Lafacia, this may help: 20 years ago we put one of the smallest size SZs in when we bought our house. Ten years later, we reno'd the kitchen and replaced it with another slightly larger SZ. The old one went into storage in the garage, where it sat with the spiders for another ten years. A year ago, we pulled it out of the garage, cleaned off the spiderwebs, and set it up on the porch to handle overflow for a party. It works just fine - to the point that I so loved having the extra space, we've just kept it on. Had the SZ maintenance guy come out and check it out -- got a clean bill of health, didn't have to do a thing for it other than clean off the condensers. I'm now planning a new house, and plan to put a SZ in that one too. I think you'd have to pry my SZ out of my cold dead hands at this point . The only thing I can tell you that the new ones do better on is energy efficiency. Would I buy a used one? Yep, I probably would. HTH....

When I walked my kids around, I would put out a bowl and a cute little sign saying to take 1 or 2, or whatever. They did! Except one year, we were on our way out when I heard some boys take the whole bowl. I flew out the door, they stopped short of the end of the walkway and sheepishly put it back. I was especially surprised because we KNOW them! My sons quit going out after 8th grade, but this year DS wanted to dress up as a ghoul and have a "haunted porch", I think he missed the TorT! Sadly, it was not only cold and windy, but there was a young-kids party nearby and he looked too scary, so I had him hold off till the older kids came 'round. But by then it was misty, too, so the goblins stayed in. I I don't mind the older kids, as long as they dress up with at least a bit of effort or creativity and SAY Trick or Treat! We had two dancers about 14yrs, very sparkly. When I admired them, they said they had a dance too. It was cute, definitely earned them extra treats!

As a collector, I track my seed longevity, so that I know how often seed needs to be regrown. I planted a lot of older seed this year, and these are my observations: Beans: Of 10 varieties planted from saved seed, (mostly from 2009), 5 had 100% germination, 3 had 96%, and 2 are just coming up now but look strong. Two more varieties being grown for the first time (one labeled as 2009, the other a swap of uncertain age) had rates of 87% and 60% respectively. Two limas (2010 & 2013) & two runner beans (2010 & 2015) had 100% germination. A yardlong bean (2012), adzuki (2010), and garbanzo (2014) all germinated 100%. One cowpea grown last year, however, had only 66% germination. It was grown under poor conditions, which demonstrates that you have to start with good seed to get good storage life... and I am hoping for better seed quality this year. Soybeans: Seem to have a shorter storage life than beans, especially large-seeded edamame varieties. An edamame type (2010) had very poor germination (under 10%), while a grain variety from the same year had nearly 100%. I was happy to see, though, that an edamame variety from 2007 still had about 7-8% germination, which is enough for me to renew the seed stock. Tomatoes: Two older varieties (2005 and 2006) had 100% germination, and another from 2005 had 83%. Saved seed from more recent years was 100%. The only tomatoes of 12 with poor germination were from swaps; one 64%, and one 0%. Peppers: Much more variation in germination than I see in tomatoes. The oldest (from 2007) had 92%. However, two varieties from 2012 (Beaver Dam & Pizza) only had 59% and 74% respectively. Of 15 varieties planted, only one had 100% - from 2015 seed. Seeds recently acquired (swaps or purchases) again had the worst performance; 27%, 57%, and one at 0%. Bitter melon: Two varieties; seed saved from 2015 (100%) and 2013 (98%). Cucumber: Very long-lived... seed saved from 2009 still had 100% germination. Watermelon: Blacktail Mountain saved seed (2012) - 100%. Onions: I did a bunching onion trial one year, then tried to plant some of the left over seed 3 years later... it was dead. Onion seed is the only one that I always freeze. I don't save seed for sweet corn & Swiss chard, but I buy them in bulk, and they have good germination for 3-4 years. Except for a few irreplaceable varieties (for which I freeze samples), all of my seed is stored at room temperature in an air conditioned home. I have had good luck with zippered freezer bags, since I can squeeze out excess air before storage; the bags are then packed tightly in boxes, so they can't re-inflate. Don't know if naming a brand is OK, but the Hefty freezer bags have proven to be the most durable. Cool & dry is important for seed storage, but exclusion of oxygen is also helpful - especially for room-temperature storage. For the most dedicated seed stewards, enclosing a desiccant & an oxygen absorber in the seed container will extend storage life. It is also important to avoid exposing the container to direct sunlight, especially if it is clear... heat buildup can occur very rapidly, and could kill or damage seeds in a very short time. If the seed container is opened frequently, the desiccant may need to be changed periodically, especially in humid environments. "And if you decide to give seeds away do tell people seeds age, as best as you can recall. Recipient will at least be prepared for what to expect." Agreed... and keep in mind that for swaps, your storage may have started in a hot mail box.

We have an assortment of freezers. Thinking the 40+ year old giant Montgomery Wards upright would be dying soon we bought a smaller upright and a small chest. Then I decided it would be handy to have one on the back porch for the things I use most often. I use dollar store plastic baskets and cheap small storage totes with labels on the front in the uprights. Most everything we freeze is foodsavered and hard to corral (yep, double sealed and dh says he likes the generic rolls of plastic best). Right now none of the freezers are full and I could get everything into two, but it's so nice to be able to see in there. Giant, still-running upright is beef and three slabs of pork belly I need to bacon-ize. Small chest has a turkey and cloth grocery bags of pkgs of fruit and lots of corn. ...it was the last year for corn from our favorite u-pick so we stocked up. Other upright is pork, lamb and chickens. The back porch freezer is full of vegies,fish, stock, store bought stuff. Leftovers and things that should be used soon go in the fridge freezer. Sounds so organized. Ha. The best I can do is make myself go through them every few months. I tried an inventory taped to the door...was really bad about marking things off. I have gotten much better about labeling and dating, though. Even so, I always seem to wind up with a batch of 'dog soup' when I clean them out.