Many gardeners save seed from your to year. Some varieties will keep better than others when properly stored. In order to test their viability, you can perform a germination test. Fold a paper towel into fourths and place it on a saucer or other shallow container. Pour enough water onto the dish so that the towel becomes saturated [1]. Count out an appropriate number of seeds, we counted out 25, and place them on the wet paper towel. Place the container into a plastic bag (Ziplock works well), but do not seal the bag, and put the dish in a location with even warmth, such as the top of a refrigerator. Check the dish daily and record how many seeds have germinated [2]. When no more seeds appear to be germinating, you can easily calculate the percent of germination by dividing [3] the total number of seeds that germinated by the total number of seeds on the wet towel (in this case 25). This figure can be useful in adjusting your planting rate when using leftover seed.