Open Source Seed Initiative

Open Source Seed Initiative

We are thrilled to be able to encourage open access to biodiversity as a partner seed company and participating breeder with the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI). OSSI is dedicated to maintaining fair and open access to plant genetic resources worldwide by offering a new way to save and exchange seed that ensures the seed will remain free of patents, licenses, and other restrictions.

Varieties that are registered as OSSI seed are accompanied by the pledge, which prohibits the varieties or their derivatives from being patented or licensed in ways that can restrict use. The OSSI Pledge also requires that any subsequent distributions of OSSI seed, or of derivatives bred from OSSI seed, be accompanied by the pledge. In this way, OSSI intends to develop an expanding pool of genetic resources that are available now and in the future for unrestricted use by scientists, farmers, and gardeners. This pledge is a commitment to foster unfettered exchange of germplasm and the freedom to use the material for any purpose, with the single proviso that by accepting the pledge the user commits to allowing others freedom to use the material or derivatives of the material.

The OSSI Pledge: You have the freedom to use these OSSI-Pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives.

Varieties listed in our catalog with the OSSI logo have been designated open source by the people who bred them and are registered as OSSI-Pledged seeds. Breeders such as Carol Deppe, Frank Morton, and us here at Adaptive Seeds. Free the seed! For more information osseeds.org.

Showing 1–24 of 32 results

  • Cowpea, Fast Lady Northern Southern Pea (Organic)

    $4.35$26.85

    Vigna unguiculata. White. 65 days fresh, 90 dry. An excellent, productive, early variety of white seeded cowpea. Beans have a creamy texture and do not require soaking before cooking. Pods are solid and hold well above the ground on compact upright bushes so they can take some wet weather and not succumb to mold. Beautiful…

  • Open Oak Party Mix Organic Dent Corn seed

    Dent Corn, Open Oak Party Mix (Organic)

    $4.35$106.00

    Zea mays. Flinty Dent. 90-100 days. Our main crop field corn that we grow for cornmeal, flour and for making masa. Open Oak Party Mix is the best corn we offer for nixtamalization and making your own hominy or pozole. After grinding, we sometimes sift out the coarse polenta from the flour and we have…

  • Organic Cascade Ruby Gold Flint Corn Seed

    Flint Corn, Cascade Ruby-Gold (Organic)

    $4.35$125.00

    This has become the corn of legends. Perfect for our taste buds and Pacific Northwest climate, it is difficult to describe without sounding overzealous. Not only does this variety produce the tastiest polenta and cornmeal we have ever tried, but it was bred just across the valley from us by our friend Carol Deppe in Corvallis, Oregon. An 8-12 row flint corn related to Abenaki and Byron flint. It brings the best traits from both combining the general awesomeness of Abenaki minus the pale yellow ears, and from Byron, the wonderful gold-orange color and excellent husk coverage. Ears are smaller than Abenaki. Throw in some more genius selection by Carol and you get a flint corn that makes bright gold polenta with pretty red flecks that quickly became a hot seller. Each plant will produce one of many options of single color ears ranging from bright-yellow, maple-gold, red-orange to deepest red. Separate out the colors for cooking and get a range of delicious and distinct flavors from one crop. Find out more in Carol’s book, The Resilient Gardner.

  • Organic Hot Pepper Adaptive Early Thai SeedHot Pepper, Adaptive Early Thai Grex (Organic)

    Hot Pepper, Adaptive Early Thai (Organic)

    $4.35$46.00

    Capsicum annuum. Very Hot. 90 days. In 2003 we had our first experience working on a farm in Willow Creek, California. That year Andrew saved his first seeds, too: an heirloom tomato, and a Thai pepper. Now, 17 years later, the legacy of that first saved seed lives on in the Adaptive Early Thai pepper….

  • dazzling blue lacinato kale

    Kale, Dazzling Blue Lacinato (Organic)

    $4.35$64.00

    We’ve finally found a Lacinato/Dino/Italian type kale that’s special enough to add to our catalog. We present to you Dazzling Blue Lacinato, a kale that really lives up to its name. Captivating blue-green leaves on vibrantly purple stems with that classic Lacinato leaf shape and all of the flavor.

