Comments regarding Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.

The seed I ordered here were a big hit. Beautiful old varieties of many different flowers. Love their gorgeous catalog. A joy to read on a cold winters' night, and then all through the year. A masterpiece, really! BRAVO, to you at Baker Creek!

I ordered for the first time this year from Baker Creek and I had mixed results. My squashes and radishes did well, but didn't have the same color quality as the photos in the catalog. I realize that the climate they are grown in can affect things, but... oh well.

I was very disappointed with the Black Garbanzo Beans. I had purchased other colors of garbanzo beans and all were planted on the same day. The others came relatively well, but the black ones didn't have a single sprout. I read up on them and quickly ordered another package. Still no luck with these either.

When I called the company about this and asked about their policies in regards to their germination testing, I didn't receive much information. I know from other problems in the past that other companies have laboratories on site for testing. Sending out seed that doesn't germ at all (even in a wet towel) is not good service.

"On Sep 12, 2009 11:09 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

Sorry to hear about your problems with the Garbanzo's. We test all seeds to state and federal standards and I have not heard of any other problems with this seed, so I am not sure what is the problem, every once in a while a type of seed just won't sprout...

I am so sorry,

Please call 866-OLDSEED for a refund,

Thanks!
Jere"

Lack of Information ! Lack of Help

I would consider my self an amateur Gardner with experience in citrus, herbs, & bonsai with some formal education from college level course in botany & horticulture.

I herd of this new seed bank a deiced to give them a call. I live an hour away and my time to me is just as valuable as your time to you.

First off it was impossible for me to find the number to the Petaluma Location. Google Maps couldn't even retrieve an address let alone a phone number. Yellow pages was also unable to locate a phone number let alone the business. I had to do research on Baker Seed Heirloom to acquire a phone number for a Missouri location so that i could find the number for the California location.

Finally as i call in i am poorly greeted by an older lady. I begin to share my experience recommending they update their contact info as this may be interfering with business. She mentioned quickly she just got a cash register, but was short on time for me. I replied with "i am a customer and am interested in some herbs & spices, including citrus & more specifically oranges, seeds versus grafting." She invited me to come down and take a look, i commented by taking her up on her offer but would like to know quickly about the oranges so as not to waste a trip. Her final comment before she disconnected my call "Im busy come down and take a look" CLICK !

I'm afraid i wont be taking them on their offer to visit their location and would much rather visit a nursery or make my purchase online. They say it takes 10 perfect transactions to take 1 customer from Brand Assassin (sharing dislike of the company) to Brand Loyal ( praise for the company). However for every 1 brand assassin, he will more than likely recruit another 10 by sharing his experiences with his family & friends.

Not to be cliche... All it takes is 1 bad apple...

"On Sep 12, 2009 11:16 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

So sorry for your poor experience with our new store, sorry about the service, I am sad to hear you were treated poorly and we are working to fix any prolems like this. But we no nothing about citrus trees, grafting and bonsai, we are a heirloom seed company, not a orchard or tree specialist, so I suggest contacting some one in the line of work.

We only do seeds, like vegetables, flowers and herbs.

Sorry,

Jere"

I work with a woman in New York who opened a gardening boutique this past year. We would love to carry a really amazing seed company in the shop so we did some research and bought from a few companies with outstanding reputations. Baker Creek was one of these "outstanding" companies. I've been gardening from a very young age and although I don't consider myself to be an expert, I feel that I've had enough experience growing vegetables from seed to be able to tell a good seed from a bad seed. I ordered about 15 different varieties of herbs and vegetables and the only seed that even germinated was a green pepper that grew to about one inch and never got any larger. I was pretty upset with the results and certainly won't be ordering from them again. Needless to say, we will not be ordering the seeds for our new shop either.

"On Sep 12, 2009 11:21 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

So sorry to hear about the poor results, please note these are not normal, but a lot of things can happen to little seeds from the time they leave our place until they are planted, and some times they are damaged in shipping.

