09:01 – The last of the open-pollinated seeds arrived yesterday. Today, we’ll start freeze-testing on all of them.
Like a lot of things that appear simple on first glance, seed viability is actually extremely complicated. Initial germination percentage varies dramatically from species to species and even from lot to lot, as does the curve of decreasing viability over time. Some species have initial germination percentages of 99%+, while others are down around 10% or even less. Fortunately, the latter are very unusual. Typical initial germination rates vary from 70%+ to nearly 100%, depending on the species and how it was initially dried and otherwise treated. All seeds show decreasing germination percentages over time, but the rate of decrease varies hugely and is not related to the initial germination percentage. For example, one lot may show an initial germination percentage of, say, 96%, with germination percentage down to 68% after one year stored at room temperature, 52% after two years, 40% after three years, and so on. Another may show a 73% germination percentage initially, but drop only to 68% after one year, 63% after two years, 60% after three years, and so on. The first seed has a very high initial germination percentage, but loses viability quickly over time. The second seed has a lower initial germination percentage, but loses viability much more slowly over time.
Then there’s the effect of moisture. Seed must be dry to store well. If the percentage of loosely link moisture is above 25% or so, the seed will rot, grow fungus, etc., so commercial seed is normally dried to an average moisture content of below 20%. That’s sufficient if it’s to be stored short-term (year-to-year) at above freezing. Getting it somewhat drier extends viability, but you have to be careful not to dry it too much. If it gets below 8% or so average moisture, seeds tend to “harden”, which means they’re too dry to absorb the water they need to germinate. Drying seeds with warm air exacerbates the problem because seeds dry unevenly, partially or completely hardening some of them while leaving others too moist.
That’s why those big seed banks located up above the Arctic Circle have huge drying rooms that constantly circulate cool, very dry air around racks of screens that hold seeds. These facilities keep seeds on the drying racks for weeks or even months on end, drying them very slowly but evenly. After drying, the seeds are stored at well below freezing. Under those conditions, they maintain high viability and are essentially immortal. Unfortunately, doing that on a small scale is not practical.
There’s an interesting correlation between moisture percentage and storage temperature. Seeds that have a moisture content well above the ideal 8% store well at temperatures just above freezing, the temperature in a standard refrigerator. They maintain pretty high germination percentages for about four times as long as they would if they were stored at room temperature, or perhaps five to ten+ years. But if you put those same seeds in a freezer, you immediately reduce the germination percentage significantly while at the same time increasing their shelf life significantly. That seems self-contradictory, but it’s true.
The issue with freezing is that it causes microscopic water ice crystals to form, which may (or may not) kill the seed. Those seeds that are fatally damaged by ice crystal formation are deader than King Tut and will never germinate. But those seeds that are not killed by freezing become essentially immortal, and will be viable 10, 20, 50, or 100 years after being frozen, assuming they’re kept frozen the entire time. But always remember that each thaw/freeze transition will kill more of the seeds, so freezing/thawing/refreezing such seeds is a very bad idea.
That’s why we’re doing a freeze/thaw transition followed by a germination test for each of the species we’re including in the open-pollinated seed kits. Some kit buyers will choose to keep the seeds refrigerated, which is what we’ll do and recommend. Stored that way, the seeds will very gradually lose viability, but germination rates should remain reasonably high for at least 10 years out, and probably much longer. Buyers who choose to freeze their kits will do so with the knowledge that they may be killing some percentage of those stored seeds in exchange for keeping some percentage of them good essentially forever.
@OFD, how do you feel about a home out in the country next to Snake Creek?
http://www.har.com/10003-Modena-School-Rd/sale_91468432
I wonder why they call it Snake Creek?
We have multiple Snake Hills, Snake Mountains, and Snake Creeks here in New England for the same obvious reasons; on a related note, peeps have been seeing timber rattlers swimming down in Lake George (south of Lake Champlain and connected to it) from the Vampire State side. These aren’t your itty-bitty little guys, either; they’re six-footers, rolling along in the water next to yer boat. I figure we’re too fah noth to worry about it, though.
That house? You and I clearly have very different ideas of what is “out in the country,” it’s still too close to gigantic Houston, which, as you’ve told us, is seeing a continuing major population increase, and not of guys like you and me, either. Other than that, yeah! Acreage, hosses, plenty of room, and Mrs. OFD and me will be happy to move into that apartment above the garage and she’ll take care of yer hosses and I’ll work on my stamp collection and you and me can go shooting together and also set up a local militia unit and patrol the area nightly.
That house? You and I clearly have very different ideas of what is “out in the country,” it’s still too close to gigantic Houston, which, as you’ve told us, is seeing a continuing major population increase, and not of guys like you and me, either. Other than that, yeah! Acreage, hosses, plenty of room, and Mrs. OFD and me will be happy to move into that apartment above the garage and she’ll take care of yer hosses and I’ll work on my stamp collection and you and me can go shooting together and also set up a local militia unit and patrol the area nightly.