  • Kale Coalition

    Kale, Kale Coalition (Organic)

    $4.35$24.00

    Brassica oleracea. 30 days baby, 60-70 days full. A diverse genepool mix of 17 oleracea kales and their crosses. Nick Routledge trialed the 17 kales collected on our 2007 Seed Ambassadors trip and this is what happened the next spring. This grex contains a lot of very interesting, diverse kales that are not available in…

  • Kale, North Star Polaris (Organic)

    $4.35$180.00

    Brassica napus. 25 days baby, 50 days full. The first release from our breeding work coming out of the Gulag Stars population. In keeping with the stars theme, we give you North Star Polaris. This participatory breeding project is inspired by the Culinary Breeding Network and we are happy to have Lane Selman and Chef…

  • Simone Broadleaf KaleSimone Broadleaf Kale organic

    Kale, Simone Broadleaf (Organic)

    $4.35$180.00

    Brassica napus. 25 days baby, 55 days full. We present to you – Simone Broadleaf! Our second release coming out of the Gulag Stars kale population. Simone Broadleaf has a strong thematic character containing all tasty broadleaf plants of various colors and leaf edge waves. Some plants are dark green and glazed, others are light…

  • Organic Flashy Butter Gem Lettuce SeedOrganic Flashy Butter Gem Lettuce Seed

    Lettuce, Flashy Butter Gem (Organic)

    $4.35$56.00

    Lactuca sativa. Speckled Romaine. 30 days baby; 50 full. We expected a perfect, sweet Little Gem type lettuce with cool red speckles and buttery texture. Flashy Butter Gem lettuce has all of that and more! We waited a week after Little Gem size but they didn’t bolt, just got bigger and more colorful. Versatile since…

  • organic Hyper Red Rumple Waved Lettuce seedsHyper Red Rumple Waved Lettuce

    Lettuce, Hyper Red Rumple Waved (Organic)

    $4.35$56.00

    Lactuca sativa. Red Leaf. 30 days baby; 50 full. Unconventional red leaf lettuce that is very red and very rumpled. Leaf texture is similar to Bloomsdale spinach, but deep dark-red and lettucey. Great for salad mix and head lettuce. Very hardy, partly due to its red color. The antioxidant anthocyanin causes the red color and…

  • Organic Red Evolution Lettuce seedRed Evolution Lettuce

    Lettuce, Red Evolution (Organic)

    $4.35$56.00

    Lactuca sativa. Red Leaf. 30 days baby; 55 full. We ventured into our first attempt at lettuce breeding with this gem of an ultra red leaf. A little opportunistic to start, we discovered a few off types in one lot of Revolution lettuce. Over a few years, we have stabilized it, and like it more…

  • Organic Farthest North Galia Melon Seed

    Melon, Farthest North Galia (Organic)

    $4.35$48.80

    Cucumis melo. 65 days. Our selection from the Farthest North Mix that has been in the making since we crossed Galia F1 into the mix over 9 years ago. Still a genepool mix that has been selected for small, round, green-fleshed melons. Our goal is to breed a small fruited super early, super sweet galia/passport/tropical…

  • Mizspoona Salad Select (Organic)

    $4.35$32.00

    Brassica rapa. 20 days baby, 40 days full. Mizuna and Tatsoi are some of our favorite mustard family salad greens. Combine the two and you get Mizspoona and the awesomeness increases exponentially! Very mild mustard flavor is delicious when eaten raw in salads and is also quite tasty cooked. Mizspoona Salad Select inherits the vigorous…

  • Mustard, Dragon Tongue / Ho Mi Z

    Mustard, Dragon Tongue / Ho Mi Z (Organic)

    $4.35$12.95

    Brassica juncea. 20 days baby, 40 days full. Hands down the most beautiful red mustard for salad mix. The leaf color is green and purple, hard to describe, and reminiscent of the 1990s fractal posters that Sarah had in her room as a teenager. Very slow to bolt in spring, it has the perfect balance…

  • Organic Pak Choi Luck Dragon seed

    Pak Choi, Luck Dragon (Organic)

    $4.35$38.85

    Brassica rapa. 35-40 days. Sweet and crunchy green-stemmed baby pak choi. Impressively vigorous in cool weather and it really shines in the greenhouse in early spring and fall. Produces a lot of food fast per square foot. Leaves are erect and a glossy light-green color. The leaf petioles are crunchy yet pliable and resist cracking….

