It is time to start thinking about next years garden. This is when I get all my seeds out and see what I have collected or have left from the current year. Hopefully, I have saved a lot of seed and don't need to buy much for the coming year.
Saving Seed
If you want to be more self-sufficient and know your seed is from healthy stock, save your own seed. Some seed is simple to save and it just requires collecting fully mature seed. Other seed plants need to be protected from accidental cross-pollination by another variety. You can usually prevent cross-pollination by isolating crops from others of the same species. Every species has a required isolation distance, based on whether it's pollinated by wind or insects. Since the required isolation distance is usually too great for gardeners, some crops can be protected from cross-pollination by row cover, bagging, tapping or boxing. If you want to get into saving your own seed, a great book for seed saving is called "Seed to Seed." The author tells you everything you need to know to save most seeds. I suggest you get it if you want to save seed. Seed saving skills are easy to learn with this book. The author has many jewels of wisdom in these pages.
Storing Seeds & Shelf Life
Discard any old seed that was having trouble sprouting this year. If your seeds don't seem to last long, you may not be storing them correctly. Storage of seeds is a major factor in how many years that seed will last.
Make sure you keep them away from light, air, moisture and heat. A good way to store unused seeds that came in paper packets is to place them in a sealed jar. You can add a desiccant such as powdered milk or rice at the bottom if you live in a humid environment. Rice can be reused again as a desiccant if you dry it in the oven at a low temperature. Store the seed jar in a cool area, such as a basement. Seed can even be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Seed is best stored through the winter at 50 degrees. For seed you harvest, I suggest using old, cleaned supplement (vitamin/mineral and herb bottles) containers to store the seeds. They are free and are usually air-tight. Zipper freezer bags, glass jars, plastic containers, and metal boxes can be used if they seal tightly. Buckets with tight lids also work for larger seeds like beans and corn. Make sure you label them with the name and date collected. You should also label all seed packages you purchase with the date received so you will be able to track how old they are. Please realize that these seeds may already be a couple years old when you buy them. Companies will sell older seed if it is still viable. By your dating the packets you can at least know when you purchased the seed.
At the end of this post is a list of food plants and an idea of how long each type of seed will last.
Are My Seeds Still Viable?
When you start seeing that seeds are not germinating as well as they were, it is time to pull that seed and compost it. If you are concerned about a seed germinating, you can do a pre-germination test before planting them. This will save you the time and effort of planting them in trays if they are no longer viable. Simply treat the seed as you would sprouts you would sprout for eating. If you don't usually sprout seeds, you can get information on the web for sprouting in a jar. Another method is to sprout the seeds between two sheets of moist paper towels. Moisten a coffee filter or piece of paper towel and place a specific number of seeds on it, such as 10 or 50. Fold the moistened paper over the seeds and put it in a plastic bag in a warm place. Take the paper out and inspect the seeds twice a day, spraying with water as needed to maintain moisture around the seeds. After the usual number of days required to germinate that variety, count to see how many have germinated and calculate the percentage of germination. Be aware that if the room they are in is not warm enough, it will take longer to germinate.
Once you know what seeds you currently have you can get ready to order the seeds you still need. Make sure you order seeds that are "true" and healthy. I try to order only organic/biodynamic seeds. I look for non-hybrid seeds as I will usually start collecting the seed for myself if I like the variety. Absolutely make sure you do not purchase genetically modified seed. Purchasing healthy, organic, non-gmo seed gets harder and harder as time goes by. This is why I harvest a lot of my own seed.
Some seed companies that I purchase from are:
- These folks are employee owned and have the most "true" seed of any of the companies in my opinion. I don't think I have ever had any trouble with seed from them. However, the company Seminis which is now owned by Monsanto, supplies some seeds to Johnny's. (I was so disappointed to find this out.) So whatever you do, don't buy non-organic seed from Johnny's. Johnny's has told me that they are weeding out the Seminis seed and replacing them with other seeds as they find alternatives. If not, I would have quit buying even their organic seed. You can go to this website to see what companies are being supplied seed from Monsanto's Seminis company. Here you can find a list of companies to watch out for if you don't want to buy seed owned by Monsanto. http://us.seminis.com/products/hg_dealer.asp
-These folks were bought out by the mega company Mars a few years back so I would watch them carefully. They do supply organic seed currently. What they offer has changed over the years and I am not as thrilled with them as I once was.
- These folks are a great source for medicinal herb seed. I see they are now selling food seed also. This is a company you can trust. It is family owned and I have been to their lovely farm. They are committed to bringing healthy, viable seed to their customers.
How Long Seeds Will Last
If seeds have not been pre-treated or pelletized, and if they have been stored properly, here is the shelf life you can expect:
Artichoke - three to four years
Asparagus - three to four years
Basil - three - four years
Bush and pole beans - two years
Beets - four to five years
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi - four to five years
Cardoon - three to four years
Carrots - three years
Celery - five years
Celeriac - five years
Chard - three to four
Chives - two years
Collard, Kale - three to five years
Corn - two years
Cucumbers - four to five years
Endive - five years
Eggplant - five years
Leeks, onions - three years
Lettuce - four to five years
Melons - three to four years
Oriental greens - three years
Parsley - two years
Parsnips - one year
Peas - two years
Peppers - three to four years
Radishes - four years
Rutabagas - three - four years
Salsify - one year
Spinach - one year
Squashes - three to four years
Swiss Chard - two years
Tomatoes - five years
Turnips - three - four years
Flower seed - annuals are generally good for one to three years; perennials for two to four years.
Asparagus - three to four years
Basil - three - four years
Bush and pole beans - two years
Beets - four to five years
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi - four to five years
Cardoon - three to four years
Carrots - three years
Celery - five years
Celeriac - five years
Chard - three to four
Chives - two years
Collard, Kale - three to five years
Corn - two years
Cucumbers - four to five years
Endive - five years
Eggplant - five years
Leeks, onions - three years
Lettuce - four to five years
Melons - three to four years
Oriental greens - three years
Parsley - two years
Parsnips - one year
Peas - two years
Peppers - three to four years
Radishes - four years
Rutabagas - three - four years
Salsify - one year
Spinach - one year
Squashes - three to four years
Swiss Chard - two years
Tomatoes - five years
Turnips - three - four years
Flower seed - annuals are generally good for one to three years; perennials for two to four years.
If you need help gardening & you live in the Eugene, Oregon area, join Sharol Tilgner in her 2012 "Living Garden" class. http://www.herbaltransitions.com/Classes.html#LivingGarden
