Mike, I live close to Steve. I learned to plant seeds directly in the ground years and years ago, from Charles Applegate and Dottie Warrell. I usually prepare the soil in late summer, but I plant them after Thanksgiving. I don't refrigerate seeds after I harvest them for this method, I store them dry in little paper envelopes, letting them get all dry and shriveled up. Last time I planted seed was in fall 2011, and had over 90%, but I use very few evergreen parents. Curt Hanson direct seeds in fall, and I believe Steve Moldovan did too.
