Try to keep the seeds dry and cool; humidity and warmth will shorten their viability. The refrigerator is a very good place to keep seed--but away from the freezer section. Place the seed or seed packets in a plastic food storage bag or plastic film canister or a Mason jar with tight fitting lid. You can wrap the seed in facial tissue and put a couple of teaspoons of powdered milk in the storage container and that will keep the seed dry for 6 months (or a packet of slica gel). When you are ready to plant, let the seeds warm in their packets to room temperature so that moisture in the air does not condense on the seeds (which would cause them to stick togehter). Most--but not all--vegetable seed is viable for three years. Here is a link that might be useful: HarvestToTable.com

The folded paper design I posted earlier, I use only for temporary storage or for mailing seeds. If you are having trouble folding it, it is usually because you do not turn it over as directed in picture #3. For long time storage I use the plastic air tight containers used for diabetic test strip storage. They are a little smaller than the old 35MM film shipping cases. Dr. Norman Deno in his many years of seed experimenting found very little difference in life expectancy between seed at a constant room temperature and that at refrigerator temperature for most seed. Al

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

Like dklucius I use a 5-gal. plastic pail with the tight-fitting cover (a Lowe's bucket) for black oil sunflower seed (the most popular seed here overall). I buy the seed in a fairly large bag and once it's opened, store it in the bucket; the bucket keeps it dry and safe from potential pests (mice etc.) I keep a special scoop for seed in it too.When I am filling a feeder with that seed, I do it right over that bucket to catch any spilled seed. The other seeds I use in the feeders I keep in easy-pour pitcher-type containers with tight lids(from Home Depot I think). Still, I would fill feeders over a bucket or similar wide container when using these pitchers. When it's spilled bird seed can really travel! I've learned the hard way! And the last thing you want is mice, squirrels etc. attracted to your garage by spilled seed. As far as whether you would need a shelf to help in the filling of feeders, I would recommend what I have learned over the last year or so, to fill them outside in a place you can easily clean up (picnic table, etc.) Good luck with your planning!