| I can't say that what I did was right according to people who know what they are doing in saving seed, but I put mine in the refrigerator crisper last year. It worked ok for me. I also did this with onion sets purchased this spring. I have kept unsprouted sets in the crisper to plant thoughout this growing season for the green onion tops. I got some pole bean seeds from a friend over 10 years ago and grew and saved some each year. Then for a number of years didn't have any place to grow them. Last year I was only able to sprout a few and grew those only for seed. (For those years that I couldn't plant I saved them in a paper bag in a closet, which may explain why few sprouted). I put last years seed in the crisper over the winter and they sprouted just fine this year. A long with left over kolrabi, peas, several lettuces, zucchini, summer squash, sweet basil and swiss chard. There was some skips on some things, but that was true of seeds purchased this year as well. I planted a new package of golden beets and only 3 came up. The red beets planted in the same bed at the same time germinated very well. Go figure. I didn't expect the old seed to germinate as well so I just saved a few of each to fill in those areas. I haven't seen any sales around here either. The demand has been very high for seed, so what little is on the shelves is there at the same price. Buying for next year is an interesting idea though. No doubt the high demand will raise the price next year as it usually does. Got to give that some real thought. As my next way of figuring out how to save money I am looking for more things like my pole beans that I can save my own seeds from. Johnnys seed packet for parsnips said that the seed doesn't keep well. Thanks for the idea lroberge. Something to think about. | 
