Don't feel bad. I have seeds my dad bought over 25 years ago!! Probably 20 pounds or so. I recall a test for viability. I forget if it floats or sinks if its still good. Adding some seeds to a dish with warm water and see which ones will float after 12 hours. Usually the sinkers will be the viable ones, while the floaters are all dried up inside and not usable. Its a test for SOME seeds, not all. I just put a bunch in a pot and hope they show up as sprouts. If not, I toss the old ones and try a newer packet. Peas, I do know are not very good as to germination after a full year. I tried using some peas two years later and 1-2 out of 20 peas only sprouted.

I end up with little bits of seed left over every year. After a number of years of that, you end up with quite a mix of this and that. Last year I took to trying to use up some of the older seed. I would direct sow rows more thickly than normal - I can always thin if I get good germination. That worked ok for most items. But I ended up with a couple of rows that just were a bust but that's the chance you take. It can always be replanted with something else though.

I must say that I really enjoyed the grab-bag row of pole beans I planted last year. I took about 8 different varieties of beans that I had a few seeds of and planted a row. It was the most fun and productive (over a longer harvest period) row of beans I have ever had.

Most vegetable seed, with a few notable exceptions, have reasonable germination rates out to 2 or 3 years, some even longer. Herb seed varies widely....some like angelica only germinate from fresh seed while mullein can germinate out to 70 years. Research the viability of your seed before discarding it.

Have fun with your germination tests!

FataMorgana

FataMorgana, I've put some amount of work into trying to say what people say about length of viability for different seeds, but opinions seem to vary awfully widely, and also seem to be in conflict with what I've personally witnessed. I figure the only real test is to try it out and see. At least the coffee filter method is low effort and low-space.

Given that I've been living in the city with either a teeny tiny yard, or limited to containers, I end up with a lot more than "little bits" of leftover seed. This year I'm on a definite mission to cut down on the number of packets in my possession, however, one way or another.

There are some flower seeds that I expect to direct-sow when it gets a little warmer, and probably some vegetables.

Made the mistake of mixing several types of corn seeds. Some SE and SH2 and regular. Needless to say, I forgot that they should not be grown together and ended up with stunted ears and most only had two or three inches of decent kernals. I let them mature longer and they didn't get any bigger, but instead got quite mealy and dry. Never do that again!