Established in 2007, The Real Seed Company is the original specialist site for seeds of real traditional Cannabis strains – aka, Cannabis landraces.
We’re a group of Asian and European plant hunters and seed collectors who specialize in these ancient Cannabis domesticates (i.e., landraces) and their wild-growing relatives from Asia – the original heartland of this plant and its most significant centre of biodiversity.
We personally collect seeds in historic centres of Cannabis cultivation such as the Hindu Kush, India, Lebanon, Nepal, Thailand, and Laos. Since 2007, we’ve made our collections available through this website. We didn’t get into collecting for the money – or fame – so everything is offered at a very fair price, usually at a fraction of the price of equivalent offerings ‘elsewhere’.
All the traditional Cannabis strains you see at our site are critically endangered. Asian landrace domesticates are a crucial reservoir of biodiversity for Cannabis, and their related wild populations are the most important of all. Our ultimate goal is for the seeds we collect to be preserved long-term and for any research findings based on them to be freely available.
We aim to provide the maximum possible transparency regarding available accessions. Where the seeds are from ex-situ reproductions of the original accession or obtained indirectly, this is clearly stated in their description. Unlike most seed sellers offering landrace cannabis seeds, we do not sell covertly hybridized strains.
If risks exist that an accession may have been affected by modern hybrids, this is indicated. We believe honest information is essential to respect these plants, the farmers who’ve maintained them through decades of prohibition, and collectors who are motivated by a sincere passion for Cannabis and its biodiversity.
Because the cultivation of Cannabis sativa L. without a license is illegal in most countries, all seeds are sold in protective packaging which is well-suited to long-term storage through refrigeration with silica gel, an effective method to maintain these invaluable plants for our emerging post-prohibition era.
Machapuchare, Nepal (2008)
The photo above and at our Instagram is of Machapuchare, a sacred mountain in Nepal. According to local Pahari people, Vishnu lives on its peak. In the Trimurti of Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, Vishnu is The Preserver, so the image seemed apt given the urgent need to preserve these critically endangered Cannabis strains.
Crucial to remember through all of this is that landraces are the creations of people. Mindlessly repeated factoids about landraces being ‘wild’ and ‘natural’ Cannabis aren’t just inaccurate. This misinformation obscures the farmers, communities, and cultures that created and cultivate these strains – be they Uighur, Tajik, Pahari, or Lao – many of who are right now under the jackboot of brutal autocratic ethnonationalist regimes.
For further thoughts on the recent popularization of the term ‘landrace’ see What’s the Real Meaning of ‘Landrace’?
For an interview with Angus – who started The Real Seed Company – try The Real Seed Company Interview.
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