Why are growing numbers of people choosing to buy seeds from Irish Seed Savers?

The ethos here at Irish Seed Savers Association, is to conserve and distribute wonderful rare and heritage varieties, as well as to encourage the skills of saving your own seed and empowering people to do this in their own gardens, small holdings or farms.

All of our seeds are grown and saved in Ireland and are Open Pollinated which allows you to save your own seeds from them, keeping the variety true to type. By choosing Irish Seed Savers Open Pollinated Seeds you contribute to keeping food security in your own hands and Irish agricultural biodiversity alive and vibrant.

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Rouge de Huy Onion

€3.50

A dark red bulb, round and slightly flat in shape. Vigorous and hardy. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 200

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Great Mullein

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

An imposing and statuesque native plant (up to 2 meters in height). In its 1st year, it produces large velvety basal leaves. In the second year, we are treated to a stunning single spike full of beautiful, small yellow flowers. In times gone by the leaves were dried, rolled and smoked and the seedheads were dipped in wax and used as candles, hence it's Irish Name Coinnle Muire (Mary's Candle). Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 100

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Ellen’s Swede

€3.50

This is a rare old landrace variety, maintained by a family in the mountains of the Swabian Alb Region in Germany. This swede produces a lovely, uniform, very sweet, medium-sized root. Good resistance to boron deficiency. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 450

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Painted Mountain Corn

€3.50

This variety carries a wide range of genetic diversity, thus adapting well to different climates and soils. The cobs are multicoloured with reds, yellows, creams, browns and purples to delight the senses. The corn can be eaten young and fresh as cobs or used to grind corn meal when mature. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 26

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Red Campion

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

This lovely tall flower likes shadier conditions such as hedgerows, woods and grassy banks. The attractive, pink-red, 5-petalled flowers are 2-3cm across and bloom from May to September. The plants themselves can grow quite large – from 30cm to 1m in height. Seeds are best started in pots, left to overwinter outside, and planted out in plugs in the spring. As this species is dioecious (with male and female flowers on separate plants) it is important to grow out both males and females if you want the plants to self-seed (which they do readily!), or otherwise select only males to limit the spread. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 100

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Haskoy Cucumber

€3.50

This unusual variety comes from a village in the Pontic mountains of Turkey. The cucumbers are perfect for salads or pickling. Approximately 10cm long, and green with slight white striping. Compact plants, not as tall or sprawling as other varieties. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 16

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Malselvnepe Turnip

€3.50

This Norwegian landrace is a hardy variety, well suited to growing in northern climates. The squat, medium-sized turnips are pale yellow in colour, and have an excellent flavour. Good for cooking as well as eating raw if you enjoy the strong flavour! Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 450

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Brad’s Atomic Grape Cordon Tomato

€3.50

These plum-shaped cherry tomatoes, originally bred by Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farm, start off looking like bunches of small aubergines, developing green, red, and blue colourful stripes as they ripen. Best sown from January to March, they are very productive and ripen over a long growing season. As this is an indeterminate type, this variety needs to be supported and have its side shoots removed. The fruits have rather thick skins which help with crack-resistance, and make the sweet little juicy tomatoes burst in your mouth as you eat them. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 40

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Lady’s Slipper Achocha

€3.50

A very vigorous vining plant, related distantly to cucumbers, but much easier to cultivate. It thrives in cool summers, and can be grown outdoors or indoors. The vines should be given supports and planted about 1m apart to provide plenty of growing space. Its abundant little green fruits grow in pairs, and picked young, taste similar to cucumbers and young French beans. The fruit can be eaten fresh, pickled in brine or vinegar, stir-fried in oil, or stuffed and braised. Pick fruits while young; if left to mature they will eventually burst open to reveal a spine of black woody seeds within. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 4

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Crown Flax

€3.50

Repatriated from the Vavilov Institute for Plant Genetic Resources in Russia by Irish Seed Savers, this is an Irish bred flax variety of note. Referenced by Dr. GDH Bell (Cambridge) in his book 'Cultivated Plants of the Farm' 1948, he explained that "pre 1940's the flax grown for the United Kingdom, by Ireland, had been of Russian and Dutch origin. Breeding work commenced on these stocks by mass selection and were an improvement on the originals but they were subsequently given place to the Irish bred varieties, the best of which include the variety Liral Crown". Flax is grown both for its nutritional seeds and for its fibers. Various parts of the plant have been used in the past to make fabric, dye, paper, medicines, fishing nets, soap, and bowstrings. It is also grown as an ornamental plant in gardens for it's exquisite ethereal mauve/blue flowers. Grows to 60cm, 5 seed heads per plant Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 300

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Peperone Friarello Pepper

€3.50

This sweet and flavourful red frying pepper comes from Southern Italy. The tall bush plants may need some support as they become weighed down with plentiful fruits throughout the season. This variety produces lots of bright green fruits developing a deep red colour as they ripen. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 35

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Haldenstein Spinach

€3.50

Named for Haldenstein: the Swiss town where people have been growing this heirloom variety since before WWI. Our original seed source came from True Love Seeds in Philadelphia and we concur that the leaves are large and mild with a wonderful nutty flavor. The seeds are quite distinctive in that they are almost triangular and pointed compared with the clusters of round seeds one would expect. Spinach is rich in iron, vitamin C and E, potassium, and magnesium. It's no wonder Popeye ate so much! Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 250

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Lambs Lettuce

€3.50

This hardy salad crop, also known as field salad or mache, has been cultivated and eaten for hundreds of years. The small green leaves have a soft texture and a mild, gentle flavour, invaluable in winter salads. Average Seeds Per Pack: 300

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Tibet Apple Tomato

€3.50

An extremely rare heritage tomato from Tibet. Pinkish red in colour, a medium beefsteak type with fleshy. Certified Organic

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Sunnybrook Pepper

€3.50

An early ripening bell pepper. Small plants producing an abundance of beautiful medium-sized fruits that ripen to a stunning deep scarlet red from August onwards, even in a cool overcast summer. Deliciously crisp with sweet and fruity flavour. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 25

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Wautoma Cucumber

€3.50

Early and productive stripy green cucumber, originally bred in the US. Quick to set fruit and not at all bitter. The fruit can be harvested when small for pickles or left to grow as a short slicing cucumber. Good disease resistance. Average Seeds Per Pack: 16

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Cylindra/Formanova Beetroot

€3.50

A wonderful heirloom from Denmark, famous for slicing with long cylindrical roots. This tender and sweet variety with dark red flesh is also known as ‘Butter Slicer’ or ‘Cooks Delight’ because of its wonderful texture.

Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 300

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IBM Linseed/Flax

€3.50

This variety was repatriated from the Vavilov Institute for Plant Genetic Resources in Russia, and, as is the norm with most gene banks, background information is scant and we haven't been able to locate any references to this particular variety to-date. We have however unearthed the root of the expression "tow-head" or "toe-head," which was used to describe a person with blond hair; it comes from the name for the fine, oft-tangled fibers left behind in the hackles, when processing flax into linen! The familiar wispy blue flowers of this variety transform into beautiful golden orbs full of plump, nutritious seeds. It's very easy to grow and to save the seeds if you're happy to share some with the birds who have that inherent ability to determine the optimum time for seed maturation! Grows to 80cm, 5 seed heads per plant. Sow: March/April Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 300

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Grandmothers Sweet William

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

An early-flowering variety, coming to us from Vermont, USA. A lovely bright and fragrant mix in shades of pinks, purples and whites. Long, firm stems make it an ideal cut flower throughout summer. A short-lived perennial. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 350

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Tobacco

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

Tobacco plant, Nicotiana, has become a popular bedding plant in recent years. This lovely variety is especially tall-growing, with broad, luscious leaves and crowned with many pink-white trumpet-shaped flowers. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 100

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China Rose Radish

€3.50

This lovely winter radish came as the name suggests from China and was introduced to Europe in the 1880s. Perfect for autumn planting, the long, cylindrical, tapering roots reach 15-20cm in length and 5cm in diameter. The skin is a beautiful rose colour, with white tips and firm white flesh. These spicy, peppery roots are delicious when cooked up, or even sliced and eaten raw. A very good variety for storage. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 250

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Lebanese Salad Rocket

€3.50

These rocket seeds were brought back to Mud Island Community Garden by garden member Mark Kawa from the Lebanon. They nick-named it Lebanese Rocket when planting the seeds with little hope for such a hot climate plant, but it has thrived in winter and summer. If not regularly picked it quickly goes to seed but the leaves do not go as bitter as others. The delicate champagne coloured flowers are equally delicious and mild. If properly managed it can grow to a mass of about 30cm and planted as edible filler in the flower garden. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 700

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Foxglove

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

This striking native wildflower loves the edge of shady places - hedgerows banks, woodlands, mountains and moors. An elegant plant with dozens of purple, inner-speckled, tubular flowers that cluster around a tall stem, reaching 1.5m in height. As a biennial, the plants will produce foliage in their first year, with the magical flowering spikes developing in the second. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 100

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Black Plum Tomato

€3.50

Originating from Russia, this shaped oval shaped salad tomato came to Irish Seed Savers in 1999 via the Seed Savers Exchange in the USA. A high yielding variety. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 30

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Gabacho Negro Tomato

€3.50

This unusual tomato came to us from a seed saving community in Portugal. The name literally means ‘the Black French Guy’. A striking fruit to look at, oval in shape and has an amazing dark red colour, with darker shoulders. Medium sized and absolutely ideal for cooking delicious sauces. A cordon-type and healthy cropper too. Average Seeds Per Pack: 45