  • Popcorn, Dakota Black (Organic)

    $4.35$125.00

    Zea mays. Popcorn. 90 days. One of the earliest maturing and easiest to grow popcorns. 6-8” ears on 6′ tall plants. Dark black kernels have a ruby-red, glassy shine when held in the right angle of light. The pointy kernels pop bright white with a small black hull still attached. The flavor is delicious, hearty…

  • Organic British Pop Runner Bean Seeds

    Runner Bean, British Pop (Organic)

    $4.35$8.70

    Phaseolus coccineus. Mix. 70-90 days. A genetically diverse population of edible-pod type runner beans from the British Isles. We have loved growing runner beans from across the pond for some time now and with so many good ones in our trials, we decided to let the best coalesce into one big British Pop mix. Our…

  • Sweet Corn, New Mama Super Sweet (Organic)Sweet Corn, New Mama Super Sweet (Organic)

    Sweet Corn, New Mama Super Sweet (Organic)

    $4.35$150.00

    Zea mays. Super Sweet. 80-90 days. One of the first open pollinated super sweet (Sh2) corns! Medium-large ears have yellow, truly super sweet kernels, and hold their flavor once picked. Still a little variable in maturity and color with some pale yellow kernels, but we think this may be necessary to maintain vigor as corn…

  • Gypsy Queens Sweet PepperSweet Pepper, Gypsy Queens (Organic)

    Sweet Pepper, Gypsy Queens (Organic)

    $4.35$84.00

    Capsicum annuum. Lime Green to Red. 70 days. Wonderful, early sweet red pepper that is our effort at dehybridizing “a popular hybrid.” Elongated, tapered fruit are similar to Hungarian sweet peppers. Starts out a lime green color, ripens to red with good flavor at any stage. Now in its sixth season of selection, it is…

  • Organic Stocky Red Roaster Pepper seedOrganic Stocky Red Roaster Pepper seed

    Sweet Pepper, Stocky Red Roaster (Organic)

    $4.35$98.00

    Capsicum annuum. Green to Red. 80 days. We’re on the Stocky Red Roaster bandwagon! We grew this red, Italian type pepper for market and loved it for its sweet flavor raw, roasted, or cooked, as well as its productivity and size (4-6″ long, 2″ wide at shoulders). It turns out we weren’t alone, as Stocky…

  • Organic Tomatillo Seeds Purple Keepers Modern LandraceOrganic Tomatillo Seeds Purple Keepers Modern Landrace

    Tomatillo, Purple Keepers Modern Landrace (Organic)

    $4.35$32.00

    Physalis philadelphica (synonym Physalis ixocarpa). 70 days. This is our effort to breed a medium-sized purple tomatillo that stores for a very long time off the vine. Shades range from a slight purple blush on green, to deep purple all through the fruit. Purple tomatillos have a more complex flavor than green ones. They are…

  • Tomato, Dwarf Confetti (Organic)

    $4.35$46.00

    Solanum lycopersicum. Yellow with Pink Stripes. 70 days. Dwarf Indet. This tomato really knows how to party, and not just because of the name. Dwarf Confetti’s striped skin is a festive addition to any garden or food dish, and the sweet flavor has a pizzaz that many older dwarf tomato varieties lack. Slightly flattened 6-8…

  • Tomato, Dwarf Lemon Ice (Organic)

    $4.35$46.00

    Solanum lycopersicum. Yellow. 65 days. Dwarf Indet. Very aptly named, Dwarf Lemon Ice has clear skin and yellow flesh that combine for an icy yellow color. Pleasantly balanced sweet / tart flavor. Meaty, 3-7 oz oxheart shaped fruit have a blunt point at the blossom end. Occasional green shoulders. A unique and fun variety that…

  • Organic Orange You Glad Tomato Seed

    Tomato, Orange You Glad (Organic)

    $4.35$46.00

    Solanum lycopersicum. Orange. 65 days. Det. For your gardening fun, here is a new “child” we have released into the world. Orange You Glad we dehybridized Orange Blossom so you can save seed from it too!? In 2012, we named New Mama Super Sweet Corn for all the new mamas in our world. In 2013…