I hate the ruin the pretty 1000/1000 posts on this thread 
But I was given a bunch of seeds from a friend. All are marked for 2013 sale. Would anyone want these? I’m going to plant them along my back fence if no one does as a ground hog sacrifice area if not
Ha ha ha ha! I’m glad you noticed the 1,000 posts milestone, because I didn’t see it until you mentioned it. 
I would happily lay claim to the Early Sweet Sugar Pie and Buttercup squashes if nobody else wants them. I bet those are tasty.
Hey, @Ermarie, how are things going? Have you gotten the box safely? 
By the way, we’re doing such a great job of passing the box along swiftly that the list is currently only five people long, so . . . is there anyone who likes the idea of getting the box sometime in the vicinity of late August? 
(Awesome time to get the box because it’s just the right time to start winter crops, at least in my climate!)
Och, I ought to have piped up earlier: chuck my name back on the bottom of the list?
Yup, happy to do so! 
Mine, too. I shouldn’t, really, but addictions must be indulged…
I’d say stick them in, marked separately. Personally I like planting old seeds. If nothing comes up, no loss, but otherwise you have longevity genes.
@UnicornEmily yes! I got it! It’s birthday this weekend so probably looking at later in the week I can get it out again.
You can put me on the bottom of the list. I’ve got quite a selection that I can put in the box! Getting better at this saving seed thing. And this growing stuff to eat thing. I. Finding I’m pretty good at growing flowers but food is harder 
I’ve got you both added, @Lauren and @MamaRachael! 
Growing food can definitely be a challenge! I made a breakthrough when I realized that winter is the easiest growing season for my climate, and I started looking for winter crops. I made another breakthrough when I started finding weeds that are delicious to eat, and started sowing them on purpose as crops – blue mustard is now one of my favorite plants to grow. We get loads of food out of it, and (amazingly!) everybody is willing to eat it!
Otherwise, it’s landracing that has really made the biggest difference. My goodness, the simplicity of simply adding lots of genes, letting the environment thin out whatever’s unsuitable, and saving seeds from the survivors, and then trying it again . . . my squashes get better every year, and my strongest, most vigorous, most drought tolerant fruit trees right now seem to be that ones that have never been transplanted (all direct sown from seed).
@Ash325 can you please message me your address?
Add me please! And I’ve been saving seeds from “weeds” at your recommendation and I’ve learned that a lot of my weeds are beneficial (and mostly native) plants! Woodsorrel, Carolina cranesbill, Sowthistle, Hairy vetch, dandelion. And I have a huge crop of parsnip seeds and radish seeds that are finishing up in a month or so.
That’s wonderful! Are there any weeds that you’ve discovered you particularly like to eat?
I’ve been overjoyed at the discovery of blue mustard — that plant is pretty much ideal as a salad green for my family. (Well, I guess there’s the very minor downside that the leaves are small, but there are plenty of them, so that just means I don’t have to shred them.) I’m pleased with my feral lettuces that have decided to volunteer all over the garden, too. They’ve become a delightful “weed” that I welcome wherever I find them.
Definitely sorrel, its like sour candy. The most incredible part is that when the pods are ripe, they’ll sometimes pop in your mouth and it feels exactly like pop rocks candy. I’ve heard they have a compound in them that can increase the chance of kidney stones, so I eat them in moderation.
And early spring chickweed is delightful, especially in sandwiches. I also recently discovered a wild lettuce that I like, I need to ID it properly but I suspect it’s native and although it’s bitter, it extremely flavorful and the texture is good. The only problem is that groundhogs have found it too and ate most of one of the two plants I found.
Ooh, what color is the sap of your wild lettuce? Most species have white sap, but Canadian lettuce (Lactuca canadensis) has brown sap. That one’s supposed to be the tastiest. I’m wondering if that’s the one you have!
It sounds like those are definitely weeds to save seeds from in order to share, then.
This is the lettuce, all with white sap. I assume its something wild because of the rough and hairy leaves. I tasted it (I am aware its dumb to eat without a positive ID, dont do as I do… but I also have been advised our local wild lettuces are safe-ish and I trust my palete and gut) and its got a pleasant and slightly bitter flavor. The arrowhead shaped leaves are why I think these three plants are the same species, and the groundhogs ate one to a nub and it came back quickly.
Once it flowers I’ll ID it properly and I’ll make sure I include seeds with a species label!
Nifty! Those are some nice, big leaves. How irritating are the hairs? (I’m assuming they can’t be that big a deal, otherwise you wouldn’t like eating it.)
IDing all the way down to the species is ideal, if you possibly can, but there are times when IDing down to the genus can be sufficient. If everything in the genus is edible, and you are 100% positive it is a member of that genus, and there are no dangerously poisonous plants that look similar, then the exact species name is rarely crucial . . . but it sure is nice information to have!
I’m coming up soon on the swap, and was curious if people would be interested in bing cherry pits? They’d be from Azure Standard regenerative orchards. Between this month and next month I’m probably going to process 60-80lbs of cherries, so if people are interested I can clean a bag up and send them out. But I won’t bother if there’s not interest.
Absolutely.
