Seed addict...add to the list

Grampapa that is great analogy! I think there should be a limit on how many seed catalogs they send out because I just start making lists and go through again and make a larger list.
Heaven forbid someone tells me about a great website...bad deal. I accidently found whatcom seeds and I have a very LARGE order coming. Rats, I did it again.
Sometimes I want to HIDE the seeds because I feel guilty that I bought MORE.
I don't mind if they don't grow, I just like to grow them. The challenge, the thrill of seeing the little shoots pop up. My fingers are twitching now just thinking about it.

After entering all my seed on hand in my Book of Lists it is now a tome :O I haven't even indulged in the annual fall sale glutteny. I need another fridge for storage that's all there is to it!!!

Thanks (I think?? lol) to LiliMerci, I have purchased some seeds thru the co-op. Now I promised DH not to buy any seeds this fall, but these were a really great deal and I need some for an article I'm writing ( really...I do...really)

Just exchanged my seed box for a seed closet......

Seeds closet? WoW! Glad I could help you out grampapa.

Tuink, you are a BIG time addict. As if I didn't know that after the great seeds I got from you in the swap.

Lili, all addicts need an enabler LOL

Some pictures:

This is the seed cupboard, it's not entirely dedicated to seeds, but most of it is! I can dry them here too, without having to be afraid to topply them over!

These is the stock of seeds I trade with, in alfabetical order. I have three drawers like this!

Ehhh, see next post.....

This message was edited Nov 7, 2008 2:23 PM

xx

And these are ready for trading!

Oh, my goodness! You are making our dining room table look embarrassing. Way ORGANIZE! That is my goal, to get organize with my seeds. I have one of those filing folder that I put my seeds in.

BTW, Tuin, I have some seeds for you. I'm sorry but the white butterfly ginger did not produce any seeds.

Holy Cow ... I can not believe i have not posted in this thread....

hey Jan -- been a long time!!

Bev -- good to see you

Tuink -- good golly, you are organized

**waves** to everyone else.

OH yes... I too am a seed addict.

I was snagging dead heads - from what i believe was some sort of BES at our polling place on Tuesday.
I usually have baggies in my pocket just for the occasion.

Terese

Hey Lili,
You made me all curious!

I will have to look and see but I owe you some seeds but I didn't send it yet because I was waiting to see if my butterfly ginger would produce seeds. I don't even remember the seeds, but I'll have to look back at my trade tracker and see. I know I have an envelope set aside for you.

Tell us Tuin, do you sort your seeds alphabetically? Are your color cards used for the type of seeds (annual. vines, perennial)?

Yes, alphabetically. I don't sort by type but by it's scientific names (the ones in Latin). Families of which I have several species get their very own tab. Makes things way easier! The colours are more or les at random.....

I'd like to know how long seeds remain viable. i have so many left over from this summer. I planned to use them next season, esp veggie seeds. Do I just throw some into potting mix and see if they germinate? Hey, I've gotten many criminal techniques for collecting seeds. I'll be ready to commence operation in the coming season. My purse is already stuffed with plastic bags.
Many thanks,
Carolpen

I think at least a few years at best.

I know I had luck with some seeds that dated back quite a few years, and they germinated fine for me.

I know I just saw where someone was going to do a 'test' so to speak, on older seeds.

but -- year old seeds, you will not have troubles with.

some one with more experience with seeds will pop in and probably give you a much better answer.

I still consider myself a novice.

I'm on the wrong computer but I have some good links for seed viability that I will post next week. Sorry I have snow now so have to focus on the annual spreading of the poop and compost and MOST IMPORTANT finish voting in the DG photo contest. I hope you've all voted???? Most veggie seeds are good for 2-3 years and some longer. Many annual and perennial seeds are good for much longer. I will mark this thread and get back to you I promise if no one else chimes in.

Sometimes I use the paper towel test. I count out 10 seeds. Lay them on half of a paper towel. Fold the other half of the towel over them. Make them wet and I wet them daily. In a few days they will swell and start growing a root.

This summer I bought 12 banana pepper plants at our local farmers market. They grew and I harvested many peppers. I left a few to change color from yellow to orange and finally red. I harvested some of the red ripe peppers to save the seed. After researching banana peppers, I found out that some banana peppers are sterile. I did the wet paper towel test and all 10 seeds started to germinate.

Don (DEMinPA)

Most seeds are viable for 3-5 years if stored in a cool dry place. Some for much longer, like poppy seeds who are viable for more than a hundred years. And some lots shorter, like the seeds of the umbellifers.