So sorry! all our seeds meet federal standards when they leave are place, so it is sad to hear when they dont work out. I know that is so disappointing!

Please call 866-OLDSEED for a refund!

Sorry,
Jere"

Over the last 10 yrs or so, I have bought hundreds of seeds from them. I "stash" seeds in addition to using them. I have a small freezer that is dedicated to seed saving (stashing). I have never had a problem with any of the seeds that I bought- even the ones that have been frozen for quite a while.
I too get free packs of seeds occ'ly and don't care what the free packs are. The fact that these people are nice enough to give me something for buying from them is great.
They have always been courteous, friendly and immediately taken care of anything that I bring to their attention.
I will continue to buy seeds from them and support them. They are a valuable resource for us.

When I first ordered from this company, I did notice that their website and order tracking does leave a bit to be desired. Hopefully, as their success increases they can address those issues a little better. :)

Overall, my order came in a timely manner, considering that it was the middle of "seed season" and everything was wrapped in bubble wrap and no seeds were missing or broken. I was a bit disappointed that my Asian Winged Beans were back ordered and therefore cancelled. Now that I know about that option of writing that you want the back order shipped when its available, that won't happen again next year.

I planted my seeds, the squash did great, but some of the other seeds had poor or no germination. I know that these things happen, sometimes at no fault of the seed company. I called the company and they were VERY PLEASANT TO DEAL WITH. They made every effort to be kind and to make sure that I was satisfied. I ended up getting my winged beans after all and some other items I hadn't thought to order the first time around, in place of my low germinating items that were now out of stock. The ones that are still in stock are being shipped as well. It was a win win situation for all.

I am very satisfied with Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and I will definitely be ordering from them again. I would encourage anyone who has left negative or neutral feedback to give them a call and the opportunity to make things right. I don't think you will be disappointed. :)

The seeds arrived within two weeks which I think is pretty good for an international order. The seeds have all germinated and the seedlings are doing very well. I will definitely order from them again.

I am very disappointed at the quality of their seed. EVERYTHING I ordered from them either did not sprout, or just plain dampened off and died. I've been gardening for a long time, and this is the first time I've ever had this much difficulty. I had no problem with the seed purchased elsewhere.

"On Sep 12, 2009 11:23 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

So sorry, please call for a refund, 866-oldseed,

I am not sure what was the problem, as the seeds have been sprouting great for us,

Sorry!
Jere"

One of the best heirloom seed companies. Many great products and good service.

Baker Creek seeds made our summer last year--this review is long overdue. Driven mad by Amy Goldman books, I ordered six varieties each of heirloom melon and squash. Seeds arrived, very nicely packed, about 10 days later. Nearly 100 % germination, combined with an unusually long fall meant lots of melons and squash for us and for Project Angel Heart. Baker Creek has many varieties, great prices AND they've signed the Safe Seed Pledge. Website very easy to navigate, a lush and tempting paper catalog, and yes, great politics. I will happily order from this company again.

The catalog is absolutely gorgeous and I think businesses should put their personal opinions wherever they want, I can (and often do) choose not to spend my money with a company whom's politics I don't like. I also don't understand complaining about free seeds, who cares, give them away for someone else to eat if you don't want them.

I put my order in earlier this year and was very greatful to receive everything I ordered, last year I didn't get items.

I also have noticed far more than the minimum seeds in packets.

Great company.

Last month I thought that I would be leaving negative feedback--and I hated the thought--since I have had great experiences with Baker Creek for years. First, there were the delays-although they were more than adequately explained. Then I found that 4 out of 7 of the tomatoes that I'd ordered did not germinate, although they seemed to receive exactly the same culture as the others. Then, the one item I really wanted was missing from a second order. I e-mailed the company and got a quick and very gracious reply. Pam (thank you Pam!) not only said that she would send the missing item out immediately--but would replace the seeds that seemed to be bad. When I set up my replacement tomato seeds-I made a discovery. There was a small fault in a window that (when the wind was from an odd direction) sent a focused blast of Chicago winter air right to the seeds that had not germinated-sparing the ones that had. The fault was plugged and my replacement seeds sprouted vigorously--in the way I had come to expect from Baker Creek seeds.
Given weather problems and the increased demand that the company has been experiencing (it seems that everyone is reponding to high prices by growing produce themselves) I think that they are coping in the best possible way. I am more impressed than ever. They certainly did not have to offer replacements!--especially since the seeds were absolutely fine. I am recommending Baker Creek to every gardener I know.

