Store black ... or as part of a bouquet garni. You will often find whole peppercorns spicing up salamis or sausages. Freshly ground peppercorns have much more flavour than ready-ground pepper ...

Pathogens can be removed from vegetable seed by treating it with hot water at 51°C for about half an hour. Bill Kerr explains this procedure as well as using trisodium phosphate to kill seed viruses.