I generally freeze my seeds. It puts them into suspended animation and they last forever. I had some good germination on some 6-8 year old Habanero peppers I planted. Alot of my older seed did well.
I do alot of seed saving, it sure cuts down on seed costs. I usually have tons of extra seed which either goes to feed the birds, use as cover crops, or sprouting in the winter time for extra nutrition. As you said, nothing is wasted.
Another book I recommend: Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. Tells you how to save about every kind of vegetable seed you can think of.
Yes, the old seeds do seem a little weaker, but here all things are weak, our water is now full of salts/alkali and the soil will not hold compost, the wind blows it away.
I have owned this place 30 years and no amount of compost, manure or chemical fertilizer has ever produced as yours will.
The only real growth I have had was when I had the greenhouses going.
There is no farming done in this area and almost no gardens.
I would think it was my fault, if I had not had good gardens in Yuma, San Diego, Ramona and Portland, Oregon, at more than one place.
Another gardner and I kept notes for a long time and we had the same problems, he finally built all raised planter beds, with plastic coverings, attached to his sheds, etc and a greenhouse.
By greenhouse, I mean a simple attached frame and plastic or fiberglass covering, the only real ‘glass’ greenhouses that I know of in this area, are for growing dope.
We laughed, when we built the first one, at a local meeting, a deputy and his ‘wife’ fell in love with us and had to come ‘visit’, as his ‘wife’ just loved plants.......this after the paper had published an article on the greenhouse and our pet parrot.
They were no more in the house, before Bill and I were in trouble, we were cracking up and did not want to spoil their game with laughter..........as the ‘wife’ did not know one plant from another, she was trained to look for marijuana.
Sorry, but that is the one plant that I have no intention of planting........said cautiously, as when my daughter in law was dying with cancer, if she had been willing to try it, I would have gotten it for her, most likely by asking a local cop where to get it.
I love seeds, the miracle of them has always amazed me.
Even as a 10 year old, I went out selling them door to door, as you could win a camera, if you sold ‘X’ number of packages, found the ads in the comic books..........I think that might have been the year we had the huge garden.
My first paying job was working for a retired school principal, Mrs. Pearl, in her garden, watering her fruit trees, pulling weeds and admiring her ribbons and trophies for her prize Dahlias.
Before that, I only knew food farming.
I have read the seeds book, took it out of the library so often they got a second copy.
Even in Texas, when we shelled the dried in the field corn, by rubbing it on a washboard, I remember holding up the best cobs to see if dad wanted to keep it for seed.
When we moved to Ramona, California, 1965, I was so proud of me, was accepted in the Garden Club, with all those nice ladies, who knew so much and I wanted to learn it all.
Then came the day they waited for all year.
Garden Club Day, at the San Diego -Balboa Park Zoo.
Box lunches, visits to special places, like the walk in bird cage and all hell broke loose.........all those old women were in the trees, collecting seeds, out came the knives and clippers and
“Here is a clipping for you Rosey”, snip, snip went the clips.
I waited for the cops, none came, so I joined them.
Back then, once a year, they were allowed to visit and take cuttings and seeds, an experience few will have today.
The year that I was the President, “seeds” was my theme.
We grew plants and took a booth at the Del Mar fair, each year to sell them for funds to support our projects.
In my year, we sent seeds and garden tools to a country that was attempting to learn how to grow food, LOL, I have forgotten which country it was.
And we collected seeds from the local plants that should be growing all over and kept a package in our cars, so if we saw a bare spot, we would stop and plant the seeds.......what fun, the whole world waiting for me to come and plant it.
Some place on the internet, there is a site with photos of seeds, some of them are weird and some are amazingly large.
I could be lost the rest of the day in those googles.
I can’t resist saving seeds and have grown lovely tomato plants that were 5 foot tall and never had a flower, beautiful plants.
You would think that I am smart enough to know that the seeds from the store, will be hybrids and not reproduce.