I’ve got several pill bottles full of seeds saved from last year’s harvest. Watermelon, zucchini, pumpkin, string beans, tomato, amaranth, and cucumber. The zucchini seeds are still in the “original package”, as are some of the pumpkins, but there was just something satisfying about seeing my pile of bean seeds drying on the porch. I’ve saved seeds here and there before, but last year was the first time I really focused on it.
Most advice I’ve seen about saving bean seeds said to leave them on the plant until dry, but we had such a wet autumn that they just molded if I did that, so I started picking them as soon as the pods turned tan, and that worked out well. I let them dry on some newspaper until crisp and then broke open the pods, the beans were nice and fat and shiny inside.
I thought I was the only one that used pill bottles! I took so much medicine when I was battling Lyme Disease, and I saved prescription bottles of every size. Like most stuff that I squirrel away, I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I knew they would serve a purpose.
Seed saving was the ticket for my pill bottle stash. The dark amber color keeps out the light, and they are so easy to label or relabel with some masking tape and permanent marker.
With the aid of some of those 3 lb. onion mesh bags, I can keep all of my bottles of veggies together ... squash, okra, beans, etc. So I have rubbermaid containers full of bags full of bottles. lol There is a method to my madness.