Guides · 5 min read
Leftover seed is still seed
Cool, dark, dry. Tomato holds. Onion does not. Date the packet when you open it.
Storage beats buying
A kitchen drawer next to the oven is a germination killer. A jar in the basement, or the back of a fridge in a sealed bag with a silica pack, is how last year's basil still comes up.
Heat, humidity, and light are the enemies. A pretty tin on a sunny shelf is a souvenir, not storage.
What ages out
Onion, parsnip, and sometimes sweet corn fade after a year. Lettuce and peppers are middling. Tomato, squash, cucumber, and brassica seed often hold three to five years if they stayed dry.
If the packet is old, sow thicker and thin. A paper towel germination test is optional; an extra foot of row is simpler.
Date it
Write the year you opened the packet on the flap. Future-you will not remember. That is the whole system.
Match your ZIP · Shop a kit · Start dates
The sow list
A note when it is time to sow
Seasonal, not daily. We will send what to start in your zone, and skip the rest of the year.
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A first garden that actually finishes
Six crops, one 4×8 bed, and the mistakes that waste a spring.
Seeds for containers, balconies, and rented light
Renters now out-buy homeowners on vegetable and herb seed. The packets have to match the pot.
Short-season Midwest: Chicago and zone 5–6
Last frost in mid-April. First frost in mid-October. That is the whole argument.