This is our FAQ page to answer all of those frequently asked questions that customers always ask us in person, on social media or in emails about our business, David's Garden Seeds®.
It is amazing how so many customers ask the exact same questions. I thought by creating this FAQ page, it would cut down on having to answer the same questions over and over. Also, I see FAQ pages on a lot of websites that I visit.
Do you live here?
Yes, we do. We lived in San Antonio for 20 years so that is where we had our business storefront. We found this property in June of 2019 and bought it in July of 2019. Then we moved a home onto the site, made a driveway, and got a generator for power. Eventually, we got internet, city water, dug a well, and finally got electricity four months later. For almost a year, we drove back and forth to and from San Antonio until we finally had all of the buildings in place to move our business from San Antonio to our farm. We used to hate the commute. Now we love it, walking down a few steps and over to our offices.
Do you grow all of these seeds right here on this property?
No, we do not. We have four acres. One acre is taken up with six business buildings, a parking lot, plus our home and backyard. The next two acres are a greenhouse, hoop houses, and the orchard. We do most of our gardening in the hoop houses and between the rows of trees in the orchard. We still have about an acre in the back that we will be putting animals on. Then, of course, there is the problem of cross-pollination. Each year, we grow some different plants that we save the seeds for selling.
We grow some seeds here. We get some seeds from local farmers. Other seeds come from reputable farmers and seed companies around the United States whom David has dealt with for decades. David has always been a seed snob. He never goes to Dollar Tree or Walmart for seeds. Most seed companies do not grow all of their own seeds. They would cross pollinate out in the field. Most seed companies buy from each other. We only deal with top of the line companies who have taken the Safe Seed Pledge and who have been in business for a good length of time.
Where do you get your seeds?
We get our seeds from reputable farmers and growers throughout the United States whom David has formed friendships and business relationships with throughout the past 25 years. We grow some of the seeds here on our own farm and some come from local farmers near our home. All of our seeds are Non-GMO and are grown by those who have taken the Safe Seed Pledge, just as we have.
Are your seeds GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms)?
All of our seeds are Non-GMO.
Many people think that just anyone can obtain and sell GMO seeds. You can't. You must be a commercially approved company who pays a lot for a special license. We do not have a license to sell GMO seeds, nor do we want one. We took the Safe Seed Pledge for our own health as well as for your health.
Many of the foods you buy at the grocery store now contain GMOs. Instead of using the term GMO on the packaging, they are saying "contains a bioengineered food ingredient". It is on almost everything from ice cream to cereal, pretzels, pancake mix, chips, cookies, crackers, cans of soup, and packaged meals. Don't believe me? Open your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer and take a look.
Tell me about your TV commercial. It was awesome!
Our TV commercial, shown on MeTV and KSAT in the San Antonio area was shot in September of 2021. Marken Media in Devine produced it. A videographer used a drone for most of the shots. All of the music, including the jingle, was written, played, and sung by our son, Matthew Schulze, a very talented musician. None of us were seen in the commercial as David decided. The man you see taking a selfie was the videographer.
In our next commercial, we will be in it. After all, when you come out for a visit, I am the one 99% of the time, who you are greeted by and helped by. Matthew is sometimes in the store and gives a lot of farm tours. Every once in a while, David comes over to the store to say hello or to give a tour. We are David's Garden Seeds®!
We should have made a commercial years ago because this commercial has brought hundreds and hundreds of people out to the farm since we started showing it at the end of January 2022. Thank you to all of the amazing visitors who come out to see and to shop! We would not be successful without our wonderful supporters who shop locally, visit our farm from surrounding areas, and our online shoppers. We appreciate and love you all!
If you have not caught our TV commercial on television, here it is! Enjoy!
What are all of these buildings for? Are they stores that I can go in? Are they houses that you rent out? Can I live in one of these buildings?
All of the buildings in front of our home serve a purpose at our business, David's Garden Seeds®. No, you cannot live in them or rent them. They are not empty. They are filled with seeds, equipment, machinery, and people who work for us. No one lives in them. Our farm store is not the business. It is just frosting on the cake. The Production Building is where the seeds first go for processing. They may need to be cleaned. Then they are counted in our seed counting machines and packed in tiny ziplock bags.
The envelopes for each of the more than 1,600 seed varieties we have are printed on big printers. Then the bags of seeds are packed into the envelopes. The seeds are then moved over to the Fulfillment Building.
The Fulfillment Building is where packed seeds are stored and where they are shipped out to customers. Some orders are filled in our Farm Store when there are more than the Fulfillment crew can handle. Some of the seeds are moved to the Farm Store to hang up in there so our visitors can purchase them. We are now welcoming hundreds of visitors each week from Monday through Saturday. They shop, ask questions, discuss their gardening needs, and many of the visitors tour our farm and greenhouse.
The Kitchen Building will soon have a new name. For some reason, everyone thinks kitchen means restaurant. We do not have a restaurant on the premises. The Kitchen Building consists of David's office, plus the employee break room and two bathrooms that are open to the public.
