CONGRATS! Raise that boy in the garden and you'll have a great helper!

After making sure the seeds have completely dried, put them in little zip-lock bags and keep them in the refrigerator. They will stay viable for years. I used to keep mine in the freezer, but I have found that to not be a good option for certain types of seed.

Backyardmomma,

Congrats on the impending delivery of a big, strong, garden helper! Tell us when your due date is so we can all start worrying and feeling nervous on your behalf. (smile)

I agree with Ilene on the seed storage. If you'd rather not have them in the refrigerator, a cool, dry location, like a pantry, where the temperature stays fairly constant is a second option. I have so many seeds that they'd need their own refrigerator, but I keep mine in zip-lock bags stored in an 8 or 10-gallon plastic tote. Some people put them in the freezer, but I think it can cause problems for some specific seeds.

And I don't mind if we fill the "grandpa" role in your gardening life. MY grandpa taught me so much about gardening, although he didn't really say much or explain much....he just did it and I observed and learned. I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by gardening relatives, neighbors and friends, and it was such a blessing. Even though none of us nowadays is probably as surrounded by gardeners living all around us now like I was then, the internet allows us to share and learn gardening lore and techniques, just in a more modern way. I love it. I still learn something new each and every day and it keeps me on my toes!

Dawn

I was advised not to put them in plastic bags unless you intend to sow them within a short time. So, I use paper bags and store them at room temperature. It works just great.

Also, if you save milkweed pods, the seed is attached to fluff. The easiest way to deal with seeds of this nature is to put them in a paper bag, cut a small hole in the bottom corner of the bag, put a few coins in it, and the seeds will come out of the hole without the fluff.

Susan

Thanks everyone for all the great advice! My due date is October 30- thanks for fretting with me! haha!

We'll be counting the days and hoping the summer heat and humidity go easy on you. : )

Dawn

I have 3 types of pine and zelkova tree seeds in plastic bags in the freezer that are over 10 years old and still viable. I keep tropical seed in jars with a saltine cracker inside down in the basement. Some of these tropical are also over 10 years old and still viable.

randy

In 1985 sent a special squash seed to a friend in Tulsa. He planted some and stuck the rest in a jar in his deep freeze. In 2004 I dug up his address and asked if he still had seed to that squash. He replied that he still had some of the same sample I sent him. He took it out and mailed me some. I planted it in 2006 and had nearly 100% germination!

George

George, that's fantastic! I think most seed can be frozen, but I haven't had good luck with freezing certain seed, like peppers and okra, for instance. And I have never tried freezing beans because I was advised against it.

Some types of seed have longer keeping qualities than others. My hollyhocks, in fact, are descendants of seed I gathered and packed when we moved seven years ago. After the move, I couldn't find the seed. Three years passed, and then I found the seed in a container out in the shed. It gets horribly hot in that shed in the summer, and bitterly cold in the winter. I figured the seed was no good by then, so I tossed it all out there along the outside of my fence, figuring at least it would be a little "compost". But they germinated, not real heavily, but enough to populate the area, and in all three colors that I'd had at the other house.

I read somewhere, and I'm not sure if it's true, that the bushel basket gourd is a descendant of seeds found in an urn in a pyramid. Gourds take so long to germinate that, when they don't come up, I'm never sure if the seed was viable and something happened during the germination process, or if the seed was not good any more.

Seeds that can be kept frozen are usually perennials that need a certain amount of cold to either germinate or grow. That means you can freeze or refrigerate a lot of perennials, self-sowing annuals, etc.

Anything that is strictly annual in your area (doesn't reseed), should be stored at room temperature.

To find out if your seed is viable, just put them in a damp paper towel - keep the towel damp at all times. The viable seeds will begin to put out that first little root tail. Those that are not viable, will just sit there like little dunces! LOL!

Susan

Susan I think that is probably a good rule of thumb. There are exceptions, though, and one of them is tomato seed. Do you ever get volunteer tomato plants in your garden? I do, all the time. Sometimes I let them grow and other times they are in the way of something else and I have to pull them out. But they come up wherever a tomato has rotted and fallen to the ground. Once in awhile I will not see one and that will happen. So since they are out there all winter, through all the fluctuations of temperature and moisture levels, that tells me that the seed can be frozen. I have had squash, pumpkin, and cantaloupe volunteers. Also marigolds. This year, to my utter surprise, I had three potato plant volunteers! They are growing like mad and DH is drooling already, as one of his favorite foods is creamed new potatoes with peas. They are from some potatoes that I grew last year and apparently when I dug the potatoes I missed a few. I just couldn't believe they actually spent all winter in that raised bed and lived to make another plant! --Ilene

I'm glad you mentioned that,Dawn. For the first time this year I have volenteer tomatoes. I am going to let them grow since they are tiny compared to the rest & maybe they will be my fall tomatoes.
Also, I have a whole big container of wave petunias that came back from last year & 2 that had fallen from containers onto the ground & came back. Of course I am thrilled, but I was sure they were annuals here & we did have our big freeze in December as well as others.

Patty,

Sometimes I have odd plants come up in odd places....like I'll had Zebrina Malva pop up this year in a border where it has never been before, or I'll have a flower spontaneously volunteer, even though I haven't grown that flower in 3 or 4 years. Sometimes I think the birds "plant" them, but other times you know it has to be seed that has been laying around on/in the ground for a year or longer.

Often, volunteer plants are more hardy than those sown from a packet of seed. I think it has to do with them adapting to the climate over time, so self-sown/volunteer plants can, over time, give you a stronger strain of a particular flower or vegetable, and one that is perfectly adapted to your garden's soil and climate. How perfect is that?

Dawn