Hi Kim: A couple of years ago, I asked the same question: "How do you store all your seeds? I'd like to have a system that will allow me to find what I want fast." A friend from the Wintersowing Forum described her system. I liked it, and tweaked it to meet my needs. VEGETABLE SEED Sort and store seed packets by season / soil temperature when seeds are sown (cool germinators and warm germinators) and by food type (e.g. leafy greens, root crops). I use ziplocs. "Warm TPO" holds tomato, pepper, okra, and eggplant seeds. "Warm - SBC" has seeds for squash, beans, corn, cukes, gourds, melons. "Cool - Root Crops" holds seeds for beets, radishes, turnips, carrots, onions. "Cool - Greens" has seeds for kale, collards, lettuce, peas, and other greens. These four categories correspond to the main waves of seed sowing. I store the seeds in each category in gallon ziploc bags and label each bag (Cool - Leafy Greens - kale, collards, mustard, cabbage, broccoli). For some vegetables (e.g., beans, tomatoes) and flowers (e.g., zinnias, poppies, cosmos, sunflowers), I have a ton of seed. When I have many packets (like tomatoes), I put these seeds in a separate sandwich bag, label it (stick on label or 3 x 5 card), and put it inside the large gallon ziploc. This system makes it easy to find what you need. As my seed addiction grew, the system grew with me. I started with quart ziplocs for the four categories. Now I use gallon ziplocs for the categories, and individual sandwich sized or quart ziplocs for some vegetable seeds within in a category - tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, etc. HERBS I grow a few herbs, less than vegetables or flowers so I store all herb seeds (warm and cool germinators) in a one quart ziploc bag. FLOWER SEED If you have flower seeds, the system is similar. You store seeds by sowing time /soil temperature (warm or cool) and type (perennials, annuals). The four categories correspond to the sowing seasons. Hardy perennials (HP) are sown in cold months, may need cold stratification. Hardy annuals (HA) are sown in Feb-March (in warmer areas, we can sow hardy annuals in the fall). Tender perennials (TP) are sown after your last frost (for me, that's March, you may have a later date). Tender annuals (TA) are sown after your last frost. Inside the main category bags, you can sort things further (Tomatoes > Container" or "Tomatoes > Main season" or "Hardy Annuals > Bee food"). I doubt you will have so much seed that you need to sort in that much detail soon - it usually takes years to amass so much seed. I used to grow a lot of perennials from seed- one year, I planted seed for 2,000-3,000 perennials. That was one of my big mistakes - it's easy to plant seeds, but it's not so easy to transplant hundreds or thousands of seedlings. Last year, I was expanding the vegetable gardens. That took all my time and energy so I didn't sow any perennial seed. This year, I continue to expand the vegetable gardens but I want to grow some perennials. I may plant the young perennial seedlings in vegetable garden beds. Hope these notes help you! Pam

That is absolutely amazing, i had not clue a seed could last for so long, that tells us something very interesting about the power of mother nature.

That's amazing. I wonder if they will now be able to get any of the rest of the seeds to try to sprout them. It would be wonderful if this tree could make a come-back.

I really liked that article. That is sooo cool! Thanks.