Saving Leftover Seeds for Next Year

For more information visit Underwood Gardens they have an entire site of valuable information for the back yard gardener.

If you are saving seeds from a seed packet where you didn’t use all of the seeds, keep the packet and put it into a Ziploc baggie. Date the baggie and put it into a gallon sized Ziploc that has the date on it as well. If you don’t date everything, you will wonder how long the seed has been in storage… If you are saving seeds from harvest, put all of the info on the baggie- common name, scientific name, date, and any notes you want to remember next year when you pull it out.  Seeds can safely be stored for 3+ years.


When time comes for planting next spring, take out the packets you will use, take out the seeds you will plant if there are a lot left, and put the bag back into the Ziploc and into the freezer. Let the seed to be planted come to room temperature before putting into the soil. Most varieties will keep for 3+ years with no loss of germination. There are exceptions, of course. Onion seeds are good for 1 year, no more, no matter the method of keeping. Garlic only grows from the bulb or clove, freezing kills it. There are some other varieties that have a short life in storage, but don’t get too caught up in that. If you plant each year, you will be fine.