100% Michiana Grown Staple Crop Seeds that Empower Your Plant-based Lifestyle Goals

Important Details

Orders for fall-planted grains in our 2024 Fall Shipped Grains Collection resumed Monday September 9th. All other seeds are unavailable and you will get an error if you try to order them.

  • Order Placement
    Online Orders Only! To avoid frustration on both sides, do NOT send an order through the mail without first contacting me - I am not set up to accept orders that are not placed online and I will NOT process an order that is sent through the mail without prior arrangement.
  • Order Fulfillment
    Processing time depends on order volume. During increased demand an order may take at least 3-4 weeks to process. Some orders experience delays in delivery due to issues within the United States Postal System (USPS.) You are provided a tracking number when your order is shipped. PLEASE monitor the progress of your package: USPS Tracking. Contact your post office directly if there is an issue with delivery. Once your order enters the postal system it is beyond my control.
  • About Great Lakes Staple Seeds
    • Great Lakes Staple Seeds L.L.C. is a woman owned, family-operated seed business in southeast Michigan that offers its seeds online at GreatLakesStapleSeeds.com.
    • We operate on the Shopify ecommerce platform and offer Paypal as a payment option. Additionally, we use the basic statistical services of Google Analytics to optimize site performance.
    • We have signed The Safe Seed Pledge.
    • Great Lakes Staple Seeds is an online only store.
    • We do not print a catalog. If time allows, we will upload an inventory pdf.
    • As we are a small-scale seed producer for homesteads and gardeners, we are unable to meet large-scale agricultural volumes.
    • We ship to valid mailing addresses in the US and Canada. For other country destinations, please see International Shipping.
    • Required Personal Information
      • Valid and complete personal information is required to process your order.
      • Orders with non valid personal information cannot be processed and will be refunded minus the fees associated with the initial credit card / Paypal transaction.
      • Failure to provide a valid contact email address prevents order status notifications.
      • Complete and valid contact information including full name and phone number is required for an international order to meet customs documentation.
      • Data / Personal Information Protection
        • We acknowledge the trust you place in us when accessing our Site, greatly appreciate your business and respect your desire for privacy and security.
        • We have NO access to your financial information.
        • We NEVER sell or share your personal Information, or use it in any way other than for order fulfillment.
        • Our Site solely exists to provide you with the seeds of staple crops suitable for the Great Lakes bio-region and to provide information for their culture and use, as well as material on relevant topics.
        • Orders with non valid personal information cannot be processed and will be refunded minus the fees associated with the initial credit card / Paypal transaction.
        • Please see our Privacy Policy for complete details.
      • About our Seeds
        • All our seeds are open-pollinated varieties, non-treated and non-GMO. We rigorously follow commonly accepted practices for commercial seed production that control pollination to avoid cross-pollination so seeds produced are true-to-type and not open-pollinated at Mother Nature's whim.
        • As conscientious seed stewards, we are familiar with the characteristic traits of the varieties we offer. Our intentional efforts strive to maintain a healthy gene pool for each variety through their successive generations grown in the Michiana part of our Great Lakes Bioregion. We actively rogue out plants that do not meet their varietal characteristics. Seeds selected for seed production are harvested from healthy plants grown in populations that meet or exceed the recommended production size.
        • All seeds are small-scale produced in Michiana with minimal off-farm inputs using common homestead equipmento. Below the variety name on a seed product page is an indicator of where the parent crops were grown. Those with the designation "Great Lakes Staple Seeds" are grown by us on our southeast Michigan homestead; those with the indicator "Sherck Seeds" are grown by John Sherck, Indiana Seedsman and staple crop seed specialist, on his family farm in Bristol, Indiana. Each and every seed is grown with love using ecologically responsible and sustainable cultivation methods. The singular exception is Kurzer's Calico Traveler Lima Bean, whose story is explained in its description.
        • Our inventory features heirlooms and varieties aboard Slow Food's Ark of Taste, as well as ones of The Kusa Seed Society Collection, and ones with ties to our Great Lakes region. We are proudly an officially recognized seed partner for the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI), offering several OSSI-Pledged varieties.
        • Dedicated methods are taken to ensure varietal purity of our seed stock; however, because our seed is open-pollinated, there is the very slight chance that Mother Nature decides to interfere via an extremely determined pollinator and cross-pollination occurs.
        • Seeds are carefully stored to maintain maximum viability and tested yearly for germination. Seeds that are below accepted standards are not offered for sale.
      • Pricing
        • All prices are in U.S. dollars.
        • Prices listed are per packet. Number of seeds per packet are listed in the description.
        • We are required to collect Michigan 6% sales tax on all Michigan sales. If you are a tax-free entity in Michigan, please provide me a copy of your tax ID to create an account designated tax-free.
        • The Supreme Court decision on South Dakota v. Wayfair changed the the sales tax law for online companies. Many large companies are now required to charge state sales tax in some states. I currently do not charge sales tax except for orders based in Michigan but this is subject to change. I track my sales into the states with internet sales taxes laws which means when / if I meet the designated criteria I must collect sales tax. Please see this remote seller nexus chart for more information regarding your state's position on internet sales tax collection.
