Kitchen Garden Forum

Going through my seed box I find some seeds a couple of years old such as sweet corn and wondered if its worth sowing them, has any one in the past had good results from them.
Also has anyone saved their own parsnip seeds and got a good cropfrom them, in 2007 I let a couple of parsnips in the ground last year they produced seed which I saved and wondered if I would be wasting my time sowing them.
Reading Beryl's 2009 diary she says she will use up seed from 2006, will she get good germanation from them, I hope she will let us know the results.
Bren

Because of my over zealous seed hording nature I have grown old seeds many times. The last batch being 100 Spinach seeds left over from 2003. Not knowing how many would make it I chucked the lot in!! As far as I can see they have ALL come up!! On the windowsill in vermiculite.
Another week I will pick out the strongest looking 20.....and bin the rest. Aaaahhhh ...yes difficult to do, throwing plants away. I'm sure many people can relate to that.
I may actually use them as microgreens first as it is so early. In a cool protected place.

I just think give them a go in a small tray of vermiculite, if they germinate they should be ok to plant on.

I am very interested to know the OLDEST seeds anyone else has germinated and grown on successfully.
Have never collected my own parsnip seeds.

I tend to keep seeds for two years, simply because I only use about half of a packet each year, except for carrots where I always use the lot and parsnips which one is always supposed to buy each year (I have never saved my own parsnip seed, so I can't help there). Tomato seeds I have used for about three or four years and they have always come up!

Best practice with old seed is to do a trial germination using a petri dish and kitchen paper.
I have sown Harbinger Tomato seeds that were 12 years old and got about a 95% strike rate. I had this old packet of Harbinger and tried to buy some new seed but failed. I did a trial germination and they all germinated within a week so I sowed the rest of the packet. They were as though they were fresh seed. Being an open pollinated variety I have grown some every year and simply now keep a few seeds.
Parsnips are a bit iffy and Carrots can be lacking in vigour if very old seed but they certainly last more than one year for me.
Brassica seeds, if stored properly, will last for many many seasons.
If you are in doubt try trial germination's and if they fail you then have the answer, chuck them in the bin, and buy new seed.
To make your own petri dish simply cut the bottom inch off a plastic milk container they are perfect for the job.
JB.

12 years,,thats good! What are Harbinger toms like then?

I have tried many toms but am looking for a new ones to try. I am thinking of trying tom Black Truffle, as recently a chef on the TV said it had a full taste and he was going to grow them.

Hi Garden Serf,
Harbinger was really the best variety through the 2nd World War. They have a wonderful flavour and ripen readily out of doors.
Lawrence Hills of HDRA fame grew simply masses of them. For him they were like the Gardeners Delight of today. A pan full of fried Harbinger is a feast to many of us old'ns.
JB.

i left a parsnip to seed last year in an undug bed, we are eating the self sown ones now, it beets faffing arround with mouldy toilet rolls they are actually some of the biggest best shapped parsnips ive grown recently.

I too have grown Harbinger tomatoes for many years.
They certainly are a fine tasting tomato, and another good thing about them is, they ripen well off the plant, if you can keep the blight away that is.

Are there some toms that do not ripen off the plant?
I have grown a few types, just to try them, I suppose they would be described as modern ones. (eg; Roma, G Delight, Red Cherry, Ferline, Beefsteak, tumbling yellow/red ,Tigerella, 100's & 1000's, etc ) Mostly in a small unheated drafty (missing windows) greenhouse.

The only one I did not enjoy the taste of was Tigerella. It was bland.
I have been able to ripen all of them on the kitchen window sill without problems. I have a habit of picking ripe ones and slightly unripe ones in one go. I also remove every leaf that I don't think the plant needs (nearly all of them!). To allow the air and sun to get to the remaining fruits. I feel this helps to keep diseases at bay. Its not very scientific but it works for me.

Where can I buy Harbinger seeds from?
I am also going to try Black Truffle this year (apparantely it tastes great).

JB I have some older packets of tom seeds that I will be doing trial germination tests on.

Dear g.s, probaby all tomatoes will ripen off the plant, but Harbinger ripens better than a lot of the modern varieties, it has a better taste and doesn't seem to go as thick skinned.

You can buy seed from www.OrganicCatalogue.com

My hearty thanks to you OH!

I'm beginning to think that it's a myth perpetrated by the seed suppliers that old seed will not germinate well so they can increase their sales. I'm a terrible hoarder of seeds because every year I like to try a new variety of something or other and often only need to sow half a packet. Invariably I find that the previous year's packets germinate well and sometimes I've sown seed that is several years old with success, especially tomatoes. Last year I tried germinating two year old parnsip seed in a dish on tissue paper and achieved a high germination rate, which really surprised me given the normal advice to buy fresh parnsip seed every year. I suspect that seed storage conditions have something to do with germination rates, and that storing them in a cool dry environment prolongs their life.

Kings stock Harbinger tomato seeds.

I don't save my own parsnip but have been given some from a friend who always saves hers and will be trying them this year.

I have some onion sets left over from last year that still look firm and showing no signs of shooting so I will be trying those too.

Will let you know how I get on.

Beryl.

Hi Primrose,
My seeds are stored in the old dairy which is situated in the north corner of the house and has 24" stone walls. The seeds are kept in screw topped plastic containers with a small sachet of silica gel. This means that they are kept very cold and very dry. The old dairy is so cool that on hot summer days it is the place I go to cool off!
JB.