Thursday, January 21, 2010

Testing Garden Seeds

Now that I have a garden plan, I have to see if I have enough garden seeds for the plan. Before I go out and buy a bunch of seeds, I have to check to see if the ones I have from last year would fulfill this need. And this is how I do it:

1. I assemble the necessary materials:

Seeds (both packaged and ones that I saved last fall):


AND:

Paper towels, sandwich bags and a marker:



2. I dampen a single paper towel and place approximately 10 seeds on it:


Make sure that they perfect! If they look like this, throw them OUT:


3. Then, wrap up the paper towel and place it in the sandwich bag that has been label with the type of seed and the date. Like this:



4. Put them in a nice sunny area and wait for them to sprout.

  1. If most of them germinate, then sow lightly.
  2. If only half sprout, sow heavily.
  3. And if less than half sprout, they are not viable and you should buy new seeds.
Happy Testing:-)
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13 comments:

  1. DonettaJanuary 21, 2010 at 2:14 AM

    That is great advice! Susie the ideas behind this are brilliant.
    Thank you so much for your prayers during this challenging week or so.
    May your seeds multiply and your fields clap their hands

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  2. chitraJanuary 21, 2010 at 6:19 AM

    Very good idea Susie. This method is better than the traditional method we follow. Sow everything and wait to see if it germinates. One can be sure here to see which are good.:)

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  3. sheilaJanuary 21, 2010 at 6:53 AM

    great advice! I'm making my garden bigger this year I'm so excited!

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  4. mommytoalotJanuary 21, 2010 at 7:10 AM

    Wow, I'd never know that.
    You never cease to amaze me
    xx

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  5. AmyJanuary 21, 2010 at 8:34 AM

    oh so that is how you do it...

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  6. CatherineJanuary 21, 2010 at 11:02 AM

    good idea, very interesting. catherine

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  7. CandiJanuary 21, 2010 at 4:56 PM

    I can't wait to work on our seeds. I tried my hand at drying some green beans leftover from last year. Can't wait to see if I was successful or a failure :)

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  8. FrizzyJanuary 21, 2010 at 7:33 PM

    What does sow heavily or lightly mean? As always I'm so impressed with what I learn from you. You rock!

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  9. Liz MaysJanuary 21, 2010 at 7:35 PM

    I never would have known this. Thank you!!!

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  10. MomisodesJanuary 21, 2010 at 9:06 PM

    I had no idea! Thanks so much for sharing this with pics.

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  11. More Than WordsJanuary 21, 2010 at 10:02 PM

    Oh my gosh..you should consider putting videos up on YouTube!!!

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  12. An Almost Unschooling MomJanuary 24, 2010 at 7:30 PM

    Nice to know. I have a bunch of old seeds, I'm not sure about, it's good to know what to do with them.

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  13. SarahJanuary 5, 2011 at 9:40 AM

    This is a great idea although I have already planted and used my old method - sew a lot, hope they come up, thin when needed. The lazy person's method :)

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