HOw To LONG TERM SEED STORAGE VAULT SOLUTION, DIY

Recently, I received a gift of seeds.  In preparation for our garden, I need to store them for the time being (as I'll be getting more each month). With the help of your comments and some online research, I found that the 3 most important things are dry, cool, and dark.  I was roaming around in the store the other day and came up with this idea. A one gallon paint bucket (inexpensive at any hardware store), a bag of "Silica Gel" (already had that) and a small flow thru bag of some kind.

Pour some of the silica gel (they are granules) into a bag of some sort.  You could use an old sock, pantyhose, mesh, whatever will hold it in but still allow air to flow through it so that it will do its "moisture absorbing magic".  I used a small muslin bag leftover from a craft project and just tied the bag at the top with some string.

Drop the silica gel filled bag inside the can and that's it. Believe it or not, you are done with the hardest part, LOL.  As you can see, it's very dark inside, so light won't be a problem and with the silica gel, moisture won't be an issue either.  As long as you keep the can in a cool place, you'll have all three things taken care of.

Then just put your seeds inside around the bag, pop the top on and you're good to go.  You'd be surprised how many seed packets you can fit inside a one gallon can.  I would guess it will hold dozens of packets, as neat or as disorganized as you desire.

VOILA!

Seed storage container ready for placement in a cool place.  I haven't labeled this yet but I will.  I was thinking that there could be multiple cans, maybe "vegetable seeds" or "flower seeds"...just divide them up as you see fit and depending on how many packets you have. Heck, you could even sort them by year or maybe store bought vs hand collected or even heirloom.  Another upside?  Pretty storage in your pantry!
Best part of all?
Cool.
Dark.
Dry.

Why save seeds?  Having a farm, or at least a plot of land you can grow on, means that you know you will always be able to provide food for you and your family, even friends and neighbors if necessary.  Part of that is planting the seeds of vegetables and fruits and whatever else you might need to grow and having those seeds in storage could be like having money in the bank...a seed bank!

The one thing we've always wanted to be out there, ultimately of course, is to be self sufficient.  There are many reasons to do this;

It's cheaper to grow your own...

It's healthier and of course better for you...

It's fun to share your bounty with other people...

It tastes AMAZING when compared to store bought...

In these occasionally/often uncertain times, it's a nice way to make sure you are protected against things that could happen.  There could be natural disasters, food shortages, economic problems, disasters that are man made, you just never know.  There is even the ever present potential zombie apocalypse, LOL.


Seriously though, it can't hurt to buy some seeds (non hybrid/non GMO) and store them away. I'm not sure how long these will stay viable, but I've given them the best shot and I'll keep adding to them as I harvest next year's crop, saving some seeds from what we grow for the following year and repeating it every year thereafter.  We never know when we might need them!