Forgot one more question...

I may be going to Korea for the first time this fall. How can i go about finding a place to buy seed. I wonder if i find any trees if it is legal to export. Probably not...

Johndoug, you are probably right about the trees; live plant material is seldom allowed into the country. As for seed... you might be better off mailing a small quantity back, than trying to bring it through customs. _Small_ quantities of clean seed are generally allowed through the mail. I am not sure how much seed you would be able to find this late in the year, though.

If you wish to bring seed back with you through customs, check out the link below. Don't be frightened by the title, importing small quatities of seed is not as difficult now as it was in the recent past.

You might be surprised, however, at what you can find here in the U.S. Evergreen Y.H. (available online) has a broad selection of Asian vegetable seed. Several nurseries in the U.S. (such as Raintree) carry Asian fruit varieties.

Last resort, if you see a vegetable in Korea that interests you, try to get the variety name. Have someone write it down for you in Korean, and below that write the way it sounds in English phonics; get the source name too if possible. If you can find no other source commercially, it may be available through the USDA... but they don't generally send seed to "gardeners". You would have to give them some reason for them to fill your request, at the very least promise to save seed & disseminate it to others.

Are you looking for anything in particular, or "just looking"? If I had more specifics, I (or others on GW) might be able to help you further.

Here is a link that might be useful: U.S. Seed Import Regulations

wow...that's a good point about seeds not being available when i am there in the fall. makes sense.

i suppose if there was a website that had pictures of various korean vegetables, i could sit down with her and find out which ones she desired the most. possibly also when we are at a market together in korea i can find this out.

i wonder what are the most typical korean veggies to grow?

what i think i'm hearing is most of these veggies are for sale in the US, and there will be little need to seek out seeds while i am visiting korea.

thanks for your help!

"i suppose if there was a website that had pictures of various korean vegetables, i could sit down with her and find out which ones she desired the most."

Here are a couple places you might check:

The Evergreen YH that zeedman mentions has several things specifically listed as Korean: http://www.evergreenseeds.com/

AgroHaitai is another source of Asian seeds. I don't remember if they have anything noted as Korean, but there may be vegetables there your girlfriend knows of, just with a different name.

Kitazawa Seed lists names for several of their vegetables in different languages. They also have a mail order catalogue, which might be easier to browse through.

See if there is a Korean nursery near you. I have one near me and they sell Korean seeds for pretty much anything I want to grow.

hi,

could you give me details on your korean nursery? name, location & telephone? thank you

unfortunately i live in southern California but if you're ever around these parts, this is the one I usually go to. I dunno about Philly but New Jersey has a large Korean population that might also have such nurseries.

Evergreen Nursery
(714) 537-8877
8592 Garden Grove Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92844

johndoug
I'm sure that there are Korean markets in Philly(assuming Philadelphia). My wife and daughter are Korean,we have lived in several places(retired now) in the USA and have always been able to purchase seeds in the local Korean markets. In most cases you can ask and they will get you the seeds. If thats to inconvenient look up Korean vegetable seeds on METACRAWLER and you can find what you need.

Jim

JohnDoug
I have 6 Asian Pears,3 korean and 3 Japanese. For good production most varieties need another variety to insure pollination. I can look out my window and see 500-600 pears ready for the Mrs,I'm not a Pear person. The Korean trees we have are the Dong Bae often called Korean Giant. These are huge pears. We also have a Japanese pears called Yoinishi as they are the best pollinator and,my wife says, "very tasty'. You can purchase these trees at a very reasonable price from Burntridge Nursery. He is in Washington,where we live. Check out Burntridgenursery.com.

Jim

http://www.evergreenseeds.com/ was great but they don't carry seeds any more.
Look for any korean grocery near you they sell korean vegetable pot in the spring usually April and May.
You also can try Ebay.com
http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=korean+seed&_sacat=0amp;_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&LH_PrefLoc=1&_dmd=1&_odkw=perilla+seed&_osacat=0

Here is a link that might be useful: ebay

The links posted above are really good, but there is one seed that I cannot find. I'm looking for a non treated, non hybrid, heirloom version of a Korean cabbage seed.

Does anyone have any clue where I could find this?

where can i buy korean cucumber seeds. I live in fremont ca.
Please let me know which is close town to me.

Thank You