Hudson Valley Seed Library

The Hudson Valley Seed Library in New York is a small seed company that specializes in heirloom seeds with a history in that area or are varieties that do well there. The Hudson Valley Seed Library is run by partners Ken Greene and Doug Muller with help from friends. They grow out some of the seed themselves, contract local certified organic farmers to grow out varieties and purchase some wholesale.

Their seed offerings are divided into three types of seed packs. The art packs, pictured above, have garnered them a lot of attention recently among gardeners and artists. The art packs are designed by artists in the New York area.

The library seed pack are seeds that have been grown by member farmers and gardeners. Most of these seeds were grown on their farm in Accord, New York. The garden packs are seeds that have been purchased through seed suppliers like most other seed companies.

A closer view of an art pack. This one is for Spotted Trout Lettuce.

Another art seed pack from the Hudson Valley Seed Library, this one for Piracicaba Broccoli.

The last art pack from the Hudson Valley Seed Library, this one for Arugula.


Besides purchasing heirloom seeds from the Seed Library you can also become a member or buy a gift membership for another gardener. As a seed saver I really like the idea of their membership program because they give discounts on membership renewals to current members who save seeds from the plants they grow and return them to the library.

I first learned about the Hudson Valley Seed Library last year on Twitter where we've exchanged mutual follows. One day I saw a message from them offering seeds in exchange for pictures of veggies in their online catalog they didn't have. So, I looked through the archive of my garden photos and found a few pictures they were in need of and bartered them for these seeds. How awesome is that?

Even though I've had these seed packs for over a month I have yet to sow any of the seeds because I can't bring myself to actually open them; they're just too beautiful to break open. Maybe I'll just frame them and display them. If you're looking to buy heirloom seeds check out SeedLibrary.org where you can browse their online garden seed catalog, become a member or get seed starting tips on their blog.

If you're looking for seed sowing information check out the Seed Snatcher search engine powered by Google where you can find tips and techniques for starting all kinds of seeds for your garden. There's is also the Seed Snatcher blog where I post interesting seed related news and images I come across.