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Beans, Peas & Legumes

First Harvest This Year + A Question

13 years ago

A little slow this year, but got two meals worth of Roma beans off three plants and five beautiful green bell peppers. I did get a few peas earlier this year, but not enough to do anything with except eat them on the way back to the house.

I was checking out the old pea vines for the pods I left on them and they were rattling so I brought them in. Now, can I go ahead and plant them at the proper time for a fall crop or keep them for next year and use more from the packages I bought this year? Do I have to do anything to these dried peas other than pop them out of their pods and put them in an airtight container until planting?

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Comments (3)

iam3killerbs
13 years ago
Just be sure that they are ABSOLUTELY dry before putting them into the container. If there is any moisture left at all in them they'll mold.

I never feel 100% confident about that so I usually choose paper envelopes and cardboard shoe boxes instead. BUT, by doing that I know that germination will fall off after 2-3 years.
bcskye
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, iam3killerbs. I will use your advise on using the envelopes.
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rodger
13 years ago
The seed does need to be dry, typically in an air conditioned house the humidity is low so place the seed in a dish and stir it every time you go by for a few days. If you have a ceiling fan put them under it or any small fan blowing over them will help in drying. After 3-4 days put them in an air tight container and put them in the freezer. They can be permanently stored in the freezer which will keep them viable for decades but as a minimum they need to stay in the freezer not refrigerator for at least a week to kill any bugs and eggs. I have 2 large freezers just for seed. I freeze all my seed to kill any bugs before I send them off to the seed companies. For small quantities of seed I like jars, when I am ready to plant I pull out the jars several hours before I plant or night before to allow them to equalize with ambient temperature. If you do not allow them to warm up as soon as the container is opened the seed will freeze the moisture in the air and frost over this is not good so do not open a conainer straight out of the freezer until it has thawed usually less than a couple of hours. Then I open the jar and remove the seed to plant reclose and put back in the freezer. Make sure you put the name of the variety inside the jar or container as a back up to any external labeling. This is from experience. I have had labels fall off and hand writen wear or smudger after years in the freezer from constanly moving around so another label inside saved the variety of seed.Rodger

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