Question
If I bought a peach or nectarine from the store can I grow the seed? And How?

Answer
Hi Neil,
Thanx for your question.  I have responded on this subject quite a number of times.  In the future, you can save yourself some time and browse through previous answers and then you might not have to wait for an answer.  Peach seed requires a cold period in order to break dormancy.  Right now, the seed is dormant, like in a state of suspended animation.  This is Nature's way of preventing the seed from germinating at the wrong time of the year.  If a peach were to fall to the ground after ripening it would take a few weeks for the fruit to rot off of the seed.  By then, it's getting close to fall and if the seed were to germinate, the seedling probably would not have enough time to get strong enough to survive a winter so what Nature does is cause the seed to produce a hormone so it won't germinate while it is warm.  Once the weather turns cold the seed will be exposed for a number of months and I know from personal experience if temperatures at or below 40 F are sustained for 90 days or more, a hormonal change occurs in the seed.  The hormone tells the seed that once warm weather returns, the seed can go ahead and germinate and that's exactly what happens.  Once temperatures are sustained at a certain warmer level the seed germinates.  You can fool Nature by planting the seed about an inch deep in a pot of moist potting soil and then placing the pot inside a plastic baggie and keep it in the fridge for 90 days.  Bring the pot out of the fridge after 90 days and place in a warm sunny window out of the plastic bag.  The seed will germinate in a couple of weeks.  I wouldn't recommend it now because it is late in the season.  I would start my peach seeds in the late fall or early winter.  Otherwise, plant the seed in a pot and leave it outdoors for the winter, watering the pot occasionally.  The seed should sprout in the spring.  I hope this helps.