If I find nice metal bins with nice lids, I’ll look at expanding like this. I did much like you do, except I don’t have that many seeds!
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At the very basics, this is good!
Oh that’s smart! Based on actual planting experience. Same with your “Plant in fall” box for seeds needing cold stratification.
Exactly, especially when many annual species cross with perennial species. It’s no more different than trying to keep separate vine/pole vs bush forms (like in Beans or Squash for example). + some perenials are only perennial in frost-free conditions but are grown as annuals in temperate climates (Like Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, ect).
Yes because for big families, you need to organize by Subfamily, Tribe & Subtribe! (Some really big families pretty much have plant families inside them).
But that being said, even in the same genus Sium suave (Water Parsnip, aquatic) & Sium sisarum (Skirret, not aquatic). But ohhh man does sorting my legumes by Fabeae tribe vs Phaseoleae tribe help so much. The Fabeae tribe contains all cool season legumes like Peas, Faba Beans, lentils, Cicerchia, Lathyrus, ect. The Phaseoleae + all it’s subtribes are all Warm Season Legumes like Common Beans, Lima Beans, Soybeans, Mung beans, Cowpeas, Hyacinth Beans, Piegon Peas, Winged Bean, ect.
Taxonomy here just happens to align with how they grow & when to sow them.
altho don’t you have Cattails growing in lakes in Utah? Lots of water + full sun makes Cattail grow well + many other aquatics grow like this.
That is smart! I don’t have dedicated fridge space for this (but might be a good reason to get a 2nd fridge, especially if you’re serious about saving seeds + gardening).
There’s a point to that except that some seeds are bigger than others, for example Walnut or Hickory seeds are HUGE VS Celery & Amaranth Seeds are tiny.
The only Temperate recalcitrant seeds I can think of are apparently Chestnuts & Oaks that work like this 
.
But Pawpaw is not one of them, Pawpaw seeds will germinate even when fully dried no problem. I don’t know why so many “experts” say pawpaw seeds can’t fully dry out because they won’t sprout (Perhaps different varieties of Pawpaw?). I’ve managed to germinate fully dry seeds & now store all my other pawpaw seeds fully dried in plastic bags.
Apparently people also say the same about Persimmon seeds but less so, regardless my friend managed to germinate fully dried seeds I sent him, so…
That’s smart! Altho I just put the date when I harvested/saved the seed.
Okra is part of the Mallow family, in the Hibiscus Tribe (It’s actually closely related to Hibiscus & Rosemallows). Altho I wouldn’t store roots in plastic bags.
That is awesome! I also can’t help but make the connection seeds are like ammo for the gardener & that you are literally storing them in Ammo Cases 
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I found many from leftover Christmas season gift boxes, like those that usally contain cookies or chocolate. Smaller Metal boxes I get from Tea boxes. I found small empty metal boxes at Dollar Store for sale, other good places are Thrift Stores like Goodwill (Just might have to clean them with anti-bacterial wipes & let them dry a bit before storing seeds).
What I like about Metal boxes is/are
- Rats/mice can’t chew thru them (They only managed to ate seeds drying on my shelf, they will chew thru plastic bags or paper boxes if not protected by thicker plastic/glass or metal)
- Metal boxes naturally are cooler, especially if stored under a bed or on the floor (Since hot air rises).
- Metal boxes are dark inside, not letting any light thru
- if the Metal boxes are squared/rectangular shaped, it’s easier to compact more seeds (Especially since plastic bags adhere/from to the shape of a metal box).
I also suck out all the air out of plastic bags to make them more air-tight & save space. Sometimes I trow in an Oxygen absorber packet like from roasted Sunflower seeds or clothing/shoes (mainly for seeds that really need them)
Ultimately find what works for you.
not having a place to garden but really wanting to will do that to ya , that’s how I ended up with so many seeds. + Grocery store = Seed Saving cheat code!
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I stop at our local salvation regularly. I’ll have to look through my saved bin, maybe I have one or two!
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ask friends around, sometimes people just trow metal boxes away!
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Ooo, good idea! In fact, I bet my in-laws have some. 
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Heh, well, not all Lathyrus are cool season crops, I’m sorry to tell you! 
Everlasting pea (Lathyrus latifolius) has its stems die off for the winter. It’s a summer dieback perennial.