Shipped seeds very quickly. Seeds all sprouted very quickly. Prices were reasonable and they had a large selection.

Also, they included a free pack of seeds (some carrots). Very nice touch.

Thanks.

I enjoyed the catalog, they have a great selection of seeds that I haven't found anywhere else. Prices and cost of shipping is very reasonable.

I ordered my seeds, after reading such great things from this company, via mail, knowing that it may take a little longer, but I had no problem with that. I had checked online to make sure that nothing I ordered was out of stock. A week after I mailed my order, the check I had sent along with my order was cashed.

Two weeks later, I had still not received my order, so I called BC to confirm if my order had been sent or not. The person I spoke to said that she "couldn't find" my order and that it must be "lost" somewhere. My order had been lost, despite my check being cashed two weeks ago. I offered to mail back a copy of my order form and a copy of the cashed check and explain the situation. She said that would be fine, and we hung up. No apology was offered.

I mailed all the information they needed the next day, along with my address and phone number. A few days later, I received a phone call from BC that told me they received my order again and that they would be sending it soon. I asked, out of curiosity, if anything had gone out of stock since I first sent my order. The man listed about 5 items that I would not be receiving. I was slightly disappointed, but these were items I could live without. No apology was offered.

I did receive my order a few days later (a MONTH after I initially mailed my order form and check, three weeks after my check was cashed), along with a check. Both my first name and last name were misspelled on this check, despite the fact that I had clearly written my name in all capital letters on both my order form and the letter I sent to them. (Please note: This merely an annoyance on top of everything else. Had everything gone right, I would have shrugged it off.) I went through my order to make sure nothing was missing. On the receipt, the items that the man had listed were crossed out, but as I was going through the order I noticed additional things missing (these were items I REALLY DID want). The refund check was written for the full amount of the missing items. Of the 30 or so items I ordered, I wound up not receiving 10 of them.

I checked their website to verify that all these items were out of stock, but they were all listed as available for purchase on their website. I called to verify that these things were actually out of stock and not just a mistake. The person I talked to did verify that these were things that have been out of stock and claimed that there were only 1 or 2 people who could update their website, but she assured me the website was updated regularly. Again, no apology was offered.

While others claim to have received notes of apology for a slight lateness of their order, I have received no apology the four times I've been in contact with them regarding my "lost" order. They lost my order, which caused it to arrive WEEKS late, and now the items that I am missing are out of stock nearly everywhere else. Even now, over a month later, these "missing" items are still listed as available on their website.

Germination rates are good, but many of their seed packets do not have any planting instructions on them, and the ones that do are not variety specific. It appears that the same description is used for all varieties of "tomatoes" or "squash", etc. You must seek out the planting instructions elsewhere.

I am hoping this is an isolated incident and I am willing to give them another shot next year. (I thought I ordered pretty early this year, but will try to order even earlier next year, I guess.) But as of now, I have to say that this has not been a positive experience.

"On Sep 12, 2009 11:31 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

So sorry so much went wrong with your order, we were very understaffed much of this last Winter due to a huge volume of orders, (Double normal volumes) and our regular staff was really streched thin, we had to add on lots of last minute help.

We are working very hard this summer, so hopefully this won't happen again!

