Ok, so anyone who thinks gardeners can be obsessive has not yet met scrapbookers - I have just spent part of my day immersing myself in scrapbooking products, and this must be a goldmine industry. The amount of money you can spend to on products that organize all the other products you need to buy... But anyway, they have vast multitudes of organizational products, many that seem like they would apply well to seed saving/packets. From hard boxes to compartmented totes to file systems, they have it all, and usually in perky colors (if that's your thing.) So my research efforts today (not at all avoiding hilling my potatoes in this 90 degree sticky heat) conclude that it's still very difficult to find precisely what I want: binder inserts that are a) heavy-duty, b) zippered and c) multi-pocket except in the lee valley and the spinnerbait binder. But some of the scrapbooking products come close. I think I like these pages, for economy's sake, although they say they have a 'security flap' on the pouches rather than a zipper, and since the product image isn't a photo I'm not sure precisely what they mean there. But I can't beat the price, and I may just use a zippered binder to keep things contained. If my calculations are right, I should be able to store 80-100 seed packets per ~$7 set with these. 4 6x6 pockets 5 4x6? pockets I was also briefly enamoured of these, which are individual zippered pouches, but are expensive and seem like they would get too bulky too fast. 16 3.5x4.5 pockets 8 4.5x7 pockets I do recommend anyone looking for seed storage taking a browse (allocate SEVERAL hours) through the scrapbooking sites/stores, as I think everything discussed in this thread can be found there in some form or another. Capitalistbaby, thanks again for starting this thread, as you've given me the impetus I needed to actually get this research done. I think I'm going to try it! ~emmers Here is a link that might be useful: scrapbook store > storage/organization

I use a plastic toolbox with latching lid, just a bit smaller than a standar Rubbermaid tote. That sucker has held up to a lot of abuse and keeps my stash nice & safe. Inside, I divide seeds by types, such as tomatoes, sweet peppers, chiles, brassicas, winter squash, summer squash, etc. Each one of those has a gallon ziplock into which I place the individual seed packs. There's also room for those large things you mentioned, such as pounds of seed corn, peas, etc, along with blossom bags, Sharpies, spare seed bags, and so on. At the bottom of it all is a good layer of rice to help with any excess moisture. Not that the toolbox is sealed but it makes me feel better and that's the important thing, right? Diane

I am probably closer to zeedman in my seed collecting activities. Collection & Drying? -- I like to use brown paper bags, like grocery bags and lunch sacks, and I love the idea of hanging them. I have a plastic chest of drawers and a couple of nice sized screw/nail/small-tool-keeper thingys that I found at WalMart for storing my seeds. I use manilla envelopes of various sizes to store all of them. This way, it is easier to keep them in an orderly fashion, and I need all the help I can get. I use the big 9" x 12" manilla envelopes for large storage, and the 6" x 9" for smaller amounts. Very tiny seeds are stored in packets that I make from freezer paper, with the waxed side out. For trading, I use coin envelopes, which come in 3 sizes. The small ones are ideal for sharing cleaned seeds, and the 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" envelopes I use for trading seeds like hyacinth beans or sweet peas. I like to leave them in the pod if possible, as they seem to keep better. Because it is soooo humid here, I don't like to use plastic bags at all. I use bubble mailers as a rule, and I recycle all of them as well, but I keep every little box I can get my hands on for mailing too. I mail out a lot of plants, and the boxes really come in handy. I remove any tape, lay them flat, and store them under my bed. Don't tell anybody. LOL I do store some seed in the refridgerator in the shop, but DH does not like for me to do that. It takes up room that could/would otherwise be used for the storage of Lite Beer from Miller. In late summer and fall, however, bulbs dominate that fridge. He does grumble, but he does like the bulbs when they bloom too. Janie

Yes, the fridge method works very well. However, some seeds simply will not last for very long. Lettuce and onion seed is an example of this. You may get two or three seasons from Lettuce seed - although the germination in the third year will be pretty poor. Onion seed is also the same way - getting two seasons would be pushing it. I purchased lettuce seed last year - probably very close to this time. It had very good germination within a few months of using the seed. The seed came in a standard seed packet - but then there was a small aluminum foil pouch inside the seed packet. With my lettuce under lights experiment that I started in late December, germination of those same seeds - less than a year later - had dropped to about 60%. So, seeds can stay a long time as long as they are kept cold and dry (use some of those gel packets that you get in some electronics that dry up the humidity). But, it also depends upon the kind of seed that you are keeping. Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog