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.

Download 2023 Heirloom Seed Catalogue

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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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Twiggy Pea

€3.50

This variety hails from the ‘Court of Eden Seed Savers’ in Holland. Approximately 1.2m tall, this variety produces full pods, with up to 8 peas per pod. The plants are quite remarkable, with beautiful, extensively curled ‘twig’ like tendrils, which are beautiful for garnishing dishes. Excellent flavour. Average seeds per pack 50

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Land Cress

€3.50

Also known as American cress, these dark green leaves have a spicy flavour like water cress, but the plants are much easier to grow. Compact plants form attractive lobed leaves in rosettes. They thrive in the summer and autumn, but will also happily carry on throughout winter due to their cold tolerance. It’s surprising this delicious, peppery plant isn’t grown more widely! Average seeds per pack 1400

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Evergreen Bunching Onion

€3.50

Sometimes known as a ‘Welsh onion’, this is an easy to grow perennial onion that doesn’t develop a bulb, but rather forms a cluster of lush green stems much like scallions but a little broader. To harvest, keep cutting the stems to eat fresh, either raw or cooked. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 200

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Red Orache Spinach

€3.50

A beautiful edible leaf vegetable from the Amaranth family, also known as mountain spinach or orache. Though not widely grown these days, it has in fact been a source of food for people since the Mesolithic era. A fast growing, cool tolerant leaf, with taste and colour to rival any spinach, it has the added bonus of being bolt resistant. Definitely the new kid on the block. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 250

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Savoir Se Bree Sage

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

A stunning ornamental sage variety from our friends at ‘Bôite de Graines’ in France. Growing up to 2m, these plants created a stunning structural display in our Inis Glas garden. Delightful delicate blue/mauve flowers bloom prolifically and have that wonderful sage aroma, a real pleasure to behold. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 50

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Rezha Macadonia Chilli

€3.50

This attractive chilli produces long tapering fruit, up to 2.5cm wide and 19cm long. The plants grow very well in Capparoe, producing plenty of fruit throughout late summer and well into autumn. The fruits have characteristic ‘corking’, with light-brown striations contrasting beautifully against the deep red skin. In intensity the fruit ranges from medium to hot, and is deeply flavourful. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 25

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Manpuku-Ji Onaga Carrot

€3.50

Manpuku-Ji is a temple located in Uji, Kyoto-Japan, and Onaga translates from Japanese as ‘having a long tail’. This striking, long-rooted orange carrot prefers good deep soil to grow at its best. Good for late sowings up to end of June. Very sweet flavour, especially good in Japanese miso soup. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 700

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Slovenian Runner Bean

€3.50

The original seed of this variety came to us from local educator and active community man, Pearse O’Shiel, who himself got them from a Slovenian market. The plants produce delightful peach and red flowers, which make way for medium-sized pods that contain an average of four seeds per pod. The tasty pods when mature contain attractive bean seeds that are speckled and buff-brown in colour. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 12

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Red Florence Onion

€3.50

Long Red Florence, also known as Italian Red Torpedo, is an Italian heirloom originating from Tuscany sometime in the 1800s. This variety is known for its long purple-red ‘torpedo’ shaped bulbs, which have a delicious mild, sweet flavour. Can be used raw in salads as well as cooked. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 200

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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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Dottenfelder Dauer Cabbage

€3.50

A vigorous, short-stemmed variety with a firm, round/oval head and short inner stalk. Under good conditions the heads (averaging 1.5kg) can be stored well until January. It is delicious cooked and also ideal for eating raw. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 250

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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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Sweet William – Grandmothers

€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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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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Bob Broad Bean

€3.50

Gifted to us by a Hungarian supporter with little more than ‘Bob’ on the packet, we were intrigued by this little bean. After some research, we discovered that ‘Bób’ is the Polish word for broad bean, and that these small-sized beans are often used in a traditional ‘Bób Salatki’ or broad bean salad. The robust plants produce beans that resemble the ‘Windsor’ type, having shorter pods and round, smaller beans. Delicious tossed with olive oil and fresh herbs in a traditional ‘Bób Salatki’ for a light, protein-rich dish. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 15

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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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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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Matador Spinach

€3.50

An old variety, with medium-to-dark green smooth leaves that have a distinctively spear-shaped appearance. Very productive and can be sown nearly all year round, ours overwintered very well in the polytunnel. The tasty leaves can be eaten fresh or cooked. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 250

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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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