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Few know their gardens are better because of one man's passion for good seeds for his adopted state. The story starts in Greece, where Demetrios Agathangelides attended the American Farm School.
"It was run by a Protestant missionary," he reminisces, "who developed the school and got me started on my way to a career in agriculture. I immigrated to this country in 1957 and attended Ricks College, where I majored in the pre-veterinary program. I finished that and applied for vet school, but I had no money." Since vet school wouldn't allow him to work and attend school at the same time, Agathangelides accepted a position at Utah State University in the plant science department. His specialty was plant genetics.
"I loved the university and was president of the employees association, but I had always wanted to do something on my own. I had been doing some landscaping and left to start my own nursery, which I called Greek Gardens."
While running the nursery, Agathangelides realized there was a need to for better seed varieties than were currently on the market.
"While at Utah State I had worked closely with several professors and watched the work of Dr. Alvin Hamson, the vegetable specialist, with keen interest. I saw that many of the varieties he was growing and recommending were far superior to those varieties that I could get to sell in my garden center. I started buying those varieties in bulk and repackaging them in plain manila envelopes at my kitchen table." The seed division of Greek Gardens was off to a budding start.
"I really hadn't intended to get into the business, but the word spread around Logan as gardeners started bragging how well their gardens were producing. Word spread outside the valley, and customers in Ogden started going into one of the local nurseries asking for these varieties. When they could not get them, they started driving to Logan.
"The owner said, 'Package the same varieties for me, and I will sell them for you in this area.' USU Extension agents and others recommended the varieties around the state, and business started booming," he says.
"By this time I had to make some decisions. I sold the retail nursery but kept the seed division. To compete with other companies we went with a colorful picture envelope and started making other changes. We had a good mail-order business, but it became apparent we had to do more to get our varieties to more people. We started in the rack-seed business and then had to get the warehouses, trucks and all else that goes into that industry," he said.
The name changed from Greek Gardens to Mountain Valley Seed Co. The company moved to Salt Lake City in 1993 to be at the center of its market. Mountain Valley Seed Co. now serves almost the entire Intermountain area and is expanding each year to meet demand. Mountain Valley is a wholesale distributor only, but its seeds are available at most garden centers in the area.
Since seeds are so vital to the success of the garden, Agathangelides shared some tips on buying and preserving good seed:
Look at more than just the picture and check the variety and the seed value. "A cheap price is not much consolation if your garden does not produce well."
Check with the University Extension Service in your area about a particular variety. "What does well in one area may not do as well in another."
Buy from reputable companies. "I depend on the integrity of these companies just as my customers depend on me."
Agathangelides says Mountain Valley runs germination tests on all the seeds before packaging. If there's any doubt about the seed it's tested at the state seed lab.
"I have a good working relationship with the Department of Agriculture and Food so we can make certain our seed is physically going to germinate when given the right conditions."
Agathangelides also noted that Mountain Valley sells seed by number rather than weight. "Twenty milligrams of seed does not mean much to a gardener. They want to know how many seeds they are getting so they know how many rows they can plant or how many plants they can grow," he says.
"When we sell some of these hybrid varieties, they are so expensive that we like to let people know how may seeds they will get for their money.
"Some seeds like begonias have more than 1 million seeds per ounce. These seeds would retail for several thousand dollars per ounce, which makes them much more expensive than gold.
"We also have tried to make it easy for people to buy and to store extra seeds if they do not plant them this year. We are converting a lot of our packaging to resealable Mylar zip-lock bags. It keeps the moisture out and keeps the seeds in the dark. That way they last longer."