I want to tell you how sorry we all feel and offer you a full refund, call us a 866-OLDSEED

Sorry & Thanks,
Jere"

I read about Baker Creek and ordered their catalog early this year. I fell in love with the entire catalog and took 3 weeks to make a decision on 60+ varieties. It was a wonderfully put together catalog with beautiful pictures and illustrations, it also gave a detailed description of the seed and where it came from (which was quite entertaining). I also ordered several books and their Heirloom magazine. My order came in a very timely fashion. The seeds, books etc... came in a box and were well packed. To my surprise they included two free seed packets (yellow star pepper & French beets). They were out of stock on a few things but noted on the form what was missing and gave me an instant check refund stapled to the order. I had such a positive experience that we are planning a trip to their Heritage farm (Baker Creek) for their festival in May (we live in Texas). I love Jere's vision and want to give my $$$$ to a business that has scruples. They are the closest thing to dealing with a old general store atmosphere with a huge selection of rare & heirlooms. I cannot believe that anyone would actually complain about free seeds, that is certainly not a reason to give negative feedback. ****I planted most of my garden in early March - I am in 8A zone and practically everything has sprouted so the seed germinations are above average***I was very surprised by the amount of seed in several packets..if it said 25 seeds on packet there were usually 5 to 10 more.

I ordered bunches of seed from them 2 years ago. They still sprout. When a packet says "minimum 50 seeds," very often there are hundreds in there. I am currently reopening packets for this years sowing and I am happy. I will definitely be a repeat customer.
Thank you Baker Creek.

I was looking for seeds for a fabled "Million Dollar Mellon" about which I had heard in the past but wasn't sure even existed! Via a Google search, I found Baker Creek Heirloom which included an informative blurb about the melons which coincided with the story I had heard. They also had plain old Black Seeded Simpson seeds so I ordered a packet of those as well. Not exactly a big spender order . . . just two packets of seeds, one of which is rare and one of which is very common. But obviously I was not treated any differently from those who would have larger orders because the seeds arrived swiftly and included a free packet of St. Valery Carrot seeds! (YUM!) So far, so very good with Baker Creek!

These guys are the best. The catalog is awesome and cool, I love the quotes! I can feel young creative energy behind this company. The selection is amazing, well described, well illustrated. The seeds were shipped on time and are great. I highly recommend this company, what a pleasure to deal with!

Ordered from them again this year.

Received my shipment minus one item that was no longer in stock in under 7 days.
Got notice when they received my order, got notice when it was packaged on on its way to shipping, and received notice when it was shipped.

Prices can be a little high on some items but it is well worth the price to receive my items in a timely manner; unlike another company I ordered from this year.


Will order again next year.

Ordered seeds on a Sunday night and received them Thursday.

I received everything I ordered.

One of the seeds I ordered was a variety of hot pepper so they gave me free samples of another variety of hot pepper as a bonus.

I couldn't believe how fast the seeds arrived.

I placed my first order with Baker this year after reading so many of the positive comments posted here. I received my order in good time. The only issues I had were the fact that some of the items I ordered were out of stock so I received substitutions but the packing slip did not specify it was a substitution so I wasn't sure if I had received the wrong item or a substitution. I also received a refund for one variety that was out of stock but was completely missing one item.
I emailed them the day I received the order to ask and waited for a response but never received one, finally 2 weeks later I decided to fax them my questions. I am guessing that my original email ended up in email never-never land because Baker Creek responded to the fax within 2 hours, all of my questions were answered and the missing seeds were to be sent out right away. That was on Friday and today is Tuesday so as long as I receive that last packet of seeds soon I will continue to order from them in the future. It is obvious that they try to have good customer service which is more than I can say for some of the other companies I have ordered from this Spring.

I ordered a variety of heirloom tomato seeds, in all colors, and they arrived quickly. I planted three seeds per pot, and except for one type, (which was noted as not germinating well and included extra seeds), nearly every seed germinated, so I've been separating transplants all week, and have three times the tomato plants I intended. If I'd known how well they would do, I'd have put one seed per pot! I did use heat mats and humidity domes for germination & now have the seedlings under good light, but at this point, I have true leaves on all my little plants. Great seeds! Stay away from the Atkinson, which I can't get to germinate at all, and you'll love their heirloom seeds.

