Moxie Gardener

I’m a frugal gardener.  I don’t throw away seeds. I don’t even throw away the empty seed packages.  I keep seeds and plant them every year until they’re all gone.  Eventually, no seeds germinate.

At one point I had all of my seeds labeled and filed in a large index-card box (remember before PCs?).  I’ve slacked off in recent years and now my seeds are piled in a wicker basket and the index-card box is full of old seeds.

I admit it.  I’ve been lazy.

After documenting part of my disarray of seeds in the accompanying photo, I’m committed to organizing my collection of seeds and purging any that are no longer viable.

Here’s my plan.

First, I’ll sort through all the packages and separate those that are empty from those that contain seeds.

Next, I’ll determine which seeds are relatively new and likely to germinate.  I will conduct germination tests on seeds which I believe are too old to germinate.  (More about that below.)

Finally, I’ll re-file my seeds in my large index-card box.  I have stiff cardboard dividers and have divided my seeds into seven areas:

1. Annual flowers.
2. Perennial flowers.
3. Annual herbs.
4. Perennial herbs.
5. Cool weather vegetables.  (Plant primarily in Spring.)
6. Hot weather vegetables.  (Plant primarily in late Spring to early Summer.)
7. Other.

I find this division helps whether I’m planting seeds outside in the garden or starting them indoors.

To conduct a germination test, count out ten seeds.  Fold a plain white paper towel in half and then in half again.  Open up the last fold.  Dampen the towel slightly using a spray bottle.  Sprinkle the ten seeds onto one side of the folded paper towel and cover with the other side.  Insert into a plastic zip sandwich bag.

Don’t forget to label with variety, days to expected germination, and the current date.  Check daily and spray lightly with water if the towel starts to dry out before the seeds are expected to germinate.

I usually give seeds three to four days past the time they are expected to sprout, just in case.  At this time, open up the folded paper towel and count the number of seeds that have sprouted.  Multiply by ten, and this is your expected germination rate for the entire package of seeds.  If only 50% of the seeds have germinated, you’ll know to plant more seeds.

The growing season is too short to waste time and garden space waiting for seeds that will never germinate.  Test them and you’ll know what to expect.

I’m off to organize and test my seeds.

Tags: saving seeds

This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 7:23 PM and is filed under Starting Seeds, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.