      • Order Fulfillment & Shipping
        • Seeds are not pre-packaged. Upon receipt of your order, seeds are retrieved from storage, hand-selected and packaged. This task essentially falls to one person.
        • Processing time depends on order volume. During increased demand an order can take from 3-4 weeks to process.
        • Please contact me directly BEFORE placing an order if expedited processing is required.
        • A quick note about the label in the seed packet - a variety's labels are printed sheets at a time which means that some details (like SKU) might change before the label is used. A label with a hand-written correction does not mean the seeds are old, it just means I didn't want to be wasteful and reprint the label.
        • The "Shipping" fee includes the costs associated with electronic payment and packaging, in addition to the actual postal cost calculated by the USPS. I realise that the stated rate may seem high but unlike companies that hide their "free shipping" costs in higher seed packet prices, I believe a one-time fee that includes processing is reasonable and more fair to my customers. Any profit made in shipping is negligible to non-existent.
        • Domestic orders are weight based and shipped via USPS Ground Advantage which includes in addition to tracking, insurance coverage up to $100. An optional additional 2% fee selected at Checkout will adjust the insurance to cover the full seed value of your order if it is over $100.
        • Great Lakes Staple Seeds is not liable for loss of or damage to shipments sent without full insurance coverage; nor are we liable for an order delivered and then stolen. If a fully insured order is lost or damaged we will help you with your negotiations with the USPS.
        • Shipping fees and credit card / Paypal fees are non-refundable.
        • International Shipping is also weight based. Due to the considerable increase in rates for insured packages, insurance is not currently offered for international shipping: Canada; Other Countries
      • Guarantee
        • We guarantee seeds sold are viable. Each harvest year before offering our seeds for sale, they are tested for germination. Seeds not meeting strict germination requirements are NEVER included in our store inventory.
        • Gardening from seed depends on many environmental and cultural factors. We dedicate our efforts to growing robust plants so that the seeds we provide you are top quality. As is customary of seed houses, Great Lakes Staple Seeds offers no warranty, express or implied, as to the productivity of any seeds we sell, and is not responsible for the resultant crop.
        • Seed Savers Exchange's Growing from Seed: A Handbook is an excellent free resource for those new to gardening from seed or as a refresher for experienced growers.
        • Product descriptions and photos are accurate to the best of our knowledge and we accept no liability for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions that may unintentionally occur.
        • Once we ship the seeds, they are beyond our control. Your gardening success is in your hands. It depends on your efforts and the conditions experienced in your garden.
        • Like other seed providers, Great Lakes Staple Seeds' liability is limited to purchase price only. Please contact us within 30 days for a replacement or purchase price refund if dissatisfied with germination.
        • Shipping fees and credit card / Paypal fees are non-refundable.
        • We do not accept returns.
        • Chargebacks
          • If a chargeback is "mistakenly" initiated and your order is accepted as fraudulent by your bank when in fact the order is valid, you are responsible for the original order cost plus the chargeback fee and the transaction fee for the new order that "corrects" the chargeback. If you chose to keep the seeds without rectifying the inaccurate chargeback, I reserve the right not to sell to you again and I will share your information with relevant parties.
          • I am discouraged I need to include this but as a small-scale producer that works pretty dang hard to get our seeds into your hands, I cannot afford being cheated.
        • Intellectual Property
          • Thank you for respecting our intellectual property.
          • Viewing GreatLakesStapleSeeds.com or purchase of seeds from Great Lakes Staple Seeds does not include the right to use content (text, photos, media) from GreatLakesStapleSeeds.com without express written permission.
          • If you wish to use content from GreatLakesStapleSeeds.com, please contact Seeds(@)GreatLakesStapleSeeds(.)com with your request. Remove the brackets from the address first!
          • Great Lakes Staple Seeds reserves the right to refuse service to those that transgress against our intellectual property rights.
          • I am discouraged I need to include this, but the majority of content on this site is NOT AI-generated (the primary exception to this is the summaries of the files in our Digital Download Collection.) I invest considerable time and thought meticulously crafting the text and photos presented on our site. Per the stated "Great Lakes Staple Seeds LLC © 2024" notice at the bottom of each page, I am not a wiki; therefore, unless noted, this website's content is not under a Creative Commons License. Please see this Copyright Infringement Clarification.
        • Contact Us
          • DO NOT SEND AN ORDER THROUGH THE MAIL without first contacting us! I will NOT process an order that is sent through the mail without prior arrangement.
          • Email: Seeds(@)GreatLakesStapleSeeds(.)com. Remove the brackets from the address first!
          • Post: Great Lakes Staple Seeds P.O. Box 540, Ortonville, MI 48462
          • Phone: (two four eight) six two seven five two seven one
          • Please limit your call to the following phone hours: Monday - Thursday: 9 am - 7 pm; Friday & Saturday: 9 am - 5 pm; Sunday: 1 pm - 5 pm. All times are Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 5 hours.)
          • Please note that if the weather is nice we are probably out in the gardens - the best way to contact us is through our email and / or by sending us a message through our Facebook page Great Lakes Staple Seeds.
          Updated: 2024 December 7th