Seeds came within a week after I ordered them, even though I had waited until March to place the order. The full packet of free seeds was a nice bonus!

I just received my seed order from Baker Creek Seeds and I still don't know how they managed to get my seeds to me SO FAST!!!

Great job of packaging in bubble-wrap envelope and VERY reasonable shipping charge (I was aghast at some of the shipping charges I was seeing for shipping just seeds).

I've ordered seeds from this company in the past and have always been very satisfied with germination rates and the 'end' results...mostly melons.

I was very pleased at the free packet of seeds that I received happened to be a melon seed (I ordered mostly melon seeds this time) that I had been considering buying/trying.

This is a GREAT, relatively inexpensive source of high quality, unusual and heirloom seeds.

I like Baker Creek. They have interesting varieties and they sent a note of apology for sending the order out late, even though it really wasn't late.

I always find something new that I want to try from their catalogue.

Love the seeds and heirloom veggie/fruit selection at this place! Shipping is ridiculously fast, and customer service excellent. It's a nice touch with the free seed packet in every order too...fun to see what you'll get this season! Definitely a company that has my business for life.

Baker Creek is, hands down, my favorite seed source.

I'm primarily a veggie gardener, with some herbs for cooking and tea thrown in, but I transitioned to heirloom veggies in order to be even more food independent and save seeds.

Basically, I'm a total plant geek and adore gardening.

Now that confession is out of the way.

Their catalog is to die for, truly gardener's porn, if I may say so. Loads of varieties and amazingly strong seed!

While the Applegreen Eggplant had only a 20% germination and was quite weak this year, all of the other dozens of varieties of seeds are strong sprouters with dependable germination. I find their descriptions spot on and really liked that when I called to try to find out a particular breed of eggplant for a container in the hot coastal south, she could spout one right off and give particulars.

For those concerned with GMO, I think it is great this year that they don't just sign the safe seed pledge, they TEST for contamination. That is significant for us home scale corn growers.

And I like the free seeds. Of course it will be whatever they have extra of, but it is still super fun to find the treat in the box.

I ordered last year. Service was prompt, the veggies grew well, and varieties appeared to be the ones advertised.

My single small complaint is that I wish the catalog would provide more specific information about growing conditions, zone hardiness and days to maturity for each seed they list.

The quotes in the catalog are thought-provoking, especially the ones I don't agree with! And the photos are works of art. Together, they provide food for the mind and soul.

I appreciate the fact that Baker Creek makes their catalog readily available in print. For comparing varieties, this format is much easier than online. This year, I requested two catalogs in print. Baker Creek's arrived in a week; the other hasn't shown up after a month. Baker Creek gets 100% of my order this year!

I ordered for the first time. The shipping was prompt, the catalog is wonderful. I enjoy the quotes in the catalog, regardless of my personal views. Those that did not like them were not forced to read them. Duh. The manifest was hand signed with a thank you which is a quality and rare touch these days. I will be ordering from them in the future.

This was my first order with Baker's, but I was very satisfied. Seeds came quickly, within a week, with an apology that they weren't mailed sooner! The germination was the best of any of my seeds this year so far. And I love the catalog, and the free packet of seeds you get with your order!

I've been ordering from this seed company for several years and have been glad to see their selection grow. This year they even had some things that I had ordered from Europe, like Crapaudine beet. I was bowled over by the catalog. And I liked the politics they had in there. Fits in with other catalogs like Fedco and J.L. Hudson.

This was my first time ordering from Baker Creek, and I am pleased with the experience. My order only took a couple of weeks to arrive, which is apparently longer than normal because they included a note explaining the delay was due to that major ice storm. One seed packet was out of stock, and they included the refund with my seeds. So far, I have only started the lettuce seeds and the germination rate seems great. Shipping is only $3 -- you can't beat that! And their catalog is GORGEOUS, and I really appreciate the time and attention they devote to highlighting the powerful forces that are influencing seed/food production -- something we as gardeners and as Americans should understand better.

