM DUM DUM. So as long you don't have an embarrassing email name like fairyprincess666, you might actually stand a chance. Email them at info@parkseed.com. I chose this time to ask for two vegetables I don't like and know absolutely nothing about. Why? Because I like to try new things. And if I make it for free, I might just end up liking what I eat. What I did like about this website was that they had seeds for 95 Cents. That is really cheap. If I end up having to buy seeds, this will be one of the places that I consider. 


Eden Brothers
After browsing this site for only a couple minutes, this site has some cool stuff. I have never heard of cress, collards or endive. But yet here, I could buy it! They all look like green stuff that I would attempt to eat and end up buying McDonalds though. I really have no clue what Kohlrabi is, but I think I will request that. It is relatively cheap enough. I also chose Leek, simply because it reminded me of my favorite anime as a child, Fruits Basket. To contact them, email service@edenbrothers.com.


Gurneys
I have to say, after being on a couple of seed store websites now, this one is kind of a disappointment. It isn't laid out as nice. But it has a lot of different varieties of vegetables. Onion has three pages worth! Plus their vegetables have some pretty cool names, like the two I am going to request Walla Walla Onion (totally reminds me of Gulla Gulla Island) and Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce (simultaneously reminds me of middle school and tv.) What I like about this website is that on the right side they have a "top voted" section, telling you which one people like the best. They have a nice little popup to contact them. 


Thomson and Morgan Seeds 
I have decided that even if all of these companies email me back telling me what to do with my free seed request, I will still be happy. This is because every time I look at a new website and their products, I learn new things. Take T&M for example. They have some of the weirdest looking vegetables I have seen. And they categorize them quite interestingly.  Most seeds seem to be about $2.99, which really isn't bad for seeds that you couldn't buy at the dollar store. I chose to pick two different veggies from the Taste of Italy section, the Pomodoro – Tomato Cuore di Bue and the Pomodoro – Tomato Cuore di Bue. I really have no clue what these are (I think the first one might be a form of tomato) but I am willing to try!


Currently, I have emailed four companies, emailed for a freebie and requested seeds from the government. Hopefully at least one of them will come through!

  

My Mission: Gardening

With the economy the way it is, my family isn't exactly running down to Bloomies to get the newest pair of shoes. Not that we were ever running to Bloomies, but you get what I mean. As the frugal one in the family, I like to find new ways to save money. This time I decided that I wanted to save us money by starting a garden. Of course when I told my parents, they laughed at me. After they were done laughing, they gave me the go ahead, and are probably planning on watching me fail. But alas! I will not fail.

It is the end of February, which according to the many sites I have found through google, it means I need to start getting my seeds and start planning. Because I want to do this the frugal way, I am going to try my hardest not to pay for a single thing. Everything that I use will be from freebies, borrowing, recycling, or using something that I already have.

So stay tuned! I plan to keep on this, if only to prove to my family that I can make it work!

Happy thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving everyone! Today has been a fabulous day so far. My brother and I went down to the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was cold, but still a lot of fun. I ran into my "sister" rachel and her family, which was nice. We then went back to my brothers house and everyone came over. I took a nap while the guys yelled at the lions to win. Now wevare at cracker barrel; its a great deal if you are looking to go out. Only $9 for turkey, ham, 3 sides, a drink and pie. Yummy!