Vegetable Seeds -- KAPUT

I have learned yet another valuable lesson -- take good care of your seeds. Back in South Carolina I had a system going. In late February-early March I bought my seeds at the local feed & seed, planted my garden, saved the remaining seeds for the fall garden, planted that in August, and then threw away the rest of the seeds. This was a yearly routine that worked like a charm. I always had good germination. Here in Costa Rica I've learned that seeds purchased might not be viable to begin with, and, especially during the rainy season (May - November), they will probably be viable for a couple of months, if that. While I prepared my garden, I bought seeds compulsively at nurseries and ag coops, plus my friend Louis had brought me some from the States in May, and I had also harvested sunflower seeds here. Well, I began planting in September, in flats, and directly in the garden. Everything -- seeds from the States, seeds bought locally, seeds I had harvested -- were kaput . . . finito.

I wanted to have the garden well underway by December, when the dry season started, so, in desperation, I began looking for flats. The answer was always -- we don't carry flats -- or -- we can get them, but you have to purchase a minimum of 200 plants. What? Finally my local nursery checked and got some small flats of sweet peppers and lettuce. Well, that was a start.

So now I'd come full circle -- I needed seeds, since I couldn't get flats. I posted a message on crgardening < http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crgardening/ > and fortunately Fred Morgan, the group's founder, recommended I try a store in San Jose, called El Semillero. Bingo! I remembered 40 years ago, when I was Peace Corps volunteer here, I made monthly trips to San Jose, and usually went to El Semillero, which everyone said was the best place to buy seeds. I went there within a few days of receiving the recommendation from Fred, and this will be the subject of the next blog post.

In the meantime, I went on the internet and researched seed storage. Basically, I found that seeds should be stored in airtight containers in either your refrigerator or freezer, with a small dose of powdered milk to absorb moisture. Silica gel, apparently, can actually absorb TOO MUCH moisture. So, I've thrown out my old seeds and the new ones (that I just purchased) were popped into the refrigerator in the recommended manner.

Happy gardening!