That house is 20 miles further out than my house. Not as good as Wharton or El Campo, but each mile further out is a tough hike when the EBTs go down.
Sorry, I cannot afford that house. And 16 acres is too many acres to take care of for this old lazy bones. It is a nice house though. I could wall up half of barn and turn it into an awesome man cave.
That’s what sheep are for. They’ll trim that grass for you. Plus, they’ll provide companionship and cheap entertainment for Miles_Teg if he ever visits you.
“…but each mile further out is a tough hike when the EBTs go down.”
True, dat, but how many tanks of gas farther out? Leaving aside their ability to steal it and/or siphon it on the way.
“I could wall up half of barn and turn it into an awesome man cave.”
I hear that! I have to make do with my own tiny man cave up in the attic; gotta install a bit of insulation and then flooring, and then assemble the workbench, shelving, antenna configs, network stuff, etc. I’m gonna go through all the junk that’s currently being stored up there and then get utterly RUTHLESS about tossing it out. More room for OFD and his stuff.
From the Countering_Lies_Dept:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/10/ryan-mcmaken/gun-lies/
That’s what sheep are for. They’ll trim that grass for you.
And you can eat them before and after the apocalypse:
http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/the-importance-and-potential-of-raising-sheep-after-teotwawki/
“The animal I would promote for consideration is the modern sheep. Sheep are the oldest domesticated animal used for food. They have been raised by man for 7-9000 years. I have raised the Katadhin/Dorper breed for many years. I know that a lot of people don’t think they like sheep\lamb. Usually this is from a bad experience eating badly prepared lamb. Some can’t reconcile the image of eating a small adorable baby lamb. Some think it is to gamey.”
“I could wall up half of barn and turn it into an awesome man cave.”
I hear that! I have to make do with my own tiny man cave up in the attic; gotta install a bit of insulation and then flooring, and then assemble the workbench, shelving, antenna configs, network stuff, etc.
I have a 10 ft by 22 ft man cave in the garage (not air conditioned, gets 120 F or more in summer and 30 F in winter). That is where my junk is. And my 50 cases of water.
My GC just finished the addition with my new 13 ft by 18 ft man cave. I just got the a/c contractor finished up. I am finishing up the bathroom sink and cabinet and adding all the hardware myself. Once I find a 11 ft by 15 ft oriental rug at the wandering rug sellers at Sam’s Club (I paid $650 for the last one), I will be moving in. I’ve been building that stupid sink cabinet all day, came in over 100 pieces with very poor instructions, a Chinese jigsaw puzzle:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-37-in-W-x-35-in-H-x-22-1-2-in-D-Vanity-in-Espresso-with-Granite-Vanity-Top-in-Cream-with-White-Basin-MD-V1201/203493200
I have yet to figure how to attach the granite top to the cabinet. If, I ever get the drawers aligned. I suspect that that great fount of information, youtube, will be my next place to visit.
Crap! I forgot that I need a wall mirror above the sink.
Twenty miles farther out is certainly better than 20 miles closer in. Anyone who’s seen the news reports knows what happens to Interstates and other major roads in any serious emergency. They become impassable. Look what happened in the Atlanta area after a 2″ snowfall. Tens of thousands of people were trapped in their cars, unable to move, some of them for literally days.
Sparta, where we’re trying to buy a house, is only about 60 miles from Winston-Salem, which is about a 1.25 hour drive in normal times. In abnormal times, getting from WS to Sparta would become almost impossible because the route would be blocked, both by accidents and broken-down cars and by active measures taken to prevent a huge influx of people.
[snip] They become impassable. Look what happened in the Atlanta area after a 2″ snowfall. Tens of thousands of people were trapped in their cars, unable to move, some of them for literally days. [snip]
That’s only a couple of standard deviations past what passes for ‘normal’ Atlanta traffic.
“Look what happened in the Atlanta area after a 2″ snowfall. Tens of thousands of people were trapped in their cars, unable to move, some of them for literally days.”
Seriously? Two inches? Or did U mean two feet?? Jeezum. I guess it’s two inches, ’cause back around New Year’s Day in 1988/89 I was in Mordor with the first wife and two inches stopped the whole area cold, no traffic, streets deserted, we were amazed. It would take two feet of fast-falling sideways blizzard snow/ice to even slow down the derps up here. They don’t even call skool off; I’ve seen buses slip-sliding all over the road to get their litters to the prison-state skools. Work doesn’t get called off, either; at most, a one- or two-hour delay.
The two interstates and the two major state highways that run the length of the state could easily be shut down, however, at any points along their lengths.
It was 2″, not 2′.
I recall Bragg being shut down over less than 2″. Some friends and I went out joyriding & doing donuts on the All American Freeway. Good Times. Almost 30 years ago now.
Two inches of snow is a joke here. It means nothing. And we’re pikers compared to our Kanadian pals in Alberta.
It snowed all afternoon yesterday, looked like a blizzard for a while but not enough to accumulate and the temp was borderline freezing.
Gonna be time pretty soon to mulch and rake leaves….LOTS of them….compost.