[rxkeith]

if you are a cheapskate,

you can recycle old envelopes.

cut on an angle at the corners. bend the outer edge down,
and fold in the wings on each end, and tape. i just tried it with
an envelope. it works.

another recycling tip that's not my own, is using tea bags like the ones
bigelow or twining are packaged in. these work well for seed storage.
i have pervaya lyubov seeds stored in a tea bag. 10 year old seeds.
i planted 10 seeds, and now have 10 plants.

the above ideas work for small amounts of seeds, and if they are just for
yourself, and don't care what the packet looks like.
otherwise, coin envelopes work or those tiny little envelopes work for mailing
out purposes, and don't take up a lot of space.
big box, craft or office supply stores should have the bags or envelopes.

i guess correct size is whatever you determine it to be.

the way i save seeds,

squish seeds, and juice into small jar.
put lid on loosely. label lid with the variety of seed.
5 to 7 days later, rinse all the muck, and debris out until
you have just seeds in the bottom of the jar. i do this by
adding water to the jar, and stirring to loosen the seeds up
from the mat. keep pouring the water off, and adding fresh water
until you have clear water, and just seeds in the jar.
pour the seeds into a small strainer, and knock off excess water.
dump the seeds on a paper plate. label the plate with the variety name.
you can write the date you put the seeds on the plate too if you like.
forget about the plate for awhile. it takes about two weeks for the seeds to dry.
high humidity, it might take longer. you want the seeds dry before storing.
i usually just leave the seeds on the plate till winter kicks in, and we get the wood
stove going. the inside humidity goes way down, and i know the seeds are as dry as
they are going to be.
package them up, and wait for spring.

i get good germination rates, even on seeds 10 to 14 years old stored at room
temp. 50s to mid 70s range mostly.



keith