Jack,
Tomato seed doesn't have to be high tech if you are doing the heirlooms or other OP varieties. I don't do F-1 hybrids so no hand fertilizing at all. A 5 gal bucket of tomatoes usually gives me about 2-6 oz of seed. A bit less for romas or oxhearts. Even more for cherries. I bleach rinse my seeds before drying to kill any disease on the seed. I do a simple germination test before listing a batch of seeds.
I started saving seeds at least 10 or 12 years ago when I had a hard time finding seed for the oddball hot peppers I use for the hot sauce I make. Then about 7 or 8 years ago I added some tomatoes to what I saved. I found Tomatoville kind of by accident about 3 years ago and my variety list went crazy ever since. I had somewhere in the 150 to 200 range pre TV, but have close to 500 now. Or will have after this growing season.
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Around my area, the elevators will sometimes have a selection of bulk vegie seeds. But the variety selection is usually crummy and the turnover is not great so often the seed will be old. You are a lot better off ordering from a catalog, any catalog.
Carol
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