Vegetable Seed Waste – Seeds I’ve Bought and Never Grown

Posted on 26. Feb, 2011 by Tracey in Veg Plot

We’ve all done it, buying seeds on impulse or because we thought it was a good idea at the time or being lured into buying a ‘bargain’ or the ‘I’m sure I could squeeze this in somewhere’ scenario, well I’ve been thinking how much of those seeds are really going to waste.

Some of these vegetable seeds like purple sprouting broccoli and parsnip seeds take quite along time to grow or have a short life span, think of all the energy, water, fertilizer and labour that it took to produce the correct growing conditions for these plants to grow in and then run to seed, then for us to buy and have them sitting in our seed boxes doing nothing.

I’m feeling a little guilty that I’ve hoarded all these seed packets, some packets are not even opened and I usually buy new seeds every year and sometimes every season. Most of the time I’m not even using every seed in the packet. This is not sounding good, am I a seed waster or am I being a little hard on myself?

Seed Packets Waste

Are Seed Suppliers Selling Too Many Seeds?

So this got me thinking, is it the seed suppliers fault for supplying too many seeds in a packet? I mean do we really need 1000 carrot seeds if we just have a few raised beds?

Some seed suppliers like moreveg.co.uk are now selling smaller quantities of vegetable seed specifically for small vegetable gardens so this helps reduce the left over waste.

Seed Use By Dates

I’ve got quite a few seed packets now which are out of date but are they still worth keeping? As you can imagine this is a well asked question on many a forum and blog post, interesting reads on this subject include Daughter of the Soil: Why I Love out of date seeds and Bifurcated Carrots – How Long are Seeds Good For? In summary the answer is yes I should keep them and sow them. The type, age and how the seeds have been stored affects the germination rate which will decrease over the years i.e. sow 5 seeds and only 3 will germinate.

My Top 10 Seeds I’ve bought but never grown are:

1. Runner Bean – Painted Lady (3 Years out of date)
2. Swede – Helenor (2 Years out of date)
3. Cabbage – Christmas Drumhead (1 year out of date)
4. Brussell Sprouts – Darkmar 2 (Sow by date 2011)
5. Cabbage – Minicole (Sow by 2011)
6. Autumn Romanesco Cauliflower ‘Ottobrino’ (Sow by 2011)
7. Climbing French Bean – Bridgewater (Sow by 2011)
8. Sorrel – Shchavel (Sow by 2011)
9. Watercress (Sow by 2011)
10. Various Herb Seed packets (Sow by 2011)

Out of Date Veg Seeds

I have been through my seeds and most of them are a year old with some of my runner bean seeds being 2 years old. According to the internet, runner bean seeds last between 2 – 3 years so I’m going to try sowing them this year and monitor the results.

The above varieties will be included in my new plot plans (coming soon), as I’m determined to use up some of my seed waste whilst saving money on seeds! See how you could reduce your seed waste with the tips below.

Top Tips on How To Minimise Vegetable Seed Waste

1. Buy Smaller Quantities of Seeds from companies like MoreVeg.co.uk, Simply Seed.co.uk or Nicky’s Nursery
2. If you are buying larger quantities of seed, check how long they last stored or the expiry date on the seed packet. Try this link for How Long Seeds Keep by Allotment.org.uk
3. Join Seed Swapping forums like Vegetable-Gardens.co.uk, Fern & Fennel, Allotment.org.uk and Grow Your Own Grapevine Forum and swap excess seeds for something that you do want to grow,
4. Give away seeds as gifts for friends, family or neighbours,
5. If you have large seed quantities left over, sow successionally. Sow seeds every 2 to 3 weeks between April and July to gain the maximum harvest and minimise waste,
6. Try Guerilla gardening, especially sunflower and any flowering seeds. Read Legal Guerilla Gardening for more details,
7. Save your own vegetable and flower seeds which will also save you money in the long run, try this excellent book Back Garden Seed Saving: Keeping Our Vegetable Heritage Alive
8. Or like me, if you want to use up what you already have, try germinating your old seeds this year.

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