Storing Kale seeds

[davholla]

Should I keep the ones from this year - or just throw them out and try again?

[davholla]

[Obelixx]

Are these spares or for a crop this year?

If spares, I'd store them in an airtight container in the fridge till needed.  If not, sow them and see what germinates then order or buy new if they don't grow.

[davholla]

They are spares.

[Paulh]

I keep all my seed packets in an open box in the garage, they seem to last OK! As most of them come in a foil packet , I just fold that over.

[ancellsfarmer]

Should I keep the ones from this year - or just throw them out and try again?

If the seed was purchased this year, and you have some remaining, it might be worth planting some later , june -july to go over winter. Many kales are moderately frost hardy, especially if in tunnel or under polycloche.Secondly, you could use them for microgreens, sown late November under cover and thence monthly (as you might with mustard &cress) Harvest with scissors at the 4 leaf stage. this can be done with all brassicaes if surplus/uncertain of viability.

[gray1720]

Brassica seed keeps reasonably well - my kale seed is getting a bit week and wafty this spring, having been bought in 2016, and have been stored in a box in the back passage* which is cold and damp in winter and hot in summer, so not ideal conditions either.

Adrian

*It's at the back of the house, and it's a passage. You think of a better name!   

[galina]

In its packet placed inside a fizzy vitamin tablet tube (which has desiccant in the lid) or a tablet jar with dessicant in the lid. Close lid, label and into the freezer.  Keeps for years and you can take what you need, then freeze again next year.  

[Vinlander]

In its packet placed inside a fizzy vitamin tablet tube (which has desiccant in the lid) or a tablet jar with dessicant in the lid. Close lid, label and into the freezer.  Keeps for years and you can take what you need, then freeze again next year.  

I agree - pretty much any thoroughly dry seed will last longer in the freezer, and some like peas and beans will be better when they come out - because any weevil eggs will be dead. I did a quick online check for seeds that don't dry on the plant before they are released - there may be some water plants and rainforest plants but I couldn't find any.

The famous seed banks like Svalbard operate at -18C but any stars at all on a freezer will greatly increase storage life - especially for things like seeds that have evolved to last until there's no more benefit to the species.

Cheers.

PS. I go ape when "kitchen cupboard" food gets chucked out on "storage date" - especially if it was stuff that was invented to keep for years - like bottled pickles or dried stuff and deliberately salty stuff like anchovy paste - it's much more reliable than cans! It's even crazier to dump stuff that's inherently a preservative in its own right - like honey!

And don't get me started on picKled walnuts - the d**n things are supposed to be soft and black right through when you eat them (delicious) - that doesn't happen until after they are months past their use by date - certainly not before when they are still tough and almost as tasteless as eating them green from the tree. The manufacturers don't seem to realise that anyone who buys them and eats them before the date will never buy another - a little bit of education on the label could double their profits and hopefully eventually bring the price down to somewhere nearer the cost of production.

[lavenderlux]

If your kale seeds were in a foil packet within the paper packet, get as much air as you can out of the foil packet and re-seal the edge, using the point of a hot iron.  Any foil packets can be re-sealed this way.  You can also make your own 'foil packets' for self saved seeds (make sure the seed is really dry first) - cut down things like crisp packets (wipe out with kitchen roll first) put in your seeds and label and seal the edges with a hot iron.   

[Jeannine]

I have  a  shaded raised bed which is not very productive12 feet x4 feet. I use it as a kale bed now. I had several types of kale, old seed, there was about a cupful, the biggest amount was what I had kept from 2012. I raked the bed and dumped the whole lot in the bed,little rake  I ended up with a great kale bed that I used all the first year as baby kale, I left some plants to grow on, they wintered and I got some lovely shoots in the spring,left the othersand  the bed is still going,they clearly have self seeded. I have plants out there now with yellow flowers on again, this is the third year.  I am going to chuck what  is left of my kale collection in there any day now. I don't use that bed so it can do what it likes.

It seems a better idea than chucking seeds out, and I ain't getting any younger.