Best Ways to Organize Your Seed Library
At some point in your gardening journey, you will be faced with the problem of where to store all your seeds. A box or stack will do at first, but over time you will realize that you need some kind of comprehensive organization system. Storage is important because it also affects the viability of your seeds.
Once a year, you will need to check your seeds and test them to take inventory and make sure they are all still viable. Vegetable and flower seeds have recommendations regarding their viability period. You need to sort your seeds and make sure you remove any expired seeds. Although it is not a fact that old seeds will not germinate, it is quite possible. Other factors can affect seed viability, including humidity, exposure to light and temperature. For this reason, I’m increasingly seeing seed companies shipping seeds in foil packets. How you choose to store your seeds becomes a real factor in how long they will be good for, which affects the rate of germination.
Storage system option No. 1: Photo boxes
One of the most popular ways gardeners organize their seeds is through photo storage boxes . The seed packets are about the same size as photo prints, and one container contains many sealed 4×6 sub-containers.
Pros: You can easily store all the tomatoes together, all the peppers in another sub-container, all the herbs together, etc. They are protected from exposure to air and the light is blocked by the outer container.
Cons: Your organization is limited to these 16 subcontainers. If you are rank 17, you will need another box. In addition, if your tomato seeds do not fit in one container, you will have to transfer them to a second one. Personally, I find it cumbersome just looking through the seeds.
Storage option #2: Folders
Over the years, gardeners have used these folders by placing packets of seeds in clear pockets, much like people did with CDs.
Pros: They’re highly expandable and easy to reorganize, inserting new pages exactly where you need them. It’s easy to access and browse seeds to find what you need. A solid colored binder that will hold all the pages will protect most of the light.
Cons: The clear sleeves are open so you don’t trap all the air and moisture, and you can lose seeds just by flipping the binder over. Some pages become unwieldy due to seed packets.
Storage System Option #3: This Seed Storage Kit.
If you’re saving your own seeds, this seed storage briefcase is a true professional solution: it’s a light-safe case with 60 seed storage bottles inside and airtight storage.
Pros: Avoid using envelopes that don’t need to be resealed, store seeds in vials and reorganize them as you see fit. The case looks safe and durable.
Cons: If you have more seeds than will fit in the bottle, or the seeds are too large for the bottle (I’m talking about large beans, corn, peas, etc.), this is not the best solution. And as with the other solutions, if you need 61 bottles instead of 60, you’ll need a new box.
Storage system option No. 4: storage boxes
To me? I keep it simple. These ArtBins are lightweight, easy to organize inside, and come with dividers. The handles mean I can grab and go and they fold up. I store seeds in light-safe, lined envelopes .
Pros: They’re cheap, simple, and easy to expand (just add more until you actually need a new case).
Cons: They are not light safe unless you use light safe envelopes.
Be sure to check your seeds every winter.
If you’re not careful, you’ll just keep accumulating seeds and expanding your library, but seeds don’t last forever. They belong in the earth, not in your personal library. So every November I take out all my storage boxes and go through all the seeds, vegetable by vegetable, flower by flower, herb by herb. Combine seed packets if you have more than one and make sure all envelopes are well sealed. That’s what else I’m looking for.
Are the seeds still viable?
Throwing away seeds can be heartbreaking, but the reality is that all seeds have a window of viability. For example, alliums (onions) are only viable for one year. Now you can still try throwing some of them into the soil to get them to germinate and test them; these are just recommendations. But you don’t want to be stuck in the spring with seeds that don’t grow or only grow sporadically, so check or discard. In addition to pot life, I also check that the packaging is in good condition, there is no mold or dampness, and that the seeds look normal. An increasing number of seed suppliers are sending seeds in resealable packages, and this is very beneficial for the health of the seeds.
Did you like the seeds?
I always have too many pea seeds, tomatoes, lettuce and peppers because there are so many varieties and I buy on impulse. If I like the variety, great, I save the seeds. But if I try a variety and don’t like it, it’s time to pass on the seeds. If I haven’t used the seeds and it’s been more than a year or two, I force myself to remove the packet of seeds and get ready to give them away.
What do I need/don’t need?
I’ll be ordering seeds for spring soon, and before I start spending money again, it’s good to know what I have available. Just as going through your closet is a good reminder of how many pairs of jeans you have, this process reminds you that you don’t need to, say, order sunflowers this year if you’re already sitting on a lot of seeds. The most important part of this process is to remember that having an envelope doesn’t really matter. There may be two seeds inside – you need to count them. Record your results in a garden journal to know when it’s time to order.
Pass on the seeds you’ve sifted
Seeds belong in the soil, not in a box, so if this is not your garden, give the seeds to someone else. Find or start a local seed library , or contribute seeds to a local Buy Nothing group or similar giveaway group.