Onion seed is black and so you might be able to see the seed that already scattered on the ground, if you look closely, and pick it up. Or just leave it alone and let nature take its course and you will have seedlings in the spring, maybe. I don't know about Alaska, though, the winters are pretty long.

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.

Thanks for the follow-up, Remy! I cut them off last night. Lucky I did, because it's supposed to get down to 22 here tonight! Anyway, the seeds were (for the most part) all mature, and looked fine. The seeds in a couple of the smaller pods were still white. I'm going to try germinating a few when they finish drying. Thanks again! --Jordan

Nature Girl, I included the link to Ohio State University's fact sheet because I find their stuff pretty reliable. Here it is again for anyone reading this thread from the bottom: OSU Bleach and Hot Water Bath Hey ... some clarification for those who may not have read the fact sheet really closely ... and regarding "10% bleach solution" or other phraseology used above in this thread ... Laundry bleach like Clorox or Purex is a 5.25% solution of sodium hypochlorite in water. When someone says they're using a "10% bleach solution" and then goes on to tell you that's "one part bleach to ten parts water" ... that means they are using roughly a 0.525% sodium hypochlorite solution, which is rather weak for a quick kill of pathogens on the surface of tomato seeds, IMO. And ... they aren't using a "10% solution of sodium hypochlorite" which some folks commonly refer to as "bleach" for swimming pools and spas. If you read the OSU fact sheet closely, you'll see they recommend using 25 ounces (roughly 3 cups) of laundry bleach (at 5.25%) to 100 ounces of water. That conveniently fills a 1-gallon container (1 gallon = 128 fluid ounces). NOTE: OSU also recommends using a fresh batch of bleach solution for each batch of seeds AND they are using the solution at a rate of one gallon PER POUND of seed. I don't think most of us need to be mixing up a gallon of solution :::smile::: so, I suggest you simply mix as you go ... 1 part Clorox or Purex to 4 parts water. BTW, using OSU recommended 1:4, laundry bleach to water, yields 1.3125% sodium hypochlorite solution which is not quite 3 times stronger than 1:10, laundry bleach to water, at 0.525%. One reason I bring these "bleach solution percentages" up, is that swimming pool supply stores, farm supply stores, and home improvement stores sell 10% sodium hypochlorite (bleach) for pools and spas in gallon jugs, and I wouldn't want anyone pouring that directly on seeds or confusing it with a recommended product for seed treatment. Also, I'd like to add a few comments on a few experiences since this thread began ... I bleach-treated a couple thousand fermented Spudakee (Cherokee Purple, PL) seeds with a strong solution of Chlorox and water, 1:3, for five minutes and longer. I found you have to rinse them really good to get all the "slickness" of the bleach off ... actually, I used a squirt of Dawn anti-bacterial dish soap to clean them while rinsing the bleach off in a strainer. That got them really squeaky clean. After two weeks drying, I test germinated 56 seeds and got 48 germinated in 72 hours plus another 4 germinated in the following 2 days. Only four seeds failed to germinate. That's about 93% germination, which I find acceptable. Another method I'm working on is squeezing the seeds directly into a stainless strainer and coating them with a glob of Calgon dishwasher detergent with bleach, letting them sit 30 minutes, and scrubbing them clean. This works particularly well for dry fleshed paste tomatoes that don't have many seeds and don't have sufficient gel and juice to ferment without the addition of water. Note: I haven't test germinated any seeds processed this way yet, and you should be aware that Calgon dishwasher detergent contains significant phosphates. Bill