really old seeds - bin them ?

[sacbina]

found a random flower and veg assortment dated 2008

to bin or give it a go and see?

Sprinkle in a dark damp shady part of the garden outside and label them and I bet they all germinate. Almost certainely they will all germinate because you don't expect them to. The labelling is important so that you know what is coming up.

My years out of date Gardeners delight all germinated!

a year I wouldn't even question, but these are 7 years!

Depends on species. Are they veg? If so - umbellifers & alliums are pretty short lived & I wouldn't even bother trying, brassicas/tomatoes/peppers quite likely to be ok if they've been stored cool, melons/cukes even more so. I've just grown out peppers this spring from 2002 seed, though that was stored in a freezer.

If you've got a fair bit of seed, you can do a quick germination test - thoroughly damp paper towel on a saucer, put a counted no. of seeds on it, then wrap loosely in a poly bag (so it stays damp). Put it somewhere that it'll be suitably warm, then see how many germinate in the next 10 -14 days.

Sorry I meant years as in really old not one year. It depends if it will put you back a bit if they don't come up and have to get new seeds.

Have you got some spare space? I'd give it a go and see what happens, survival of the fittest/Darwin style.