Well, it is getting to that time of year when I need to start planning what I will try to be planting in the next few months. It seems like I don't try that much new.
My seed collection is now bulging out of the fridge and I have gotten rid of a lot of the seeds already. Namely most of the ones that are over 5 years old except for beans and dill which I know are good for up to 10 years.
I also started throwing out the seeds that were still good but did not perform well or in the case of some tomatoes, they just did not perform well after a couple of attempts.
Most of the seeds are those I bought or people gave me. I have a growing collection of collected seeds, but some of the bags I did not label. Silly me thinking I would remember what kind of seeds they are. And some of the ink writing is just a smudge. I could plant them and figure it out when they start growing, test for germination, or I can toss them out.
I do go through the bags regularly. I am just not culling faster than I am collecting. I still have a shopping list of seeds I want to get. I just have to really think about how much I can actually grow in a season.
How long will these seeds keep?
Texas grano bulbing onions
winter squash seeds- Kuta
watermelon seeds
torenia seeds
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ButterflyLady29
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Onions are supposedly only good for one year. Not real sure about the squash and watermelon but I think a couple years is their limit. I haven't even been able to get fresh torenia seed to sprout so I doubt I would have better results with old seed, but there's not much lost in trying. I know torenia roots extremely easily so even if you get one or two plants growing you could get a lot of cuttings.
I think the seed hoarding compulsion is universal among gardeners. I've got a large ammo can and several small boxes of seeds. So many that I didn't even buy any last year (I didn't get time to plant much last year either). I've been holding on to seeds that are 10 to 20 + years old. It's so difficult to let go of the old ones, even knowing they probably won't grow. But I have been trying. I planted several packs of old pea seeds and a few packs of old spinach seed last year. At least they are no longer taking up room in my boxes.
I think the seed hoarding compulsion is universal among gardeners. I've got a large ammo can and several small boxes of seeds. So many that I didn't even buy any last year (I didn't get time to plant much last year either). I've been holding on to seeds that are 10 to 20 + years old. It's so difficult to let go of the old ones, even knowing they probably won't grow. But I have been trying. I planted several packs of old pea seeds and a few packs of old spinach seed last year. At least they are no longer taking up room in my boxes.
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applestar
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Do you sometimes open an old packet of seeds and see how little there are in it... And wonder "WHAT was I thinking when I decided to save this little bit of seeds?" -- I do. 
Last spring, I dumped them all in a mixed batch of seeds And sowed them together. If they came up great, if not, good riddance! As it was, I even though I sowed rather thickly, greatly reduced germination rate made them just about right or even patchy.
...Now I can buy new seeds and start fresh -- MWAHAHAHA
Last spring, I dumped them all in a mixed batch of seeds And sowed them together. If they came up great, if not, good riddance! As it was, I even though I sowed rather thickly, greatly reduced germination rate made them just about right or even patchy.
...Now I can buy new seeds and start fresh -- MWAHAHAHA
I did a few germination tests this year and got rid of a bunch of seeds that way. Although there were a few surprises that still came up. I am glad I am not the only one with this problem. I was surprised though at the number of seeds of the same thing I had. Here I had eggplant on my list and except for one package of long green, I have at at least 2 packets of Black Beauty, 5 packets of long purple and collected enough seed from Tiger to last years.
I know corn will not keep or germinate well and I have never had zucchini squash germinate well the second year. I might give up on zucchini and just grow the crooknecks. I have better luck with them and they produce more than two.
You are right the seed counts in the packets have been dwindling and the prices keep going up.
Most of the perennial herbs I grow from cuttings or divisions so I just keep or buy a mother plant. I keep losing sage and thyme. I did have an oregano and marjoram. I only have Italian oregano now (I thought it was marjoram). I will wait and see what is available at the stores later and hopefully I can replace them. I have grown thyme, marjoram and oregano from seed and they are very tiny and very slow, buying a plant is a better idea.
I collected seeds from my beans and I thought they were Poamoho green beans but it turned out to be yard long beans. It was one of those surprise plants that came up from the seed test. It is a good producer, just not the ones I planned on.
I have a few friends that give me seeds, especially peppers. Some of them are a mystery since they aren't sure what kind they are either.
I do have some seeds from my neighbor that produces a large very sweet papaya on a low bearing tree. I just don't know its' pedigree, but it most likely a cross and not a named papaya.
Some packets only contain 10 seeds and I don't always plant all of them at once just in case. But, there are times when I think I have planted all of the seeds, but then I find a packet with one seed left. It can be hard to waste even that one seed.
Sometimes I open up a packet and find it is empty or they have the wrong seeds in them.
I know corn will not keep or germinate well and I have never had zucchini squash germinate well the second year. I might give up on zucchini and just grow the crooknecks. I have better luck with them and they produce more than two.
You are right the seed counts in the packets have been dwindling and the prices keep going up.
Most of the perennial herbs I grow from cuttings or divisions so I just keep or buy a mother plant. I keep losing sage and thyme. I did have an oregano and marjoram. I only have Italian oregano now (I thought it was marjoram). I will wait and see what is available at the stores later and hopefully I can replace them. I have grown thyme, marjoram and oregano from seed and they are very tiny and very slow, buying a plant is a better idea.
I collected seeds from my beans and I thought they were Poamoho green beans but it turned out to be yard long beans. It was one of those surprise plants that came up from the seed test. It is a good producer, just not the ones I planned on.
I have a few friends that give me seeds, especially peppers. Some of them are a mystery since they aren't sure what kind they are either.
I do have some seeds from my neighbor that produces a large very sweet papaya on a low bearing tree. I just don't know its' pedigree, but it most likely a cross and not a named papaya.
Some packets only contain 10 seeds and I don't always plant all of them at once just in case. But, there are times when I think I have planted all of the seeds, but then I find a packet with one seed left. It can be hard to waste even that one seed.
Sometimes I open up a packet and find it is empty or they have the wrong seeds in them.