If you’re a gardener, you likely have a stash of seeds. If you’re anything like me, these seeds vary from nice, neat and labeled packages gleaned from stores and friends to roughly-made envelopes with penciled names on them. Whether the seeds are gleaned from your own garden plants or from the garden store, you’ll want to keep them safe this winter so that you can plant them in the spring.
Label your seeds so that you know what you have and where it came from. If you have more details about planting and growing that plant, add notes to your seed package. That way, even if it’s seed that a friend has given to you, you know all about it.
Sort your seeds so that you know which ones need to be planted at certain times. Surprisingly enough, a few seeds need to be planted in the fall, because they need the cold wintertime to get ready to grow in the spring. Make sure that you check your seed packages to make sure that you have all of these in the ground soon. Some seeds may need to be started in late winter to be ready to go into the garden in the spring time. Place these at the front of your seed storage area.
Keep your seeds in a cool, dry, and dark place. Your job is to keep those seeds from growing before you want them to sprout. What do seeds need to grow? They need heat, moisture, and light. By avoiding these things, you help your seeds grow. Some people store their seeds in a container with a bit of rice or some packages of silica gel from a shoebox. This helps keep things dry. Temperatures around 40 degrees work well for seeds. If you store them in the fridge, make sure that they are not near any apples: apples put off a gas that promotes growth and ripening.
How long do seeds last? They can last much longer than a year, depending on the seed. Radish and squash seeds can last up to four years, while lettuces and other oily seeds tend to last for a year or two. Try to use your seeds within two years if possible.
Do you save seeds from year to year? How do you store them?
Image Credit: Chesnutt