Save Your Own Garden-Grown Vegetable Seed

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THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL SEED STORAGE

The key to successful long-term seed storage is keeping your c ache cool and dry. If you store your seeds where the air is moist, they may sprout and/or become mildewed. (Tip: You may want to put a small amount of powdered milk into each storage container to act as a desiccant.) Likewise, mold growth occurs at a faster rate in warm air than it does in cool air.

Potato and onion sets may be stored in open boxes or hung in mesh bags in a place where the temperature is 35° to 40°F and the air is not overly dry. We store ours in a frost-free fruit cellar along with our canned goods and winter squash. (My neighbor, on the other hand, has had good luck squirreling away his eatin' spuds and seeds in a fourfoot-deep pit dug in a sandy, welldrained spot. When he unearths them in early May, the potatoes and seeds look just like they did the previous September . . . and not a single sprout!)

HOW LONG WILL SEEDS KEEP?

Some seeds keep much longer than others. The following chart will give you an idea as to the minimum length of time properly stored seeds will remain viable. TYPE OF SEEDUSEFUL LIFE (YEARS)

Some of the above seeds may-depending on the particular variety and the storage conditions-remain usable for up to ten years . . . although, of course, you shouldn't depend on such extraordinary viability.

HOW YOU CAN TELL IF YOUR SEEDS ARE STILL ALIVE

Years ago, I helped carry out germination tests for a large store that bought seed in bulk and repacked it in small packets for resale. Since the manager carried his unsold stock over from year to year, it was important for us to know how many seeds in a particular batch would sprout when planted.

Here's what we did: First, we placed moistened cotton in a petri dish . . . then we

[1] put exactly 100 seeds on top of the damp cotton,

[2] covered the dish,

[3] left it at room temperature for a certain number of days, and

[4] counted the number of seeds that had begun to grow. If 90 out of 100 seeds sprouted, the germination rate was listed as 90%. This was considered good.

I do essentially the same thing with my seeds now, except that I only use ten seeds per test, and I only test seeds that are more than a year old. (If the seeds are less than two years old and look good, I assume that their germination rate is acceptably high.)

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