In late 2021, when I found out a mild winter was predicted, I decided to plant some cool weather vegetables the first weekend of November.
I went to my refrigerator and freezer to see what I had left over from previous years. I found carrot seeds packaged for 2008, mixed lettuce seeds packaged for 2016, and Swiss chard packaged for 2002. Carrots have an expected shelf life of 3 years, lettuce 5 years, and Swiss chard 4 years. All had been refrigerated in plastic freezer bags. I decided to try them all.
Not knowing if any of the seeds would germinate, I decided to broadcast sow the carrot seeds and plant multiple seeds of the other two in spaced spots.
Much to my surprise, all of them germinated and germinated in 3 to 7 days.
Proper storage in cool, dry conditions slows down metabolic activity in seeds, helping to ensure seed viability until planting time.
The best place to store seeds at home is in the refrigerator or freezer. Before placing them in the refrigerator/freezer, put the seeds (in packets or loose) in a sealed container such as an airtight plastic canister, jar, or freezer bag. Under these conditions, they are safe from the detrimental effects of heat and moisture.
A friend of mine passed on this great way to organize your seeds in the freezer – use a plastic photo organizer box! Label each small box that fits into the large box. It’s very easy to quickly pull out what you need and then return what’s left.
Or you can put like seeds together in quart freezer bags and put all the bags in a larger bag or container.
For more information on the shelf life of properly stored seeds, see “Storing Seeds” on www.simplyprepared.com.
