Under normal conditions, vegetable seed supplies are very stable. Of course, there are always unforeseen crop failures and political strife. The pandemic of 2020 created a lot of new gardeners and expansion of existing gardens. That alone increased the demand for seed supplies. Then February 2021 showed up with what has been dubbed “Snowmageddon”. This weather event killed a lot of growing operations that supply our area. All of these events taxed existing seed supplies. Some to zero. Unlike other products, you just can’t get the crew to work a little overtime and make more. It’s all on Mother Nature’s timeline.
So bear with me. In a throwback from the old days, Wells Brothers sells garden seed by the scoop (bulk). For urban gardens, these scoops are usually more seeds than are needed. These past two years, we sold 2 – 3 scoops of seeds to folks that would normally buy only 1. If you have a 48-square-foot garden and are buying enough seeds to do an acre or two, you now have a seed storage problem.
You can save and store seeds from year to year. A quick internet search will yield a cornucopia of information. Seed life varies tremendously depending on the type of seed and storage conditions. Seeds in the paper package in a kitchen drawer are good for a year or three before the germination rate starts dropping hard. I have planted 3-year-old seeds that still had about 70% germination rate. Then there is the “Methuselah” tree. It was germinated in 2005 from seeds that were found in 1963 where they had been stored for 2,000 or so years!
You can hedge your bets on seed availability by harvesting the seed of the plants that you grow. It’s not difficult, but it has its own skillset. Just remember that the seeds from “Hybrid” plants will grow one of the varieties that were used to make the hybrid.