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Major Doon Swede

€3.50

This Northern Irish heritage variety is a superb, purple-topped globe swede, with an excellent sweet flavour. It’s great raw and stores well – if you don’t eat them all straight away of course! Probably the same cultivar as Major Dunne, based on observation trials. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 450

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Ruby Regis

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

Our seed for this variety came from ‘Bôite de Graines’ a seed company in France where our former staff member Flora Barteau now works. It is a stunning upright bushy annual with masses of deep-veined, funnel-shaped, bright pink blooms. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 50

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Ox-Eye Daisy

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

This large, cheerful wildflower grows to 80cm tall, with flowerheads 25-50mm in diameter. The flowers consist of soft yellow centres, surrounded by bright white rays. A dramatic and lovely native plant to add to the garden. Seeds are best started in pots, left to overwinter outside, and planted out in plugs in the spring Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 100

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Table Talk Pea

€3.50

This is a vigorous, thick-stemmed variety. Reaching heights of 2.5-3m, adequate support is definitely required for this robust pea. Lovely white flowers and soft marbled green leaves develop as the plant grows, giving way to a plethora of pods. Highly productive, with pods containing an average of 8 large peas developing well into the season. The peas are delicious – very sweet and crunchy when raw, softening after cooking. If you have the space, this is a highly recommended variety to grow. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 45

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Mila’s Bulgarian Red Pepper

€3.50

This tapering variety of pepper produces beautiful, thick-walled, juicy, sweet, scarlet fruits. The plants are vigorous and productive, with tapering fruits of 10-15cm in length developing in abundance throughout the autumn. They have waxy skin which may help them to be storable for longer. These seeds came to us via Clare Island from Christophe and Ciara who had grown them in their garden tunnels. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 25

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Evening Primrose

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

Beautiful yellow, bowl-shaped, flowers along a tall spike. Blooming from June to September. They release a light fragrance in the evening and are very attractive to nighttime pollinators including moths. A tall plant that self-seeds readily. In modern times the oil has been extracted from the plant and used medicinally for regulating hormones. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 100

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Rocoto Chilli Pepper

€3.50

A rare variety originally from Peru, this chilli is a mainstay of native peoples on both sides of the Andes. Its high pungency has given rise to regional names like ‘levanta muertos’ (raising the dead) or ‘gringo huanuchi’ (gringo killer). It scores 7-8 (out of 10) on the Scoville Scale invented to test the ‘fire’ of chilli peppers. A fantastic cropper producing lots of vibrant red, round fruit. It is also one of the most cold tolerant capsicum varieties and produces plenty of seed for saving! Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 25

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Stenu Pea

€3.50

This is a tall variety, up to 2m in height, so the plants will need good support. the word ‘Stenu’ itself means wall or rock in several Eastern European languages, perhaps referring to what it was grown on. Gorgeous pink-purple flowers produce pods of up to 8 peas. Lovely eaten raw when young, and they sweeten up even more when cooked. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 50

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Pam’s Speckled Climbing French Bean

€3.50

Originally from China, this variety was donated to us by supporter Pam from Wales, who has saved this beautiful bean for 20 years. The pods are streaked dark purple-red against light green, making them a highly decorative plant as well as being delicious to eat. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 30

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Galina Siberian Tomato

€3.50

This yellow cherry tomato was introduced from Siberia so it's well-adapted to cool climes. Vigorous and early maturing. Producing numerous trusses of bright yellow fruit. with an irresistable complex sweet flavour. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 45

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Sean Flynn’s Westmeath Greens (Cabbage)

€3.50

Grown originally by Sean Flynn of Killucan/Cloughan, Co. Westmeath, we trialled this cut-and-come variety in 2020. A medium-sized cabbage, with a lightly crinkled, semi-flat green leaf. The flavour is mild and delicious, producing plenty of leaves throughout the season. Average Seeds Per Pack: 250

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Grandpa Admires Lettuce

€3.50

A variety named for an American civil war veteran born in 1822. This lovely loose-leaved lettuce has large, crisp, juicy leaves that are light green in colour tinged with bronze. Grows well even in poor weather.

Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 200

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Angelica

€3.50

A herb taking its name from an angel who revealed its virtues of protection from infection to a monk. It is a biennial, though often lives longer, and can grow to a height of 2m. A statuesque plant which is is easy to grow, prefers damp ground and self-seeds readily. All parts of this lovely plant are subtly aromatic and have both medicinal and culinary uses. It is often cooked with tart fruits like rhubarb, helping to reduce the acidity. The seeds are used in biscuits, and both seed and root are ingredients in some liqueurs. BIENNIAL Average seeds per pack 100

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Red Faro Quinoa

€3.50

From the North of Chile, ‘Red Faro’ is both productive and attractive with red-pink foliage and cream seed heads. Less prone to mold and suitable for our cool, damper climate. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 300

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Shintokiwa Cucumber

€3.50

A long Japanese burpless type, tender and sweet even when large. This productive and delicious variety needs to be grown with protection.

Average Seeds Per Pack: 16

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