I have not ordered from this place but you might look this over.

Here is a link that might be useful: sample seed shop

Christina,

Different types of seeds are viable for different periods of time. Properly-dried broccoli and cauliflower seeds are generally highly viable for about 5 years whereas carrot seed is generally only highly viable for about three years. The two main enemies of seed viability when storing seeds are high humidity and high temperature.

One way to store them is in freezers. They need to be inside airtight containers. All the major seed banks in the world store their seeds in cold storage units.

You also can store seeds in foil pouches, paper packets, zip-lock bags (you can get tiny ones in the bead/craft aisle at wal-Mart), plastic lids with tight containers, etc. If not stored in a freezer, they should be stored in a room or closet where they are exposed to fairly constant temperatures. You don't want to store them in an uninsulated garage, garden shed, attic, etc. where they'll be very hot in summer and very cold in winter. If storing them inside, an interior closet or pantry is often a good storage area. If you have a dry cellar or root cellar, it would be an ideal place for seed storage but make sure the seeds are in airtight and roden-proof containers. You also can place packets of silica in your seed containers to absorb moisture and help protect the seeds from excess humidity.

Seeds are not good today but then suddenly bad tomorrow. Instead, the seeds lose their vigor slowly over a period of time If your seeds are dried down to 8% moisture content and then sealed into airtight containers and stored in a freezer, they will maintain their normal or typical viability for ten times as long as seeds not stored long-term in a freezer.

I don't keep my seeds in the freezer. I just keep them in paper envelopes placed inside zip-lock bags and stored in a plasic storage crate with a locking lid. Most of the time, the storage crate is in my root cellar with my stored veggies and home-preserved food.

If you don't have room in the freezer or don't want to store your seeds there, a refrigerator works too. When removing seeds from a freezer or refrigerator so that you can open the container and use some of them, first remove the container from cold storage and let it sit all day long or overnight so the seeds can completely reach room termperature before you open the airtight seed packet. This lessens the likelihood that moisture will condense on the seeds as they thaw which can cause them to germinate prematurely.

I generally try to use seeds before they are six years old or older but sometimes you can get seeds that are 6-10 years old to germinate fairly easily, and real seed pros can often germinate older ones. I don't think I've ever tried to germinate seeds older than 8 or 10 years in age.

One thing you need to consider with seed packets is that they have to meet federal germination standards because every seed likely will not germinate. The germination rate is expressed as a percentage and varies from variety to variety. For example, the minimal federal germination rate for commercially-sold carrot seed is 55%, so you're unlikely to get 1500 carrots even if you plant 1500 seeds. The worst germination you can expect from fresh seed packed for the current year's use is, therefore, 55% for carrots, although often you'll find a particular batch of seeds has a much higher germinationrate than that---it is just the 55% is the minimum allowed. For cucumbers, the Federal Germination Standard for seed sold commercially is 80%. When planting, you can use the Fenderal Germination Standard for any given variety as an aid in figuring out how many seeds to plant in order to get X number of plants.

You also can choose smaller packets of seed. One retailer who specializes in smaller quantities of seed is Pinetree Garden Seeds (www.superseeds.com) and some other seed companies sell 'mini' or 'sampler' packs that contain smaller quantities of seeds.

If you collect and save your own seed from open-pollinated varieties, the most important thing is to make sure it has reached the proper degree of dryness before storing it. Otherwise you may end up with moldy, ruint seed.

Dawn

I LOVE that seed site! I think it could get me in a lot of trouble! Some of the packets were still pretty large, however smaller than most.

If I am only wanting 2 or 3 plants of something 10 seeds should be more than enough. I am sure for the average company that sorting out 10 seeds @ a time isn't cost effective. I think the packaging would be the biggest loss. I am sure it would cost as much to package a 10 seeds as it cost to package 50-100. :(

I guess that's why seed trading is so popular. Have you been to the seed exchange site that GW has? I've had really good experiences, mostly. A few kind of disappointing ones, where the seed I got was too old or where I didn't get but maybe two seeds and some chaff. But usually everyone's friendly and we even visit with each other a little while we're working out the trade.

Some people have been burned and get a little reactionary. Some won't send seed to you till after they get what you've agreed to trade them. Some have wording on their exchange lists that feels kind of rude and puts me off. I contacted one woman because I had a few things that she had listed on her "want" list, and I found a few things that I would've liked to have had. She had some wording on her exchange list that was kind of borderline but I decided to give it a shot anyway. Her response seemed kind of aloof to me, "Contact me again when it's closer to planting time." But maybe I was just feeling overly sensitive. I'm not going to remember at planting time even who this lady is, and I might've wanted to wintersow the seed I would have gotten from her. So I was turned off by that and didn't respond. And probably won't, if she contacts me later, unless I'm in a real generous mood. I don't like it when people act superior like that.

If you haven't tried the seed exchange, get some small bubble envelopes, stamps and labels. I have had lots of fun with it. If you have extra seeds from last year you have something to trade, but you can get loads of seeds for postage. One man felt sorry for me because I wanted a particular weed that I saw in a demonstration garden. He told me he knew where it grew and would get me some seeds at the end of summer. He went to a lot of trouble to get me those sends and only wanted postage. Some people may sound snippy but most are very nice and generous. The trick is to check it often reload the page and be early because good offers go fast. You send them the bubble envelope with your address label and stamps for the return inside or the seeds you are giving in trade. It is very fun when you check your mail and find a package full of little seed packs.

Pinetree is well known for their smaller seed packets. I've ordered from them before and been happy.

Lisa

P.S. oh, I see Dawn has beat me to it :) Well, I'm seconding her Pinetree suggestion :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinetree Seeds