If you have been gardening for more than one year, you will understand the conundrum of figuring out the best way to store and organize all those beautiful garden seed packets of potential!
IN THIS POST YOU WILL FIND TIPS ON…
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When winter seems like it will never end and the cold winter days seep into your bones. Visions of warm, bright, long summer days start dancing in your head. You feel like spring will never come, and suddenly the garden seed catalogs start pouring in! The promise of warmer weather, endless summer days, and all that fresh garden produce begins to cheer you. You know it’s just around the corner and you can feel your bones thawing out!
If you’re like me, every new variety of vegetable or flower beckons you to try a packet of seeds. You just want to plant a little bit of this or a little bit of that. So…you start adding them to your cart, deciding that you can’t do without this or that. Your cart fills up and you hit the “checkout” button…
Finally, your new seeds arrive in the mail! You pull out your cardboard box full of the previous years seeds and chaos ensues. It becomes obvious, you need a system to store and organize all the garden seed packets. You wonder, “What is the best way to efficiently store and organize all of these garden seed packets?”
WAYS TO STORE GARDEN SEED PACKETS.
First, you must take into consideration how many seed packets you need to store. Secondly, you must take into consideration the amount of space you have to store them. The answer to these questions may dictate the type of seed storage containers you decide to utilize.
This past year, I had had enough! My garden seed packets were woefully unorganized. I needed to find a better way. So, I turned to Pinterest and YouTube. I wanted to see how other gardeners are storing and organizing their garden seed packets. That’s when I saw the method of utilizing a photo organizer storage box with inner individual boxes.
Photo storage box
The particular photo storage box I purchased had 18, 4×6 individual inner boxes. This is a great option because:
- The seeds are doubly protected inside two plastic boxes. It has a larger outside box and smaller 4×6 boxes that neatly fit inside the larger one. The smaller airtight containers help to protect seed viability.
- You can take 1 smaller container out at a time and bring it to the garden or the greenhouse. The rest of your garden seed packets stay organized.
- It keeps the seed packets dry and dirt free.
- Your seeds are easy to find and inventory.
- You are able to easily see what seeds you need to order for the upcoming gardening season. No more ordering seeds that you already have plenty of.
Cardboard box, shoe box, plastic bags, paper bags
I have tried all of these methods. They did add some structure and organization to my seed packets, however, they still left my seeds unorganized. The boxes would become a dirty mess as I would haul the whole box out to the garden. I would try and organize them with rubber bands or ziploc bags. The seeds would come out of their packets or the rubber bands would not hold. If the box was too big, the packets would fall over and shuffle around. A benefit is that these methods would be the most inexpensive way to store your seeds.
Recipe box, plastic containers, photo album
I feel like these also are not the best option for the same reasons listed above.
Mason jars, storage tins, small glass jars, spice jars, old pill bottles
Mason jars and storage tins would look nice on a shelf. However, they would take up a lot of space if you have a lot of seed packets to store. If you save seeds and have a lot, this is a good option. These options can be inexpensive if you do a lot of canning and you already have mason jars. Or if you save your old pill or vitamin bottles.
Pill organizers and bead storage containers
This can be a way to organize loose seeds. However, you certainly won’t be able to fit a whole seed packet in them. In the bead storage container you risk seeds getting mixed up. Unless you have small ziplock bags to put in each section. In that case it may difficult to clearly label each section.
WAYS TO ORGANIZE GARDEN SEED PACKETS
For the rest of this post we will be focusing on using photo storage boxes with the 4×6 inner boxes. There are many ways to consider organizing the individual garden seed packets. You can organize them according to:
- Different types of seeds
- Planting dates
- Alphabetical order
- Planting time (spring, summer, fall, winter)
- Vegetable seeds vs. Flower seeds
For my organizational needs, I chose to organize them alphabetically by seed type within planting date sections. I have two larger boxes, one for vegetable garden seeds and one for herb and flower garden seeds. Each box is organized by a colored dot sticker with the planting months for seed starting on the left side. The seed type names are labeled with tape in the middle. In some instances, I used the right side to record if they were also direct sow or perennial. On the inside of the box I placed a sticky note to remind me of the start and set out dates according to my plant hardiness zone. Some bulkier seeds (ie. peas, beans, corn), may need to stored separately in a different container.
WHERE TO STORE GARDEN SEED PACKETS.
Consider 3 things when choosing a place to store your garden seed packets. Make sure the place you choose is dry, dark, and cool. This will extend your seed viability.
First, you need to choose a dry place. Make sure that the seeds are 100% dry before storing them for next season. The relative humidity should be around 40%.
Second, the place you choose needs to be dark. Mostly keep them out of direct sunlight. Some ideas are a closet, cabinet, under a bed, and in the basement. You get the idea, just make sure that you choose a place that stays dark.
Third, the best place to store your seeds needs to be a cool spot in your home. The ideal cold storage temperature is at 35-40 degrees. However, you should aim to keep your seeds at a fairly even cool room temperature throughout the year. The refrigerator is the ideal place to store your seeds. However, that becomes impractical because most gardeners do not have extra fridge space. Instead, just opt to store seeds that need to go through a cold stratification in the refrigerator. If you need long-term seed storage (5 or more years), definitely keep them in the refrigerator or freezer.
MISCELLANEOUS TIPS TO STORE AND ORGANIZE GARDEN SEED PACKETS.
Place the oldest seed packets on top. You can find an expiration date on each seed packet. However, most dates will be a sell by date that follows the companies trial dates. This way you will use your old seeds first.
When you are finished planting a type of seed, turn the container upside down. This will help you remember that you have planted that one.
Throw a couple of silica gel packets inside the larger container to help keep out any excess moisture.
If you want to store seeds that you have saved from your plants, you can make your own packet. You can easily find a template on-line to make a seed packet to hold them.
Test seed viability before planting. This is simple. Put a few seed on a wet paper towel. Place the paper towel inside a ziplock bag. Label the ziplock bag with the seed type, start date, and the date for germination. Place in a dark spot and make sure the paper towel stays slightly damp. Then, check the seeds to see how many have germinated in the allowed germination time.
Keep a seed log. Some things you may want to include are: seed company, seed variety, date of purchase, price, date of planting, number of seeds planted, date of germination, number of plants germinated, date of harvest, and if you would plant it again.
If you are looking for the best way to organize and store your garden seed packets, try a photo storage box. Using this will help you keep track of all the seeds packets you have at your finger tips. When you are ready to plant your seed, it is easy to grab 1 container at a time. This will keep them dry and contained while you are planting them. When you are ordering seeds for next gardening season, it is easy to see what you need to order. It is well worth the time and effort it takes to set up this system.
Genesis 1:29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