I don’t know if okra roots are edible, but I wouldn’t be surprised. The roots of hollyhocks, marshmallow, and common mallow definitely are. It’s very unlikely that they would be poisonous — at worst, I would expect them to be unpalatable, perhaps because of toughness. It may be worth giving them a try!
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I have so many animals and kids around, I try not to grow too many poisonous things. Broad leaf sweet pea, according to Google, is poisonous! But maybe Google got it wrong?
Also, Google told me that okra roots can work as mallow roots. But when looking at all the links, I can’t find a source that says that. But I think I’ll try them in a itchy skin treatment first. I’ll harvest, chop, dry and use with oats when I next get PI. We got lots of poison ivy here, so it happens.
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The seeds of everlasting pea are mildly poisonous — if you eat them, you’ll get a stomachache. So don’t eat them. This can be a concern with kids because the seed pods look like pea pods. The leaves and stems are very distinctive, though, and so are the bright pink/purple flowers. If you grow them, make sure your kids can tell the difference. It’s not hard at all. It’s honestly not even hard to tell the difference just based on the season, because everlasting peas start blooming right after the last of my spring peas die off in the summer heat. Your mileage may vary on the seasonal thing if your summers are cool enough to have peas alive all summer long, though.
The flowers of everlasting peas are delicious — they taste like peas, with a flowery aftertaste! And they’re available in abundance all summer long. The leaves taste very similar to pea leaves, and they’re also available in abundance all summer long. And the plants are highly drought tolerant and perennial, and nitrogen-fixers, and tasty. So there are a lot of good reasons to grow them. They’re just not a good fit for everyone.
I can’t say anything about animals and whether they will have the common sense to not eat the pods. Do you ever grow onions, garlic, or grapes? Those are all poisonous to dogs. Dogs generally avoid them, because they have the common sense to know that. But I have a neighbor whose dog loves eating alliums, so she’s learned she can’t grow them anymore.
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Maybe someone already linked to it, but did you see the thread Seed organization?
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I did find that before. But thank you for the reminder, there was a lot there
Oooo, creative salads? My men, hubby and teen, are suspicious of all creative foods, but my 9 yr old and I would enjoy it! I’ll have read more on this.
Yep, I’ve got walking onions galore, and I’m working on garlic. I hope for grapes. I guess it’s more for my chickens and neighbor kids. I don’t let my chickens free range all that much, but last week they went after ant poison! I guess it looked like scratch? The ants love moving in around our buried gas tank, and ants are the one of two insects I’ll poison. I’ll always make sure chickens are put away before dealing with ants! I don’t trust my chickens. 
The rooster is the worst of them, too.
Sounds like the same type of organizing that is present in the European Serendipity seed box. I was pleasantly surprised to see everything organized so well when i got it back in January 
. Probably gonna copy this style of organizing for my own seed hoarding 
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I put everlasting pea seeds from my plants into the Serendipity Seed Swap the last time I had it. I think you will be getting it soon, right? If so, you’re welcome to take some and experiment with them!
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I’m 3rd or 4th down the list now. I’m really looking forward to the box! I just love that I found this forum, it’s been such a source of joy for me.
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I need to get my sharable seeds together! Just realized I should get on that so I can turn that box around quickly. 
Me, too! This forum is such a wonderful community. 
I just double-checked, and it looks like you’re on the list right before me. So if you see them in there, please feel free to take as many as you want — I can always refill the bag.
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By the way, I think I put alfalfa seeds in there, too. Alfalfa is a highly drought tolerant leguminous dieback perennial with edible leaves, too. Everlasting pea tastes much better. But alfalfa has edible seeds which are high in omega-3s, which is neat.
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I saved some alfalfa from the box last time, and utterly failed with it. I’m not sure what happened. I didn’t put it all out, so I’ll try again. And I’ll keep trying and iterating! Now other way to do it! When people complement my gardening ability, I always find the need to tell them that actually I’m really good at killing plants. It just happens I plant lots and lots,so when a lot die, I’ve still got some!
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(Grin.) Yes, totally! I read this somewhere years ago:
“The secret to my green thumb? 90% of everything I plant dies. I just keep planting more.”
I have really taken it to heart. I’ve discovered that it really is true! 
I make loads of mistakes as a gardener — loads and loads and loads. I think the secret really is 1) to keep planting more, 2) ideally with different genetics and/or in new microclimates. Continually trying new things, not just the same thing over and over again, tends to lead to gradually improving my results.
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