Go for it and buy those seeds if you want to. Nothing to worry about, I do it all the time and have near 100% germination using the wintersowing method.

Go the the seed saving forum and you will find all kinds of information on saving seeds from this years annuals and perennials as well as seeds from your own veggie gardens as well.

I grow everything from seed, save all my seeds including veggies like tomatoes as well.

You can also go to the seed exchange forum and trade seeds you have for ones you would like to have from others.

Go to the wintersowing forum for info on how to sow seeds with that method and for seed storage information.
It's the best way to start plants from seed.

Good luck

Fran

FYI, if this is your first year growing veggies, don't be discouraged if your gardening costs you more than it would to buy your veggies at the store. My husband is still working on a truce with the rabbits and other garden-loving critters that we didn't account for. But we have chalked this up to a "learning year", and expect to have better yields once we have ironed out the kinks.

Hey stolon...
You should pick up a copy of the $64 tomato for your husband. I think he might enjoy reading it while trying to grow his first veggie garden..greg

I couldn't resist looking for that: $64 Tomato': A Quest for the Perfect Garden

Claire

I was just looking up the viability of pepper seeds because after seeing your question, my memory was jogged to see why I had very poor germination of last year's pepper seeds (not always kept under ideal conditions in my basement). Here is a link that answers questions about veggies. I have googled other sites searching for seed viability in the past and found ones that included flowers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Viability

One year old seeds are young! I wouldn't hesitate a second to buy this season's seeds to grow next year.

I winter-sowed numerous OLD seeds this Spring, including Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Savory, parsley, Basil, Chile peppers, and I direct-sowed tall red Zinnias that were packed for 1991! They all sprouted and are growing fine. Note that I store my seeds in zipper bags in a produce drawer in the refrigerator, and this no doubt helps to preserve their viability. Usually throw the moisture-absorber things from vitamins or where ever in the drawer with them.

Before using the seeds, I performed a germination test on 3 types of seeds back in April. This included Cucumbers, Beefsteak tomato, and Chili peppers, packed for 1997 and 1998. I put 4 seeds from each in a plastic container lined with paper towels and spritzed them to keep them moist. Stored them in a dark warm place.

The final results -

Cucumber Hybrid slicing, Johnny's Selected seeds, Packed for 1998 - 4 out of 4 sprouted - 1 deformed sprout
Tomato Big Beef, Shepherd's seeds, Packed for 1997 - 3 out of 4 sprouted
Chile Peppers Ancho San Luis, Shepherd's seeds, Packed for 1997 - 4 out of 4 sprouted

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