Are your seeds from China?
No, our seeds are not from China. Our seeds are from the United States of America. All of our growing is done right here in the United States. The seeds we sell do not leave the country for any type of growing, processing, or packaging. Counting and packaging the seeds is done right here on our farm just outside of Poteet, Texas by our wonderful team. We even make our own envelopes right here on the farm.
Do you have a paper catalog?
No, we do not have a paper catalog in our efforts to remain a green company. You can see all of our current seeds on our website at www.davidsgardenseeds.com or on our Amazon Store.
Why isn't your phone number listed on your website anymore?
Since we moved to the country, we have spotty internet so we do not have a business phone. Unless you have AT&T, you won't have cell service here at the farm. That is the only network that people don't complain about too much so we prefer that you contact us by email. That way, your call does not get hung up in the middle of a sentence because the signal failed.
If you need to contact us, you can always email us at davidsgardenseeds@outlook.com or send a message on our Facebook page or Instagram page.
Why did you leave San Antonio?
For the last ten years or so, we wanted to buy a farm and move to the country so we could have a big garden instead of small beds in a tiny backyard. The city of San Antonio is beautiful but there are not many large yards where you could fit in 100 raised garden beds, an orchard, and a field full of plants, not to mention farm animals.
We bought our farm on July 30, 2019 and moved to the farm on August 16, 2019. At the end of June 2020, we finally got our whole business moved to the farm. Now, instead of a one hour commute one way, we have a 30 second walk across the parking lot to our offices.
We are loving the area and all of the locals who visit tell us that they love having us here. We love living here!
Why should I buy seeds from David's Garden Seeds® instead of the big box stores or dollar stores? Your seeds are so expensive.
We pack our seeds fresh every day right here on the farm by a team of just nine people. We hire good people who do their best to count, package, and ship your seeds accurately.
The seeds you buy at the big box stores and especially at the dollar stores are old, probably from a few years before you get them. You have no idea where your seeds have been. Some seed companies actually ship their seeds over to China to have them counted and packaged and then ship them back to the company before they are distributed to stores and/or shipped out to you.
David's Garden Seeds® does everything right here in Poteet, Texas on our farm. We even design and print our own envelopes. I (Juanita) oversee all of the website orders and I personally fill and ship many of them myself.
You get what you pay for and it costs a lot to keep Texans working but we feel it is worth every penny. We don't pay minimum wage to any of our team members. They deserve a living wage. When we treat our people right, they do a great job for you.
Most of our seed packets start at $3.95. The amount of seeds varies from variety to variety but if you are spending $3.95 on a packet of 200 lettuce seeds, your cost is actually less than two cents per head of lettuce. Each head is costing you .01975 cents, almost two cents. Or let's say you buy a pack of tomatoes at 25 seeds per packet. Each tomato plant costs you under 16 cents (0.158 cents). Each tomato plant will give you a lot of tomatoes so that is 16¢ well invested.
Now, let's say you are thirsty and you go by the convenience store for a can of beer or soda. I don't drink beer but let's say it costs you $3 for a can. You buy it, go home, sit down and watch TV and drink it. That $3 won't stay with you for long before you go to the bathroom and eliminate it from your body. You get no return on that investment.
Spend the $3.95 on a fresh pack of heirloom garden seeds and grow some food. That is a wise investment, one the whole family and your grocery budget will benefit from.
I am afraid to go to your seed store because of Covid. Can you ship the seeds to me?
Since Covid happened, many are afraid to shop in person, even in 2023. That is okay because we ship orders all over the United States, including San Antonio. We no longer do free shipping because USPS has significantly raised the shipping rates. If we have everything in stock, you can expect to receive your package in three to five business days. If not, it may take a little longer.
On our website, we also have a choice where you can order your seeds and then come and pick them up. We can have them ready the same day. In fact, we usually do. Just remember, we close at 5pm Monday through Friday and we close at 2pm on Saturday. There will be no one here to pull your order on Sunday because we are closed on Sundays.
We like to get our orders out in the mail on the same day, but when we have hundreds of them in the queue, it may take a day or two to get to your order. We try our best to get them out to you in a timely manner.
Also, remember that USPS is delivering a bit slower because they have more mail to ship since people all over the country are having items shipped to them a lot more than before Covid.
Is there really a David or did you make David up?
LOL! Yes, there really is a David. He has been my husband for almost 36 years as of today (2/23/2023). Our wedding anniversary is April 18, 1987.
Can you believe that several people have actually asked me that? I was pretty surprised the first time someone asked me this question. Then I remember the TV show Remington Steele that was on in the early 1980s. I loved that show. David is busy running the whole operation so he doesn't have time to sit over in the Farm Store. He is busy CEOing and making sure that everyone gets each job done. Once in a while, he drops in to the store. Occasionally, he will help a customer in the store or out in our plant area. If you see a man in a tropical shirt approaching you, it is most likely David.
