For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
what to do if you aren't sure those seeds are still good
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I got a really good question from a reader last week who asked if I had an extra fridge just for storing seeds. Wow, I wish! (Don't give me any ideas that'll make the husband raise his eyebrows... but wait, is a dedicated seed fridge in the garage all that different from a beer fridge?? 🤔) I actually store my seed packets in several ammo cans (a system I've been using for the last decade) and keep them all in the garage, which (although it's insulated) gets pretty chilly in winter when our lows drop to 15°F at night. So it's like being stored in the fridge... right?! 😆 I've been It's one of my favorite New Year cleaning rituals 'cause it sure beats organizing the closets. I sit on the floor with a huge mug of tea, spread all my seed packets out like a kid who just scored on Halloween, check the dates on each packet, and get rid of the ones that are past viability. How do I know which ones are past the point of viability? I discard seeds that are more than a year or two beyond the suggested shelf life, but I don't throw them in the trash—and here's a little tip if you raise backyard chickens... I toss the old seeds in the compost pile that I let my chickens work through. The chickens eat some of the seeds but might leave some on the ground. If any leftover seeds end up sprouting in spring, it's just more food for the flock! If you don't have chickens, you can just scatter them on the ground as bird seed or—in case you do get a few that germinate after all—a bonus living mulch. (This is an easy way to cover up some bare patches of soil that you don't necessarily want to plant.) Any seeds that are kinda straddling the expiration date might go through a simple germination test (I use this tried-and-true baggie method) to see if they're worth starting indoors or sowing in the garden. I don't bother with seeds that have less than 60% germination. Even if some seeds do germinate from a weak batch like that, they might not have the vigor needed to become healthy, productive plants. Besides, I'm always down for some shiny new seeds. 😉 P.S. Grab my seed expiration cheat sheet here. You might be surprised to learn which seeds are only good for 1 year from date of packing... and which can last up to 10 years! P.P.S. If you need a good seed inventory sheet, there's one included in my Ultimate Garden Diary. |
Garden Betty
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."