Enrichment · Cultural Studies

Know which seeds
will still sprout.

Seed packets pile up, and every crop ages at its own pace: onion seed is often done after a year, while lettuce and cucumber seed can keep five. Log each packet with the year it was packed for and how it is stored, test the doubtful ones in a damp paper towel, and the inventory tells you what to sow thick, what to test and what to replace.

Add a packetWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Life skills kit, $29 for 28 items.

Your seed packets

The worked example is made up: five packets, including a two-year-old onion packet to test and saved jalapeño seed stored above a dryer that sprouted 4 of 10. Saved on this device only.

Loading the packet form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · Cultural Studies$5

What you finish with
A record per packet with crop, variety, source, year, amount left and three storage checks; germination test counts; when to sow and notes. Computes age against the usual storage life for the crop and the germination rate; flags old untested packets, germination under 70 percent, storage problems and empty packets; counts packets to act on.
Who it is for
Home gardeners, school and community garden groups, seed library volunteers and families growing food together.
Format
Browser inventory with a saved record per packet. Prints one packet, the whole inventory as a table or a blank inventory sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Life skills kit ($29) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Cultural Studies space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Gather every packet in one box.
  2. Add each with its year and how much is left.
  3. Fix storage: cool, dark, dry, labeled.
  4. Test any packet the inventory flags, ten seeds in a damp paper towel.
  5. Sow thicker where germination is low, and list what to replace.

Add a packet

Testing seed

The paper towel test1Count 10 seeds onto a damp papertowel2Roll it up, slip it in a bag,keep it warm3Check daily; keep it damp, notwet4Count the sprouts: 8 of 10 is80%Below about 70%, sow two or three seeds per spot, or buy fresh.The paper towel test1Count 10 seeds onto a damp papertowel2Roll it up, slip it in a bag,keep it warm3Check daily; keep it damp, notwet4Count the sprouts: 8 of 10 is80%Below about 70%, sow two or three seedsper spot, or buy fresh.
Sprouting time differs by crop, from a few days for radishes to two weeks or more for peppers and parsnips.

How long seed keeps

Common extension guidance puts onion and parsnip seed at about a year, sweet corn and peppers at about two, beans, peas, carrots and spinach at about three, tomatoes, squash, beets and the cabbage family at about four, and cucumbers, lettuce and radishes at about five, all under good storage. These are averages; a test tells you about your own packet.

Saving and sharing

Open-pollinated and heirloom varieties come back true from saved seed if they did not cross with a neighbor; hybrid (F1) varieties usually do not. Many public libraries now run seed libraries where you borrow seed in spring and return saved seed in fall.

Sources

  1. Colorado State University Extension. Saving seeds and seed viability (extension.colostate.edu).
  2. University of Minnesota Extension. Testing seed for germination (extension.umn.edu).
  3. Oregon State University Extension. How long do seeds last? (extension.oregonstate.edu).
  4. U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library. Home gardening resources (nal.usda.gov).

The worked example is made up. Storage life figures are typical averages; your conditions and the seed itself decide. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.