Vegetable seeds in the store packets, sure did take a jump in price ; the past few years. $4.95 for 40 seeds. Anyone know how long it take to dry your own Butternut Squash seeds, straight from the Squash??

In the fall I put them on newspaper on top of the fridge. About 3 weeks later I store them in the fridge inside old coolwhip container in an envelope. I don't use them until spring. If your asking how soon they will germinate after taking them out of the squash I don't now

I'm thinking of starting a seed bank of my own. I think best to use heirloom varieties. Just in case dooms day comes along. It is said seeds will keep for years if kept in a cool, dry place in sealed containers so insects can't get them.

Air dry the seeds for 7-10 days or until seeds are hard. Then put them in a zip lock bag or a jar.

One thing to keep in mind when saving seeds from your garden....If you have any others plants growing there that are in the squash family, including pumpkins, the squash from which you saved the seeds probably was cross pollinated with several varieties. I had zucchini and pumpkins in my garden, saved seeds from both....the plants that grew from those seeds were a cross of the two.

Learn the different squash families:

Species: Cucurbita spp. (there are four species that will not readily cross pollinate: c. pepo, c. maxima, c. moshata, c. mixta)

I dried several pounds of seed this past year. Peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, cushaw squash, pumpkins, etc. I do the same for all for of them. I clean the seeds off, and lay in a single layer on a sheet of card stock or cardboard with a fan slightly blowing over them. I turn the seeds about 1x a day to make sure they get dry on both sides. After about a week, I put the seeds in empty vitamin bottles with a label.

If your gonna stock pile seeds for when we can’t buy them, which may be sooner than we think-
Better stock pile fertilizer, if will go as the ammo has

I dry my squash seeds in a an old pie plate in a warm place, stir them up until all dry in a week or so than store in a container of your choice.