Put my order in early this year, as I had suspected every seed company would get behind. Ordered January 21, order came on January 31-well ahead of the others I'd ordered from.
As for the political and other statements in the catalog, isn't that what freedom means? He has the right to post it--You have the right to not read it.
I'll definetly order every year.

I also did not find out they were out of 2 products I wanted until I opened my mail, found a five dollar bill stapled to my invoice and had to sort through the other packets to find out what was missing. There was no email, no note on the invoice, nothing. I wish they would have told me, so I could have immediately ordered these two varieties from somewhere else.

Great pictures in the catalogue, just leave the politics to those who ask for it!! (I didn't ask for you opinion).

Too bad they ran out of the variety I really wanted just wish I would have know that before I ordered.

I have ordered seed from Baker Creek the past three years. Their shipping prices are the best and fast, seed selection is incredible, germination is always very high. I love this company! As for the free seeds, I've never got the same pack twice and am always have to have them!

The Baker catalog is great and I look forward every year to recieving it. My children gave me a hundred dollar gift certificate for Christmas. Being overwhelmed by all the choices I sent an email to Baker asking them for feedback about what kinds of corn and tomatoes to order. I never got a response. I emailed to find status of my order again no response. I ended up ordering eighteen different tomatoes so in retrospect the feedback didnt end up being so important because I used the shotgun effect. It would have been nice to get a response. I ended up ordering the corn from Seed Savers who was more than happy to give me the feedback I was looking for. I decided to call and find out status of my order and had difficulty getting anyone on the phone. Eventually I got a gentleman on the phone named Randall who was very patient with me and gave me feedback on my order even telling me how to prepare certain seed for germination and what strains he thought were good choices. I sent along an email to Baker complimenting Randalls professionalism and how cool I thought he was. I got no response. It is my thought and hope that when I see how the seeds perform that I can revisit this site and change my neutral to a positive. Let me make clear that in the grand scheme of things this is not way up on the importance scale but I think it is important the company knows what is up . The company should give their client base an opportuinity to be able to order on line with a gift certificate. In the present configuration they dont give you that option. I had to fax the order. I will continue to do business with Baker but hope on the next go around they are more responsive to my questions and concerns. I look forward in anticipation to see how the seeds perform and hope it sways my review to a positive. I confirmed the email address and know I had it correct. I hope we can improve on our business relationship.

"On Sep 12, 2009 11:39 PM, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. responded with:

So sorry for everything!

Our mail server lost many emails last winter, but know seems to be working again, so sorry for the lack of responce, we reply to emails in a couple of days under normal conditions, and the gentleman you talked with answers many of them.

So sorry!

We also had a shortage of phone lines last season, but are working to get that fixed for the coming season!

If you have any other comments or suggestions please call us a 866-OLDSEED

Thanks!
Jere

"

As much as I bought from them they always give me the same free seed packet - it's either Lemon Cucumber or St Valery's Carrot. What's up with that?????

I rather they did'nt give me any because every time I get that packet of stupid free seed it just makes me mad. I heard other people get great free seed packet.

I won't buy from them anymore.

This is the 8th year I've ordered seeds (usually 20-40 varieties of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants) from Baker Creek.

I have only experienced good to excellent germination in that time, with the "good" (60%) germination fairly rare, and in seeds that BC had clearly marked on the packet that seed was overpacked due to poor germination rates. That occurred only 3 times in 7 years, among about 130+ varieties sampled.

The customer service is excellent and staff are immediately and warmly responsive whenever I've called with questions about a particular variety.

BC also fills a niche for Appalachian and Ozarks gardeners by offering many of our less-common heirlooms to a wider audience at affordable prices.

The only minor disappointment I've had is that bulk quantities for a particular variety may be available one year but not the next, or that a particular variety popular here may not be available at all in bulk. Still, the overall selection of varieties available in bulk is very good.