Storing and Organization Seeds

How does everyone store and more importantly organize their seeds. I would like to find a system where I can find a particular baggie right away. Pics would be great too.
Jan...

Oooh, what a great thread! Can't wait to hear the answers 'cause I'm getting quite a few and right now they're in baggies or envelopes in a drawer.

Lana

On the Seed Trading Forum - "what's wrong with plastic", there are some good links to companies that sell baggies. Check it out.

I purchased a small nuts, and bolts cabinet, the kind that has pull out drawers, they are small so I mark the front of the drawer with seed name, and keep it on the bottom drawer of the fridge, if seed pack is small I put two in.

I think you have to store your seeds in a way that makes them accessible for whatever purposes you use them. I keep my collected seed for trading in small labeled ziplocks (2"x3"), then quart ziplocks according to type. I can refill and repackage from these to inner wax packets, then larger outer packets with info and pictures. These are stored upright in a box with tabs to separate them.

For the seeds I plant, I file them by the date I'll be planting them. Most of my seeds are planted indoors due to our short season, so I determine a target date... such as our last frost in the spring, and count back from there. For instance, a bag would be marked 'Week 12' and would include all the types of seeds I would plant twelve weeks before set out or last frost.

The earlier dates go to the front of the tote, the last to the back (that would be direct sow seeds like carrots, radishes, etc.). As I plant a week's seeds, I move that big ziplock to the back of the tote. I use this method because I have so many seeds to plant that I would never be able to find them all when I need them.

I also have created a document that lists all the types of seed I have, also listed by the dates they need to be planted. That gives me an idea of where to find them in the tote should I want to send some out.

I use a big computer disk storage bins with removable dividers. I label each divider by category (tomato, eggplant, peppers, flowers, etc.), then alphabetize the seed packets in each category. I also keep a spreadsheet that coresponds with the bin. That way I can keep a tally of the seeds and determine what I can trade and what's limited, or NFT. Works for the most part. Bean seeds, millet, corn, etc. is in a separate container (an oversized recipe box) so it they don't clutter the seed bin.

GREAT IDEA kareoke!!!!! Think I'll start searching for one right now!

Like Weez I separate the large seeds (corn, peas, beans, nasturtiums, sweet peas, etc) in their own drawer. Then I have separate drawers for Flowers, Vegetables, Herbs (in store packets), and other drawers with the same labels for collected seeds with the addition of collected wild flowers. My sister makes gold nugget jewelry and has hundreds of small, 2"X3" ziplocks she gets findings(blank stamped designs ready for nuggets) in. I have found a trick for testing dryness of seeds: Pour them into your hand, if they feel cold, they are too wet for baggies. Works for most seeds. I've seen Weez' collections in date marked bins. Sooo organized! Every where I go I'm collecting something. I make lots of jellies so I get all the jars I can talk people out of. I make beer so I've collected 20 cases of bottles (corona has the heaviest, sturdiest, cappable and Grolsch, of course {don't have to by caps, just extra rubber gaskets}), sawdust for chickens, leaves and grass for compost and of course seeds, berries, plants, cuttings, apples. So, in my car I have a backpack with all sizes of baggies, envelopes for wet stuff, pruners, trowels. Along with shovel and flats and buckets. Good thing I have Shar Pei dogs, I can leave food on the dash and they won't touch it. They'll tippy toe around all the other stuff, too. I forgot, I sell eggs, so I collect cartons. Also have businesses save buckets of coffee grounds for the compost.
Whew! Seeing it in writing makes me tired!
The other Carol

Ceeades is far more organized than I. She has a cozy little house so every square inch is filled with something interesting. The windows are filled with colored glass she has collected, plants that are growing, herbs that are drying, etc. She raises geese and chickens. She grows trees from seeds. She winter sows in her greenhouse and has lots of nice surprises in the spring. She grows wonderful garden veggies and takes advantage of all the warm sun she has down at her place.

She goes hunting every fall, and berry picking when they are ripe. When I grow new plants from seed, I always give some of the seedlings to her, because I know she will make them grow and she will collect lots of viable seed for me. She makes her own compost, using the sawdust bedding and chicken manure as a base. It is wonderful stuff!

She's been making tufa troughs the last couple of years, and she collects lots of interesting little alpines to put in them. She mostly container gardens, and she keep most of her pots up on her porch where they get good sun... lots of aromatic herbs, bright flowers, and those unusual troughs. She also has more wheelbarrows than anybody I know. She's a wonder! And here she is on the porch!

Weez, want some garlic cloves to sow over the winter? I'm doing mine inside the greenhouse just to keep the wet off them. I'm going to sow the apple seeds from my grafted apple between the garlic to try to get some scion stock to graft on some of my crabapple rootstock. Can't hurt to try, huh?
The other Carol

Do you think they'd live in one of my raised beds if it's covered with mulch and plastic??

Yep, if you let the ground freeze first.

I always try to let the ground freeze good first, then add some straw, then cover the hoops on the beds with plastic. I figure the frozen ground will deter the voles from snacking on roots... is that the reason you do?

Yes, that and preventing premature bud break.

OK. Yes, plants in this neck of the woods can sure get confused signals. All my plants are tucked away, but I can't cover them with all this warm weather. You'd think we were in Seattle!