Saving Seed

I tend to be a lazy seed saver and it shows.  lol!

I will go out and pick seed heads or shake them into paper towels or whatever I happen to have.  Then wrap them up and stick them in the fridge.  Until it's time to plant them.  I don't have a LOT of success in this so I go out and and buy seed every year...even if I don't plant them... extra goes in the fridge.

Why do I stick the seeds in the fridge?  Because I DO have more success with those from the fridge than those NOT stuck in there.

Have I ever mentioned I have two brown thumbs?

Yes, despite my love for plants, they don't love me like I love them.  And that may be a good thing because if they did, well, I'd be overwhelmed with plants..... literally.

Plants tend to do better without my loving attention.  Case in point, I have a few tree saplings and grape vines that grew like crazy this year because I ignored them.  So I'm going to figure out where I want my Ginko; Pecan; and Oak trees in my small yard or maybe over in my extra lot.  I'm hoping that one of the trees is an Almond tree which sprang from me throwing a bunch of the nuts from the grocery store into a pot and covering them.  (yes those from the big bin during the holidays..... I was trying for an English Walnut... but I have not given up on that since I have several in the .....you guessed it.... FRIDGE!)

Anyways.... back to saving seed.  Well, I've read several books on it and it seems that as long as you keep them dry and cool, they should stay viable for a least a year... germination rates go down each year.  I had one book tell me that I should just throw out all my "last year seeds" since they would not be worth the effort or work trying to germinate them..... WHAT????  I've had TEN YEAR OLD bean seeds germinate for me!!!  And these were from the bags from the grocery store!!!  (yes those one and two pound bags of dried beans you find on the bean aisle of every grocery store there is.... hey, cheap seeds and good beans! )

And guess where those beans were kept?  Yep, the FRIDGE, some had been in the FREEZER part for years.  sigh.... I never throw seed away, if anything, I toss it in one of my garden beds and see what happens.

So the two most important things to remember about saving seed.... dry and cool.

And don't trust any book that tells you to toss last years seed!!