They found some seeds in the grave of King Tut and managed to get some of those to germinate. They were 3,500 years old!

Tuink, you are amazing. And that cupboard is gorgeous! It makes my plastic shoeboxes look like (expletive deleted).

Good Morn all, If you could see this years seed you would believe that I would never sort this mess out. I take paper bags out with me everyday and dead head into them putting name on the outside. Doing it this way naturally I have multiple bags of the same seed. If they need to dry I remove them and place on a paper plate. I have this huge cardboard box with all these paper bags in it. I am going to have to start soon cleaning them. I just have so much going on right now that this is the best way for me.

Hi, I am a newbie so I am just starting on the seed trip. Sure has given me an awaking jolt as to how fast they become addictive. I haven't even got to plant any this year so I start next year. BOO HOO . Boy I know reading this thread I have found out how to snipe seed LOL And I haven't laugh so hard in a long time. You guys are halirious. Loved reading it. I have got a priority mail box about 10in x10in that I have got all my seed in, all in little plastic bags, and some of Lorraines' pretty pkgs.
I rapidly became one of y'all ADDICTED admittedly



Tuink I absolutely love your cupboard !!!!!!!!!

This message was edited Nov 27, 2008 6:33 PM

OK fellow addicts. There is a new vendor here at DG. I stumbled across them accidently, but was blown away by their seeds. They specialize in poppies and they have an amazing, amazing, selection. Right now they have a classified ad. Check them out - at the very least to drool! :)

No, I'm not affiliated with them in any way. Just sharing the love!

They are:
One Stop Poppy Shoppe

very dangerous!

edited to say - Those "Drop Dead Gorgeous" Poppies are just beautiful!

This message was edited Dec 1, 2008 12:44 AM

Riverland we must be kin.

Chatnoir,
Could you give me the link, please, I can't find them!

You will find it on the home page under the Dave's Garden Marketplace,
I copied and pasted in the search bar and it took me right to the One Stop Poppy Shoppe they are lovely Thanks for sharing

Tuink, you can also just go to their website - onestoppoppyshoppe.com

Right now, I have at least 12 varieties in my shopping cart...

noooooooooooo. no more. stop. seeds are bursting out the windows of my house....... I have a million poppy seeds already..... dare I go there? drat I dared.... :-

I'm not going to buy poppy-seeds, I'm not going to buy poppy-seeds, I'm not going to buy poppy-seeds.

I'm not going to..... HEEEELP!!!!!!

I'm so glad I started this thread. It lies dormant for a little while, just like a seed, and then pops up again with the funniest things LOL Somebody else already clued me in to the poppy seeds. I haven't bought any... YET! Spring is a ways off. I wasn't feeling well this fall and I have all these bags of seed heads from my garden with no labels. Should be fun sorting those out after the holidays. You know...you always think you will know what they are when you get in house, then you lay them down and forget about them.

I was just telling someone, sometime I plant stuff and don't label them thinking I'll remember what I planted there and a month later I'm going what is that plant I planted there.

Jan -- sorry to hear you were not feeling well. I was wondering where you were for the Piggy Swap -- but not that you need more seeds....

and i also know what ya mean about thinking you will recall which seed it is....
most of them i'm getting to know.... obvious ones like Gaillardia ... but then when you have Agastache and Salvia... they all look alike.

When i'd go out to harvest.... i'd decide which plants i was gonna do a head of time and either have the baggies written on or a slip of paper with the plants name... then i'd pop it in the baggie or jar that i had with me. This year i had a larger variety of plants, compared to the year before.

I think I only have 1 or 2 bags that have NoID on it. One is BES, but i'm not sure on the cultivar... so i'm keeping them and will sow them as unknown BES.

Terese, I started out putting paper slips in baggies before I went outside. I thought I was so smart. After a few times I was lucky to stuff some baggies in my pocket before I went out to walk around. I promised myself (and DH) no more BIG swaps this year. I still haven't organized my hundreds of packets from last year LOL. Not that I wouldn't like to be a 'piggy'. I just have to take a break. It was so much fun, I really do miss it. Even though I know I can't possibly use all the seeds...it's like a hobby in itself.

Yes. It is a hobby and collecting seeds is hard work!

I bought one of those plastic filing folder and broke down the alphabet, like A-C, D-G.... and I filed my seeds by them. If there are certain kind that I have alot of different cultivar, like poppies, I put all the little baggies in a sandwich bag before filing.

Thank you, Lili. Love to see everybody's tips :0)

You'll be surprise how fast you can fill one of those up.

Being a seed addict myself, I wouldn't be surprised at all ;0)