Welcome to Franchi Seeds, Est. 1783

The oldest family run seed company in the world. Based in the Alps.

Franchi Seeds (1783)

Independent 7th generation seedsmen

A1 Phoenix Business Centre, Rosslyn Cres, London Borough of Harrow, Middx, HA1 2SP
Tel: 0208 427 5020 / Fax: 5051
Skype customers can call us free worldwide on the Skype system - Click here to call
email: grow@italianingredients.com - www.Seedsofitaly.com

What to sow now - April and May are the biggest sowing months of the year and you can sow lettuces especially Biscia Rossa and Parella lettuces, then protected you can start off tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, pumkins, aubergines, melons and cucumbers, agretti, beetroot, basil, parsley, chicory, onion, endive, escarole, parsnip, pea, leek, radish, celery, spinach, beans, carrot, chard, dill, sorrel, wild fnnel, mint, lemon balm, origano, garden burnett, rue, sage, summer savour, lovage, thme, coriander, caper, taragon, pumpkin, salsify, chickpea and corn.

**HOT OFF THE PRESS** You can download our 2012 mail order seed catalogue NOW by clicking here HERE

You can opt in to our monthly what-to-sow-now e-letter by clicking on 'Email Subscription' at the top of the page. Certain essentials reduced to help you save!!

Our veg seed is 93% produced by us locally and not bought in. We're seed producers of regional veg varieties (many from the Alps) and NOT seed distributors who buy in foreign seed and repackage it. We don't produce seed for other seed companies and if it doesn't say Franchi on the packet or Golden Line, then it is not produced by Franchi!.

Food security, Euro woes, price rises, recession, austerity =

grow-your-own, preserve-your-own and experience flavour

No airmiles, they taste better and save you £££'s (especially with our legendary seed counts!). One of our mixed salad packs can make over 50 of those bags you buy in the supermarket! New to growing or preserving - email or call us (being Italian we do prefer to speak to people, not computers!).

By the time of the mutiny on the bounty in 1789, Giovanni Franchi was already 6 years into his business of selling seeds around the market squares of Parma from his horse drawn cart, and the company is still in the same family 229 years later with Giampiero Franchi at the helm. 1783 also witnessed the death of the landscape architect Capability Brown, the end of the American War of Independence and the flight of the Montgolfier brothers balloon over Paris. Franchi are the oldest family run seed company in the world and are much more than just seeds in a packet – they are a story of tradition, pride, experience, quality, passion and excellence handed down over 7 generations that continues today alongside state-of-the-art technological solutions.

Franchi are a completely independent seed company and we are not associated with any other companies in the UK! If it doesn't say Franchi on the packet, its not ours!

Do you know which country the seeds in your packet come from? With Franchi seeds you can rest assured because we are seed producers and we commission over 90% of our vegetable seed range ourselves, locally. They are traditional regional varieties which have provenance and some come from the Alps, Dolomite or Apennine areas of Italy, so they are used to much colder climates than the UK can throw at them.

Every region of Italy has its own varieties, which like its recipes have been handed down from generation to generation. They are not globally available varieties which are found worldwide but instead are regional with a unique heritage. Go to an Italian market and you can buy tomato seeds, tomato plants, tomatoes and everything made with the tomatoes. There is no separation between gardening and food – there’s just food, and the tomato will vary in shape, size and flavour depending on the region, along with all the other vegetables. It is common for offices, factories, railway stations and even hospitals to have an ‘orto’ or allotment. Many schools do too and children who grow veg, eat veg!                                                                                                                                     Italian vegetables are regional, not global.

‘From Seed to Plate’ is not just the name of our new cookbook, but it is our philosophy. Our catalogue features everything you need to achieve this so for example you can grow your Franchi San Marzano plum tomatoes, use a Rigamonti passata machine to make your passata and then bottle them in our Bormioli Quattro Stagioni passata bottles which once hermetically sealed, will sit in your larder for at least a year. It is really easy to do lots of things badly, so we only deal with a few suppliers, all of which still produce traditional quality goods in Italy.

We have always included signed recipes in our centre pull-out section so you can enjoy the fruits of your labour and this year we are thrilled to have signed recipes from a variety of chefs and restaurants to inspire you.

With the current poor rate of exchange against the Euro and the rise in the cost of raw materials, we regret a slight increase in some of our prices and we apologise for this and so we have decreased the price in a basket of products to help you save! But those of you familiar with our large packets will also know that the value of our seeds is still excellent due to the higher seed quantities. Also, Franchi produce much of their seed themselves and whilst this does cost more than importing it, we think you will appreciate the resulting quality, germination rates and provenance.

