When I received the box it had one of those hazmat stickers on it. I forgot to ask about it here in the thread, so when it came time to print postage to send it on its way, I figured I would just do the same.
It doesn’t seem to cost much if anything, and it does evidently keep the package from being sent in an airplane, which might be good. Although I assume lots of seeds normally do get sent via airmail with no problems.
That’s my story. Now that it has come up here, I am interested in whether this hazmat classification was intentionally started by one of us, or if the USPS applied the first sticker themselves for some reason.
Below I included the preciptation stats for the nearest weather station with the results conveniently available for the during the period when I grew the ‘egg gourd project’ seeds that I added to the box.
I hadn’t thought about mentioning this before Emily, but among those crosses includes one new cross with Mexican C. pepo subsp. pepo pumpkin genetics that I got crossed into the project in 2023 by accident. The seeds, leaves, and fruit from that cross were noticeably larger (10-20%?) in 2024 than the other, more ovifera crosses.
Hindman, KY
July 2024
Total Precipitation (Inches) 5.2
Days of 0.01 or Greater 12
Days of 0.10 or Greater 9
Days of 0.50 or Greater 4
Days of 1.00 or Greater 1
August 2024
Total Precipitation (Inches) 3.0
Days of 0.01 or Greater 9
Days of 0.10 or Greater 7
Days of 0.50 or Greater 3
Days of 1.00 or Greater 0
September 2024
Total Precipitation (Inches) 5.6
Days of 0.01 or Greater 11
Days of 0.10 or Greater 9
Days of 0.50 or Greater 4
Days of 1.00 or Greater 3
October 2024
Total Precipitation (Inches) 0.2
Days of 0.01 or Greater 5
Days of 0.10 or Greater 0
Days of 0.50 or Greater 0
Days of 1.00 or Greater 0
In addition to the crosses from my project, I also added some C. pepo seeds that I might also have added the last time I had this box. I can’t remember. They are from a few small-medium tan pumpkins I found growing feral along a state highway near here in 2023. That site is probably a bit drier than my garden.
My suspicion is that the hazmat sticker was there on a box someone already had (such as a box that came in the mail with a battery in it?), and they didn’t think to remove it. Personally, I would remove it, seeing as it won’t protect the seeds in any way. More importantly, it feels a bit disingenuous, and I strongly value honesty. And there is the potential cost that it might make a postal worker’s life a little harder for no reason, which is not nice. So if it’s still there when the box comes to my house, I will definitely remove it. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but I think it’s better to be honest, including not crying wolf about hazmats that aren’t there.
Cool, thank you! That’s a lot of detailed information!
(Looks at weather chart saying 5 or more inches of rain per month in summer . . .) I don’t give my squashes anywhere near that much water! I water them once a week, if that, and I often forget. And they don’t get anything from rain. I think perhaps the wild pepos won’t like my climate. Maybe that’s why they don’t grow here!
Since I haven’t started saving seeds from this year yet, I just busted my stash and added from there. I try to avoid adding seeds older than 3 years, (except for high longevity ones). Here’s what I added
oh my. It didn’t have an hazmat sticker when I sent it off, so they must have applied it via to you, @markwkidd It doesn’t count as hazmat contents! I do know it had a nice earthy smell when I got it and sent it off, maybe that is it?
Question for getting in on the fun - I don’t necessarily have a lot to add to the box yet (unless y’all want some weird stuff like baobab or velvet tamarind seeds) - am I allowed to join the train before I have any projects going? If so I’d be excited to get added to the list and if not I look forward to doing so next year!
Hiya! Welcome to the community! You can ask to be added to the bottom of the list once you’ve been here a month and have made at least ten posts. So drop by again after that to ask!
As for your concern about not having much to add, weird stuff is very welcome in the box! Baobab and velvet tamarind both sound like excellent seeds to have available. Somebody’s bound to be excited to see those and want some. What other weird stuff do you have?
Here’s another idea: study a bit of local foraging and see if there are any wild plants in your area that are edible and taste good, and save seeds from those to share. Very often those can be very exciting treasures to people in different ecosystems. Some of them may also be exciting treasures to you! Planting tasty local weeds on purpose is a great way to have a garden that will give you food without any effort except for harvesting. I love my common mallow, blue mustard, shepherd’s purse, purslane, salsify, and magentaspreen volunteers. And yes, I have saved seeds from all of those and strewn them into empty spaces in my garden on purpose. If they give me tasty food without any watering, I want more of them!
Landscape plants in public areas can often be a great source for seeds of edible species, too. Your profile says you’re in zone 10a, so you might easily have tropical edible landscape trees around you that people in other ecosystems would be stoked to get seeds from to try growing in a greenhouse, or as houseplants.
Thanks Emily for the clarification and inspiration! Seed saving is a newer thing for me so I’ll keep my eyes open for the local weed/food scape and try to come up with some additional offerings when the time comes.
One that now comes to mind is that I had been playing with favoring interesting nasturtium colorations when they reseed just mentally hadn’t gotten beyond the veggies for edible things. And as you said would be good to look into what edible landscape/natives/etc I could get some seeds from.
Yup! If you’ve been favoring interesting nasturtium colorations, you’re already developing your own vegetable landrace. Give those leaves and flowers a try, and see which types equal flavors you most like!
Hi everyone, my apologies, the box arrived yesterday at our old address, my in laws house.
Last seed train cycle, I mailed the box from our new address, and instead thought that we had the box mailed to us to our new address. If that makes sense.
My in-laws received the box and they are mailing it to us pronto. I forgot to double check that the address I given was our current address.
I am sorry for the delay.
This is everything that we are going to put into the box when we get it. I will update everyone on when we get it.
I don’t give my squashes anywhere near that much water! I water them once a week, if that, and I often forget. And they don’t get anything from rain. I think perhaps the wild pepos won’t like my climate. 
Maybe that’s why they don’t grow here! 
Welcome to the community! You can ask to be added to the bottom of the list once you’ve been here a month and have made at least ten posts. So drop by again after that to ask!
Baobab and velvet tamarind both sound like excellent seeds to have available. Somebody’s bound to be excited to see those and want some. What other weird stuff do you have? 
