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

It's a really cool feeling, isn't it? I have Sabal palmettos now grown from seed I picked up while walking through Charleston, SC five years ago. I will be long gone before they develop any height to speak of (Trachys are much quicker in that regard), but they're approaching knee-high in the garden right now, and are fun to watch. I have 18 Sabal minor seedlings under lights in the garage right now from seeds that "fell" into my hand when I was leaving the parking lot at the VA Zoo in September of 2007 - they're even slower growing, but fun to watch, nonetheless.

I always plant Packman, and I get the seed from Willhite. My favorite new broccoli variety is Piricicaba although I have a heck of a time remembering how to spell it. Three of the 12 or 15 Piricicaba plants I put into the ground last March or April are still in the ground, still alive and still producing small side shoots. (This variety doesn't produce big heads.) So, it is both the most heat-tolerant and cold-tolerant broccoli I ever have seen, having survived temperatures as high as 115 degrees during the summer and as low as 16 degrees so far this winter. In 2012, I am going to plant half Packman and half Piricicaba. Packman never makes heads as large as some other broccoli varieties, but year in and year out it is the most consistently productive broccoli variety I've ever grown, although I think Piricicaba may give it a run for its money. Likely I'll always plant both Packman and Piricicaba. Packman will produce large spring yields and I can freeze a lot of that since it produces so much over a short period of time, and Piricicaba will keep us in smaller amounts of fresh broccoli over a longer time period. I'm going to link the Piricicaba description from Bountiful Gardens, since that is the source from whom I obtained the seed. I've noticed it is available from more seed companies this year, including Baker Creek, Nichols and FedCo. I think 2 of those 3 companies had it last year as well. By the way, for anyone searching for heat-tolerant veggie, herb and flower varieties, both Willhite and Bountiful Gardens carry a lot of varieties that are exceptionally tolerant of hot weather. Here is a link that might be useful: Piricicaba Broccoli

My husband was in michigan this week and that was one of the flights he thought about taking on thursday night. He flies a lot and it just hit close to home. Clarence is not far from where we live. We are a little more out in the country. Big sigh of relief. When the news came on at 10pm they announced at the end of the broadcast that a plane had crashed by the airport, but they didn't know anything yet. By the time the 11pm news came on, it was not until after the weather that their news crews made it to the neighborhood and they announced it was a commercial plane. WIVB broadcast without commercial break until I went to bed at 2am. When my husband called to say he was alright i was so grateful. (wipes tears and sniffles) Fran, Could i have the blanket flower, please? BTW, DS#3 watered my keyboard once, its still a little iffy. We set it in from of the blower on the woodstove for a week. Just FYI those of you sowing in the keys LOL! Thank all of you for the prayers. Families here are esp. close knit and things like this are difficult for anyone. Praying for your FIL, too Nichol. Fleethart