I’m in the Netherlands, and the chance of getting any yacon propagation tubers through Canadian customs fast enough to survive is very small. I’m also not growing any at the moment. You might try asking Ottawa Gardener at http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.com/

Steph and I had a good laugh from your comment. Not because of anything you said, but because I don’t really know if I’m the one to give advice on keeping seeds organized. Our house has seeds everywhere. A box here, a few packets there, a drawer full in the kitchen. Seeds in the fridge, seeds in the freezer.

From time to time I pick through them all and throw away the really old ones. It’s a common problem I can’t find seeds I’m looking for.

At harvest time, our house fills up with stocks of garlic bulbs in the same way.

So as far as organizing goes, I’m not the one to ask.

In terms of keeping the seeds viable for as long as possible, I can give a few suggestions. This is actually a complicated subject, and a very important one. It happens often that seed savers go to quite some trouble to save seeds, only to have storage problems and lose them. It’s happened more than once for me, that’s for sure!

There are whole books written on this subject. For most home gardeners, it mostly comes down to this. Seeds must be properly dried, then they are usually stored in paper or plastic envelopes or bags. After being dried, the biggest threat to viability is frequent temperature change. While a little cooler is usually better, the stability of the temperature is more important than the temperature itself. Seeds should also be protected from direct sunlight.

Really, a shoebox in the back of a closet or drawer is often a very good choice. The fridge is also a good place, but they then must be stored in a completely airtight container, generally plastic is not good enough rather you should use a glass jar with a rubber seal. There are some risks with the fridge, as if the seeds are not properly dried they can get moldy. A box that’s hidden away somewhere is often a better choice for this reason.

I made a post about this here:

http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/?p=268

Grunt and Grungy (Val and Dan) have spent a lot of time developing a long term storage system for seeds. If you don’t find enough information on their blog, you might send them an email and ask about it:

http://grungysgarden.blogspot.com/

Good luck!

I do like the look of the plant, large wellshaped leaves with very short fur underneath and on the young stem.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!

I’ll be happy to send you some yacón if you get in touch with me in the winter. Feel free to get in touch if there’s anything else you’re interested in.

Mary,

I read that sometimes the Pinus Pinea seeds have a low germination rate, and have to be kept refrigerated before you plant them. I kept them in the fridge, soaked them in water for 24 hours before planting and they nearly all germinated!

Thanks for stopping by and leaving the comment!

I don’t recognize the plant in the picture. Knowing something more about it would help a lot, like where the pictures were taken and anything else you may know about the plants themselves and what they might be used for.

GL with the pinus pinea. Do any of you have an idea what this is? http://www.flickr.com/photos/31510200@N05/3484818496/
It looks tropical but I have no clue. Here’s a closeup picture. http://www.flickr.com/photos/31510200@N05/3484817414/