Hi Catharine, Please be assured that EVERY SINGLE SEED I sent you was grown and processed personally by yours truly. The only treatment was a three day fermentation to kill diseases and free the seeds from the pulp. seed was then dried for six weeks in my dry basement before beind dries in a jar containing equal amounts of seed ans silica jel. After that it was stored in airtight vials until it was spooned out into the packet in which it was shipped. Good gardening, Chuck Wyatt