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 2024 Heirloom Seed Catalogue

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Bluebells

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

These beautiful late-spring native flowers like to grow in shady conditions that mirror their classic woodland habitat, but will tolerate sunny and semi-sunny sites. Lovely, tubular, purple-blue flowers droop on top of the long racemes that emerge from April-June. Seeds are best started in pots, left to overwinter outside, and planted out in plugs in the spring. Average Seeds Per Pack: 50

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Shetland Cabbage/Kale

€3.50

This is the oldest known local vegetable variety in Scotland, grown on the Shetland Isles since as far back as the 1500s. Due to the extreme weather on the Shetlands, the cabbage seeds were planted in “Plantie Crubs” (small circular stone-walled enclosures) before transplanting into larger fields, which were also enclosed in stone walls. This rare cabbage grew beautifully on a windy hillside in Clare, hardy right through the winter. The heads of this variety are quite open, the green leaves tinged a beautiful pink-purple, deepening as winter progresses. The outer leaves were traditionally used as animal feed. The cabbage itself has a distinctive peppery taste that was once a prized ingredient of mutton stew on the Northern Isles. Average Seeds Per Pack: 250

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Amish Salad Tomato

€3.50

This rare variety comes from the Amish people of Pennsylvania. The bountiful plants give many trusses full of fruit all throughout the season. The plum-shaped fruit is medium-sized and pink-red in colour, with a lovely fresh sweet but tangy flavour. Excellent sliced for salads, and good cooked too. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 30

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Lucullus Chard

€3.50

This variety is of Italian heritage and was named after the Roman General ‘Lucius Luccullus’, renowned for his splendid banquets and vast gardens some 2000 years ago. It was introduced in 1914 and won the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Quite hardy through the winter, with heavily ‘crimped’, bright, lush green leaves and white stalks that are almost like asparagus when cooked. Young flowering stalks in spring can be eaten like sprouting broccoli. It has the seal of approval from ‘Scoil Chroi’, in Galway who shared that “Lucullus was a big hit with students of all ages, they loved it, devouring it raw”.

Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 200

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Clay Pot Corn

€3.50

This maize corn variety gets its name from the clay pots that the seed was found in. The history of this corn goes back to the Anasazi people some 500 years ago, with this seed coming originally from Hopi elders. It grew very high in the tunnel, providing large colourful cobs with kernels in stunning shades of violet and black to shades of red, yellow, gold and cream. As this variety is a maize type, it is more suited for grinding into flour than eating as a sweet ‘corn on the cob’. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 26

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Domatsu Climbing French Bean

€3.50

Bred by Alan Kapular and brought to us by our seed ambassadors visiting from Oregon a few years back, this variety has been described as ‘beautiful, vigorous and prolific’. The tender green beans are mild and delicious, and the mature bean seeds make a delicious addition to stews. Certified Organic Average seeds per pack 30

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Robelija Onion

€3.50

A vigorous, robust red onion. Dark round-flat bulbs. Matures quite early and is very productive, also stores very well for a red onion if kept under optimal conditions (cool, dark and dry environment). Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 200

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February Orchid

€3.50

Also known as Chinese cress, this variety originally comes from China, and was made popular by the grower and gardening writer, Joy Larkcom. This mild and tasty brassica plant is usually used for salad or cooking greens. If sown in summer and autumn it will produce leaves through the winter, followed by beautiful edible violet flowers in spring. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 150

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Golden Rain Dwarf French Bean

€3.50

This prolific dwarf variety produces uniform plants with lovely yellow pods and wonderfully golden/brown beans when mature. The young pods can be steamed or stir-fried, and the mature beans can be cooked up in soups or stews.
Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 30

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Hopi Red Dye Amaranth

€3.75 (€3.75 incl VAT)

This plant came from the Hopi people of Arizona and New Mexico, and is so-called because the stems were used to make a food colouring for their ‘Piki’ bread. The leaves can be used like spinach, and are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals. The plants can grow up to 1.4m, the flowers a vibrant, rich, deep red, making a stunning display as they hang in cascades 30-60cm long. Because of its height, this lovely plant benefits from some staking. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 600

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Sweet Mona’s Dill

€3.50

This lovely herb produces clear lemon-yellow flower heads, which are highly attractive to insects. It is very easy to grow, and its fern-like, aromatic leaves are perfect for salads, with fish, pickles and sauces. The seeds can also be harvested and used for flavouring, particularly along with gherkins. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 200

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John’s Purple Carrot

€3.50

This wonderful variety has been selected from a bunch of orange carrots by John Purves in Oxford in the 1970s. Over time he obtained a pure line of purple roots, quite beautiful and unique, crisp and extremely flavoursome. Certified Organic Average Seeds Per Pack: 700

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