Hello, and welcome to our online store.
My wife Jasmine (Squirrel) and I (Darren) have been gardening and seed saving together for around ten years and we love it, the varieties we have for sale here are mostly grown ourselves in our organic, chemical free, Permaculture inspired gardens. We have grown, tried and tested many varieties, but here you will just find our personal favourites. We don't have the largest selection, however the seed in our seedbank is of the highest quality.
Life-Force Seeds was borne as a Husband & Wife having the same passion for self-sufficiency, eco-systems and seed itself. Seed is a perfect thing in all ways, the potential and data held within a single seed is mind-blowing to us, we are seed nerds! We quickly discovered how abundant plants were in seed production and had enough for a lifetime in two years, so we created a brand and started offering our seed for sale at our local nursery. More and more people wanted our seed, our seedbank grew and so here we are.
If you have a variety you feel is a must have, be sure to let us know about it. A lot of our favourites were by word-of-mouth, or seed given to us. Particularly interested in those rare Heirlooms. Also if you have an old Heirloom and wanted it to be presserved and kept safe in our seed bank as back up or put on the market please contact me. I would encourage all to keep an eye out, ask your grandparants if they have Heirloom seeds, these Heirlooms are disapearing quickly and once there gorne thats it.
We are always looking to work with local organic growers to supply seed. Please contact us to discuss.
Our personal recommendations.
It's that time of the year again, Poppy season YAY!
Be sure to check out Jasmine's unique range of popppy flowers to britten up your late winter/early spring.
Pictured: Shirley's Double
Zucchini, Tromboncino
Traditionally harvested young like zucchinis but can also be eaten as you would pumpkin. Grows on a vine, very productive, super tasty.
Watermelon, Blacktail Mountain
We have grown a number of watermelons over the years, but this Blacktail has never let us down, great colour, sweet and crisp texture. Ideal for cooler climates.
Chilli, Cayenne Long Thin
One of the best know hot chillies, great as fresh chopped, dried and ground or pickling.
Radish French Breakfast
A very early market garden mild radish of French origin. Perhaps the fastest-growing radish.
Zucchini Lebanese
New line of Zucchini recommended to us to try out, and a real keeper. New staple in our seed bank.
Cucumber, Richmond River Green Apple
When we first started selling our seed at the nursery, local after local was asking for this cucumber Richmond River, we had to try it, since 2012 it has been a staple here in our gardens, grown every other year. Great prolific cucumber, you will often see me munching on one when in season.
Kale, Cavolo Nero
Tuscan specialty that translates as black cabbage, also known as Dinosaur Kale. Absolutely spectacular plant that also makes a great ornamental. Very nutritious.
Heirloom v's Open-Pollinated v's Hybrids v's GMO
We get a lot of questions, are any of your seeds GMO? Short answer is no, genetically modified seed as far as I know is only available commercially and is closely monitored. I would be surprised if anybody could find GMO seed on the domestic market.
What are hybrids? Hybridization happens naturally in nature all the time. For example, we’ve had a Butternut cross with a Jap pumpkin, the Jap grew normally but the gene pool of the seed is a mixture of the two. The seed that grew from the Jap was a funny looking pumpkin that is now a hybrid of the two, I called it a Japanut. There is nothing wrong with it except the gene pool is random and erratic for many generations thereafter, it takes a lot effort to stabilized new varieties with a desired quality. So, if you buy a hybrid it’s safe to eat, but you can’t save the seeds and expect the same as the parent. Hybrids are usually developed for certain commercial and production qualities, in most cases flavour and texture come second.
Heirlooms on the other hand, some where once hybrids, some developed over time in certain cultures and so over many generations of selective seed saving the gene pool is almost 100% stable with the desired qualities. Back in the day vegetables were grown for qualities such as flavour, texture, productivity, attractiveness and climate suitability, that’s why they taste and look amazing.
Open pollinated varieties you hear about are basically non-hybrids, when open-pollinated varieties are keeped from cross pollinateing with other varieties of the same species the seed that sets will be “true to type” or the same as the parent.
Heirlooms are also open pollinated but are old varieties developed and passed down many generations, for example San Mazono and Roma Tomatoes, same bush type prolific Italian sauce tomatoes but grown in different regions and so developed slightly different characteristics. Open-Pollinated are newer varieties with a stable Gene pool.