Check out my post at Utah Preppers for some important information for anybody storing Survival Seeds. Mine were sealed in a can with an oxygen absorber and kept relatively cool and definitely dry throughout their storage. They are 9 years old, and I’m planting them this year and have a few results already. Read the report here.
Or if you want the short version: don’t store your seeds too long–a few will grow and a bunch of others won’t. :) If you’re planning on harvesting your own seed, get a reference book on it and start practicing now.
Keep preparing! Angela
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We keep survival seeds, the non-hybrid type that are supposed to reproduce themselves after planting. We use them this year, buy more next year so they never sit that long.
I’ve been looking into stocking up on heirloom and survival seeds to it’s a nice to have a good idea on the shelf life. And I’m definitely picking up that book!
We did this little experiment in our Ward garden group. Had similar results.
I guess if we are buying heirloom seeds, planting and harvesting, we would have new seeds each year.
Hermit–That’s a good way to go. Then you have fresh seed every year.
Maggy–definitely worth the purchase price on that book!
Jeannetta–That would be the idea although the book says if you’re saving seed from just a few plants each time you decrease genetic diversity in your crop which over time can lead to decreased crop yield. Crazy. So I guess I’ll be supplementing the seeds I harvest with a pack or two from the seed sellers now and then just to keep that diversity going. :)
I “recycle” my seeds each year. This years Garden was planted in part with seeds I harvested last year. Instead of buying all kinds of seeds each year, I set aside some of my crops to grow for the next year. There are a few things I haven’t mastered harvesing from seeds especially tomatos because I don’t have alot of luck growing tomatos in the first place due to our climate here.