Seed Packing

When I first started gardening, one of the first things I asked was "where do these seeds come from"? Now, I know this seems silly to those that grow plants, but surprisingly there are many people out there that don't know where seeds come from. That's what led me down the path of seed saving for my own use. It started with Peppers, then moved to Tomatoes and then to anything else I could harvest seed from. Then, one day in 2006 I said "hey, can we sell these"? We started packing them up on a small basis and selling them on eBay. The thing was, they sold!

From there we started finding reliable wholesale sources of seed, learned about germination testing and found ways to pack and label so they're in compliance with the federal seed act. The easiest way to start was to use small poly bags to pack the seeds in and use Avery address labels with the information. The biggest reason we use those is because there is very little information on the Internet on where to obtain "real" seed packets. Sure, do a search and you'll find a dozen suppliers of wildflower packets custom designed with your logo. The problem is these are designed for marketing campaigns and based on the pricing I've received there's NO viable way to make any money using them.

So, I contacted Botanical Interests (since I love their packet) and asked where they have them made. And, as most gardeners are, they were more than willing to share the information. Turns out they use a company out of NY named Hamer Packaging. If you call them, ask for Brian, he handles the seed packets (I was quoted 34.95 per 1000, minimum of 5000). While on the phone with him I asked about packing equipment, specifically to automate the filling and sealing of the printed packets. He said there aren't many machines out there for this purpose and those that are sell for $100K. He told me about a "co-packer" in NY named Crosman seed that you send the cleaned raw seed to along with the printed packets and off you go.

Another search for "contract seed packing" yielded Ed Hume Seed Company. I called and spoke with Joe about this service. They can supply the seed, packets or you can and they'll pack them up in minimums of 500 at .07 each. Not a bad option… He also mentioned that they get packets from Cambridge Pacific who I'm going to give a call to tomorrow. Joe said their minimums are lower than Hamer so it's worth asking.

All in all, I have to really thank Michelle at Botanical Interests, she was a tremendous help finding this information. Now that I've done I'm trying to find more information on packing equipment.