ABOUT ABUNDANT LIFE SEEDS

Welcome to the new Abundant Life Seeds catalog. As many of you know, the Abundant Life Seed Foundation experienced a devastating fire in 2003. Not only were their offices and seed packaging facilities lost, but also much of their seed inventory. The timing of the loss was such that printing a 2004 seed catalog was not possible. With the season lost, the board of directors had time to reflect on past accomplishments and future goals. After much discussion, it became clear to the board that the foundation's top priority should be the future work of the Organic Seed Alliance and the World Seed Fund. It was decided that to better focus on these goals, they would relinquish the seed catalog business, and let others carry on the work of saving, preserving, multiplying, and offering rare and extraordinary seeds to their loyal customer base.

Upon learning of the intentions of the board and after brief discussions with their leadership, it did not take my wife Julie and me long to decide that someone needed to carry on the seed business, and perhaps Territorial Seed Company was in the best position to ensure Abundant Life Seeds continued into the future.

From a business perspective, we felt Abundant Life Seeds would fit in well as a sister company to Territorial Seed Company and London Spring Farms. Abundant Life Seeds has depended on its members to grow small lots of rare seeds. Territorial's certified organic farm in London, Oregon, was established to be a research station, and to commercially grow seed crops of otherwise unavailable varieties. Specific attention has been paid to home garden or small commercial grower favorites, those varieties discontinued by the major seed producers. London Spring Farms is uniquely suited to grow or contract the production of these strains to keep them in inventory and readily available.

A great deal of work lies ahead to increase our seed inventories. While much was lost in the fire, the staff at Abundant Life had the foresight to backup a portion of their stock seed in a freezer that was at their farm. We have begun to multiply the precious few seeds that were saved. Our goal is to reintroduce these varieties as quickly as possible

In this catalog you'll notice that we now offer only certified organically grown seed. We believe that our certified organic farming and seed cleaning operations will guide this change. Although you may not find your old favorites in this catalog, be patient, because we will have them available again. I think you'll enjoy the many new seed varieties that we have to offer. These varieties come to us from some of the finest organic and biodynamic seed farms in the world, and the quality represents the best of the best. Other varieties come from the private stock seed collection of Territorial Seed Company.

Finally, Julie and I would like to pledge that with your continued support, we'll make every effort for Abundant Life Seeds to grow into the company that you want it to be. Just as Territorial has developed its own image, character, and product line based on what its customers support, so should Abundant Life Seeds.

Seed & Culture Information
At Abundant Life Seeds we have been protecting the genetic diversity of rare and endangered food crops since 1975. Our goal is to offer true-to-type open pollinated varieties grown using only certified organic or biodynamic farming methods.

Location and Climate
Abundant Life's new research farm is London Spring Farms, located in London, Oregon. London is located in the foothills of the Cascades at the headwaters of the Willamette Valley. The elevation at our research site is 1000 feet. Typically, our last frost is May 12 and first frost is September 15.

Germination Standards
Abundant Life has established germination standards that are higher than those prescribed by the Federal Seed Act. Our resident seed analyst continually tests every lot of seed we sell. Abundant Life only offers untreated, organically grown, open pollinated seed.

Extensive Testing
Each year Abundant Life's research staff grows and evaluates thousands of open pollinated varieties, so you can trust that every variety has been grown at our trial grounds and has passed our stringent requirements. We have our own breeding program and we collaborate with several universities, seed banks, and breeders to develop new varieties specifically for the home gardener and market grower.

Days To Maturity
Abundant Life variety descriptions include days to maturity. Unless noted the days to maturity are calculated from date of direct sowing. These figures come from our experiences at our research farm location. Every year there are differences in growing time due to climatic variations. The relatively cool summers in the Northwest make our days to maturity longer than in warmer areas of the country. Your actual days to maturity may vary.

Fast Customer Service
Abundant Life, our goal is to ship orders within 3 business days. We will handle your order promptly and carefully.

Our Product Warranty & Return Policy
At Abundant Life Seeds our products are backed by our warranty. We want our customers to be 100% satisfied with the purchased seeds and supplies. If anything proves to be unsatisfactory we will either replace the item or refund the purchase price, whichever you prefer.
LIMITATION OF REMEDY: The liability of Abundant Life Seeds for any loss or damage arising out of the purchase or use of its seeds or other products including loss or damage resulting from negligence or strict liability in tort, shall be limited to replacement of the item or the return of the purchase price. As customary in the seed trade, in no case shall Abundant Life Seeds be liable for more than the purchase price of the seed. Abundant Life Seeds has based the prices of its seed on this limited warranty and liability and these prices would be much higher if further liability coverage was required. By ordering such seeds, the purchaser acknowledges this limited warranty. Our seed is guaranteed for an entire year from the date of purchase.
NOTE: Seed is a live product which depends on many important related grower skills such as proper planting time, seed depth, type of soil, irrigation, proper use of fertilizers, weed controls, insecticides, disease-free soil, and reasonable weather conditions during the growing period. These factors are totally out of the seedsman's control and are the growers responsibility and risk. Our seed cannot be unconditionally guaranteed to perform properly regardless of weather conditions or the growers methods or mistakes.