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Don't throw away your seeds

Whether you save your own seeds from your garden or you buy seed packets at your local supermarket, before you toss out your leftover seeds and decide you will buy new ones next year just so you'll have "good seeds," stop. These "old" seeds will probably have the same, or sometimes even a greater, germination rate as this past year. Of course, you will need to keep your seeds in a clean container in a dry, cool place. (We keep ours in our unheated den). By keeping them in a cool storage area you will be able to keep most seed for a couple of years.

A general guideline for length of time to store seeds:

One to two years: corn, lettuce, parsley, leek, onion, spinach and parsnips

Three to five years: asparagus, beans, cabbage, carrots, celery, chicory, endive, okra, peas, peppers, radishes, pumpkin, squash and eggplant.

Five years or more: beets, cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, kale, melons, mustard, peppers, radish, rutabaga, sunflower and turnip.

If your seeds might be older than this, you can still do a germination test to see if they are still good, before you throw them away.

To test for germination: Put 10 seeds in a paper towel, then fold the paper towel in half and place it in a plastic sandwich bag. Make sure you put the date and the name of the seed and keep moist. Depending on what seed your testing this could take up to a couple of weeks.

If at least seven seeds sprout they are just as good as new ones.

I have heard stories about people who have found seed in their grandmother's attic from 30 years ago and they still grow.

You can catch up with my garden at Gardening in Lower MI.