Since our move to the farm, David's office is in a different building than the store. We have a completely different set up than in our two storefronts in San Antonio. In our first storefront, David's office was right next to the retail area so he would pop out to visit a lot. Since then, our company has grown and his skills are needed elsewhere. I can handle the store and our wonderful customers without any problems and now I don't need a lot of garden advice. David has taught me a lot about gardening in all the years we have been married. I grow a lot more things now that we are on the farm. Experience is a great teacher.
I enjoy eating your sunflower seeds. When did you start selling everything else? You are David's Seeds, right?
Actually, David's Seed is a wonderful company that sells delicious sunflower seeds to eat. We enjoy eating them. But we are David's Garden Seeds®, a company that sells seeds to plant in your garden. We are not connected or related to the sunflower snack folks.
Why aren't you open on Sundays?
First, understand that we are a family owned small business and we do most of the work ourselves. When the store is closed after hours, we still do computer work. It is difficult to get workers on the weekends which is why I am in the store six days a week. David and I go to church on Sundays and that is our only day off from work. We love that you want to come see us seven days a week, but we really need to have some time off. Just like you, we have to buy groceries, do laundry and clean up. We also have gardens and animals to take care of.
Can you design, dig, and plant my garden for me? Will you put up a greenhouse for us?
No, I am sorry but we do not provide those services. We do not have time or the people to send out.
There are landscaping companies and gardening companies that will do these things for you.
We sell seeds and plants.
Most people do not understand that running David's Garden Seeds® is a full time business for both David and me. We are so busy that most evenings, we are still working on our computers when we go home. We barely have time to do our own gardening and greenhouse work.
We have been in business for almost 14 years and it has increased every year, depending on the heat and rain, of course.
David and I have our plates full running all aspects of our company. We do not have time to do gardening for others or to put up a greenhouse. We are busy running our Amazon store, our Shopify website store, our physical Farm Store, plus shipping orders, ordering, planting, counting, and packing seeds. We also make our own envelopes. We have team members who help us but we do need to oversee them and make sure things are being done the way they need to be done. Our greenhouse plants need to be taken care of and there is always something new to plant that will be for sale.
Can you set up a booth at my event and sell your seeds? Can you speak at my event?
Back when we first started our business, we did not have much business so we would do shows and events, even speaking at some of them. Then business started to pick up a lot. The last time we did an event was back in 2018. David got sick and ended up in the hospital, having major surgery. The next year, he had another surgery and then we moved to the farm. We no longer do shows or events because we are too busy with our business here on the farm.
Do you have free seeds for my school or my community service project? Can you mail me samples of your seeds and gear because I really like your seeds? I want to make a video about your company that I will get paid for so can you send me some of your seeds? I work with prisoners and I teach them to garden so I need some free seeds-Can you send me some?
First, let me say that we are in business because we need to make money. No one gives us anything. Do you go to Walmart and ask them for free clothes and gear because you like their products? If we shipped out tons of free merchandise every week to all of the people that request it, do you think we would be making enough money to pay our bills and taxes? We would be losing a lot of income.
As you know, the prices of everything have gone up high, including shipping rates. We pay top dollar for our seeds, our paper goods, our gear, and everything else we use so we can pack and ship seeds. Mailing out a pack of seeds with USPS tracking costs us between $4 and $6 now in the USA, depending on how heavy the pack is and how far away from us it is going. We cannot afford to send you free seeds anymore. We did this in the beginning, about 12 to 14 years ago but we no longer do this.
As for free gear, we are not going to pay $18 to $20 for a piece of gear and send it out to you for free plus spend an additional $6 shipping it to you. This is a recipe for us to go broke. The income we earn from David's Garden Seeds® is our only income. Not only do we pay ourselves, but we also have all of our employees to pay because they will not work for free. Then we have to pay all sorts of taxes, electricity, water, paper goods, cost of shipping, cost of merchandise, and so much more.
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Since 2009, over 1,500,000 home gardeners, all across the USA, have relied on David's Garden Seeds® to grow beautiful gardens. Trust is at the heart of it. Our customers know David's Garden Seeds® stocks only the highest quality seeds available. Our mission is to become your lifetime supplier of quality seeds. It isn't just to serve you once; we want to earn your trust as your primary supplier.
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Peppers and peas
And lots of yummy greens
You can't go wrong
With Squash This Long
At David's Garden Seeds
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Please like and subscribe on YouTube and come visit us at our Farm Store! The music on our TV ad was written, played, and sung by our son, Matthew Schulze. You can meet him when you come to the farm. He just might give you a tour. Ask him to grab a guitar and sing our jingle that he wrote.
We are David's Garden Seeds®. If you need great seeds, we've got over 1,000 varieties to choose from.
Find out what is going on down on the farm by reading our blog and by subscribing to our free newsletter for all of the information going down at David's Garden Seeds® and on the farm. I love to share helpful information with you. Please let your friends know and y'all come on down for a visit when you get the chance. We would love to meet you!