All images are copyrighted and property of SOI

Those of you familiar with our large packets will also know that the value of our seeds is still excellent due to the higher seed quantities. Also, Franchi produce much of their seed themselves and whilst this does cost more than importing it, we think you will appreciate the resulting quality, germination and provenance.

In our 2012 catalogue and recipe collection we have a range of 'Easy to grow' seeds which are aimed at the first time or newer veg grower and which features instructions in plain English, in a questions and answers format whcih is so easy to follow plus with online assistance (to follow) for the facebook generation of veg growers. We will also have a new range of ornamental squashes, tape seeds which are very easy to use. We always promise you generous seed quantities, and a level of quality that Franchi has built it's name on. We also have a new range of pet foods from Nova foods of Italy who are one of the leading pet food companies in Italy with an Italian passion for the food for their pets. This is something that our customers have been asking for - quality pet foods. This year we will also be doing a series of very affordable courses and masterclasses and we think these will be very popular so book early to avoid disappointment.

And our proudest achievement is the Seeds of Italy cookbook 'From Seed to Plate' by me, Paolo Arrigo which features about 30 signed recipes from the likes of Giorgio Locatelli, HFW, Aldo Zilli, Fifteen, JC Novelli etc and about 65 family recipes many of which have been handed down for generations!

Italy is only partly a Mediterranean country - 3/5ths of it is Alpine too, with the Alps and Dolomites in the North and the Apennines running down the spine. The beautiful city of Torino hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics of course and it reached -41c in Friuli Dec 2009!! As a result, some of our varieties are much hardier and love our mild British climate, and some will grow unprotected outside all winter. But just treat our tomatoes (or any of the varieties) the same way you'd treat a similar domestic variety and they will prosper.

You can find our seeds in only the best deli's and garden centres in the UK and Ireland.

Buon appetito and 'Grazie' for choosing Franchi seeds - 229 years experience at your service.

You can find Franchi Seeds of Italy on Facebook and join as a fan on FACEBOOK and you can find us on twitter @FranchiSeedsUK

Seeds of Italy, the environment, and our staff.

Ladies selecting and grading seeds at the Franchi warehouse, Bergamo, early 1900's

At Seeds of Italy, we are respecters of nature and food. We love growing veg, mushroom picking, preserving and other traditions. But we are starting to get worried about our environment - you don't need to be Leonardo da Vinci to see how we are all living is unsustainable, so we've made some decisions and some changes to how we work.

Increasingly, more companies are producing their products, their packaging, their catalogues or other services in Asia or the Far East for economic reasons. Our seed packets are produced in Italy and all our printing is done locally, either in London or Italy. Our seed stands are made in Italy and England for Europe. We feel the cost to the environment on flying these items around is too high so we are now sourcing only EC made products where we can.

Franchi themselves have sole responsibility for maintaining 70 important varieties and most of our veg seed is commissioned, not bought in. The farmer is given original Franchi stock seeds, is regularly visited and must meet strict standards. An incredible 90% of our vegetable seeds are still produced in Italy (many in their home regions still) and our seed is tested rigorously, which is why our catalogue comes out in January.

Our new premises are lit with natural light and when it comes to sending mail order packets out, we re-use all Franchi packaging and boxes from home etc. So if your seeds arrive in an empty panettone box, that's how it is. We re-use all scrap paper, shred unwanted documents to use as packaging material, we limit visits to our outlets to save on petrol and pollution, and we send their goods by post.

As a company, we close for two weeks in August. This means all our staff have a proper break and come back refreshed and energised. We lunch all together with a big bowl of pasta or Salad Nicoise and a glass of wine for instance, all prepared daily on the premises with fresh ingredients, some from the garden, so we all eat properly which is more important than ever these days. We close on Sundays, religious holidays and when Italy are playing football (Forza Azzurri !!).

But most of all, our aim, our passion, is to encourage everyone to grow vegetables. You can't get more local than your back garden for at least some of your produce, they taste better, are good for you and the plants are good for the environment. We are members of the Slow Food Movement - the first ever seed company to be so we can further promote this aspect, and Franchi is the only seed brand in the UK approved by the Vegetarian Society.

We're not perfect, but we're making a start. We want to improve our environment and if we can all make small changes, and grow more veggies, we can make a difference.

Paolo and Alessandra Arrigo

Franchi Seeds of Italy are members of the Italian Chamber of Commerce for the UK, est. in London in 1886.

Franchi is the only seed brand in the UK approved by the Vegetarian Society

Franchi Seeds "a byword for quality and authenticity" Saturday Telegraph (16/6/07)

Franchi seeds (and our test grounds) are based in the alpine north of Italy.