How do you organize your seeds?

15 years ago

There's got to be a better way:

I was thinking of buying three-hole-punched plastic pockets, like you can keep baseball cards in. I already have very small ziplock bags - it's keeping them organized that is the problem. Any advice? Is it better to keep them in paper envelopes as seen above, or the ziplocks? (I know seeds have to be absolutely dry before putting them in plastic.)

How do you do it? (I know some of you have hundreds of varieties, so you MUST have some methodology.)

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Comments (8)

hanselmanfarms
15 years ago
I have seeds in Large quantities. I have kept them in some blue canning jars. I have pints, quarts and gallon size jars. I found a book shelf that have shelves about 4-5" wide shelves and 8' long, 4' high. The smaller quantities I keep in baby food jars.
trudi_d
15 years ago
There's a lot of ways to store seeds. Keeping them consistantly dry and in home temperatures should suffice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Storage Gallery
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I store my seeds in a bread loaf tupperware type container in alphabetical order. I used 3 x 5 index cards that I write the name on and staple the seed packs to the card. I try and staple above the ziplock with the bags and if very small seeds not in the ziplock, I put in a seed ziplock and staple. I keep all of the different types stapled to the index card. For example, I have a card with hollyhocks, stapled to it are 4 different types of hollyhocks. When the card if full, I start another and put a #2 Hollyhock on it. All seeds are logged into a spreadsheet with sowing, growing, germinating, who I got it from and planting info. I sort by sow month and pull out all the seeds I need to plant. When finished sowing, I re-staple to the card and re-file. All finished packs are put in a pile and I add a "DONE" to the spreadsheet and next year remove all the "DONE" seeds and start over. I use a staple remover when sowing and a little dixi cup to collect the staples BYW, all my seeds are stored together except for the ones that need to be stored in the fridge. I started stapling because those little ziplock seed packets get so unruly and some of the folded seed packets get lost on the bottom. Good luck! Andrea Appaloosa909
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Here is a recent discussion on this questions linked below. And over on the Seed Saving forum you'll find both a FAQ called Suggestions for Storing & Organizing Seeds as well as several discussions on organization and storage. You might want to browse through them for ideas. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: How do you organize your seeds?
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I keep most of my good spices on three little shelves inside the door of my freezer. Onr shelf has 7 spices that I ALWAYS use when I'm cooking Italian - thyme, oregano, sage, fennel seed, savory, marjoram, rosemary. I just used them tonight. Yanked them all out, took 1 tsp of each and added to the pot and put them back on the same shelf. I made indian curry for lunch. I just started this new little shelf - has curry, garam masala, mustard seeds, cardomom pods, cumin, coriander, cloves and cinnamon. (still need to buy asafoetida.) Numbers are marked on each label since it is not so easy as 1 tsp each. Guess I need to start a "Mexican". May use some of the duplicates. Yes, I have duplicates. I have bottled up in a ziplock bag and stored at the back of the fridge. I have a standard spice cabinet where I keep cheaper spices such as Adams or McCormic. Not too many of these. The ones I freeze are all organic with no preservatives.
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I type all the printed recipes I tear out of disposable periodicals, as well as anything given to me and ones from my books which I want to use a lot. I store them in my computer. Most are in Word. Some in Notepad (basic text editor). I also copy over and save ones I find online. I have a Recipes file on the computer with a whole bunch of categories that make it easier to find what I'm looking for because the titles are totally ad hoc and can start with the name of whose recipe it is. I also have subfolders in many categories for Traditional Home, which are for family recipes. I also have a couple of binders, one for cooking and one for baking, where I put recipes I've printed out and expect to use again. They're in page protectors, and easy to pop out and set on the counter when I want to use one. If it gets too messy, I recycle and print a new one when I need it. If someone wants the recipe, I hand it off and print a new one when I need it, so as not to kill a party by going to sit at the computer. It's great being able to adjust the arrangement and print in an easy to read way. Having the recipes in the computer also makes it a lot easier to make shopping lists, especially while entertaining. The first time I make a recipe from a book, unless it's hard to read, I just use the book. Same if I'm making a lot of recipes out of the same book, like Local Breads. The other great thing about having them in the computer is that I can customize them for friends who don't really know how to cook and put in all the little directions and tips that it's assumed you know. I don't do brevity well enough for cards. :) My recipes don't fit!
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digdirt2
15 years ago
Agree. And paper is better than plastic IMO. A shoebox with 4x6 index card alpha dividers works well for me.

Dave
garystpaul
15 years ago
Keep mine in a shoebox also, in alphabetical order. If more than one packet per variety, paperclipped together with freshest seeds in front. GaryStPaul
reginald_317
15 years ago
How do you do it? (I know some of you have hundreds of varieties, so you MUST have some methodology.)I keep mine in alphatabetical order and have a master list to which each is referred to by number (list gets modified every season). The number (not the name) goes on the seed-sowing container. And the number is used in garden plot grid that identifies the cultivar. A bit convoluted, but simple.

Reg
hanselmanfarms
15 years ago
I try to keep my varieties down to about 15-20 varieties. Then i keep the items that I need to start inside together, start in garden before frost together, near frost date together, and after frost together. That is where the bookcase comes in handy. Each shelf can be a different planting time. The "blue" canning jars are still clear enough to read the variety card thru the glass without opening the jar. Plus the colored glass, keeps some of the light out and away from the seeds.
Bets
15 years ago
Some time ago (early 2003 or 2004, I think) I purchased a lot of 1 oz. glass bottles with lids that just fit in a manuscript box. Each box will hold 108 bottles. I have 4 boxes that are pretty much full of tomato seeds. (There are a few vacancies that are upside down as seen in this photo.)

{{gwi:1308315}}

I have a spread sheet that list each Variety, Bottle Number, Original Source, Qauntity in bottle (provided I update it), Type (Beefsteak, chery, stuffer, Paste, etc.) Shape, Size, Color, Growth (Det, Semi, or Indet), Leaf type, Days to Maturity. This year I have added a Last Grown Column (and hope to fill, I need to go through all the garden "maps" and such). I am going to take better notes from now on. At least I plan to. *grin*

Each bottle has a number on the cap, (veggies numbers start with V, Peppers with P, herbs with H, tomatoes have no letter, just the number) and a label with the variety, bottle number, source and year.

Complex? Perhaps. But it helps me keep it organized, as long as I remember to update the spreadsheet!

Bets
snowdogmama
15 years ago
Flowers and veggis, herbs are in separate boxes. I have 2 airtight plastic boxes that I have used for years and have always stored my seeds in the fridge. I now have a jumbo sized freezer and have moved my seeds to the freezer. The boxes are alpha (small traded packs of seeds and commercial packs), seeds that I have a large amount of are stored separately in double zip bags. Lettuce has its own bag, as does peas, beans, corn, and kitchen sprouts. I just germinated some 10 year old broccoli seed, so this works for me.

The only thing that I wish I had done over the years is keep records on the varieties that I grew. I have a little notebook that I have started this year to keep track of varieties and how they did and if they are a favorite.

pam

How do you organize your seeds?

Comments (8)

hanselmanfarms

trudi_d

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