A Litte Seed Organization

This weather.... Oh My Goodness!  We've had beautiful and mostly sunny days with highs in the 50s. I have to keep pinching myself to remind me that it is only February. It is hard to remember it is truly winter, and the possibility of snow, ice, and cold is very, very real. After all, Punxsutawney Phil did predict another six weeks of winter yesterday. (I'm going with the local prediction of French Creek Freddy though. He says early spring.)

If the ground wasn't so wet, you'd have to tie me up to keep me from digging in the dirt in my gardens. I have spring garden fever, but a glance at my seeds, revealed that I really am not ready for the coming season.

This was the sorry state of my seed storage. Sad to say this has been my "system" for several years. Lunch bags were labeled with the types of seeds they contained and then were thrown in the box. This did keep all the different types of vegetables together, but made it difficult to find the bag I was looking for, and virtually impossible to see what variety and quantity I had in each bag. A little organization, and a better system was needed desperately.

Nine times out of ten when something needs done around here you'll find me looking for a way to make do with what we have on hand instead of running to the store to buy some product that is supposed to help me organize or make my life easier. That is how we roll. This morning I found a perfect container for the job. In a former life this box contained VHS tapes. It is about the size of a shoe box.

Then I took some old manilla folders and cut them to fit in the box. I notched out the tops in different positions for labeling

The seed packets then were filed away. They are roughly organized in the order they are planted, but I can see I'll probably be changing that. I never get cole crops in for the spring. Maybe this will be the year?

.
The corn seeds did not fit in this box. So, I took a shoe box for them and used the remaining space in the box for things that are handy to have when I'm working with seeds. There are a bunch of plastic knives that have been saved when all the spoons and forks from a mixed pack have been used. These make handy seedling markers when I start seeds indoors, and decent markers for outside rows. There is a permanent marker in the box too.

Once all the seeds were nicely organized, I sat down with the Baker Creek Catalog and got to work. It was so easy to check what I actually have on hand while flipping through the catalog. It was also easy to see what was missing in my box. Did you see that there are no peas? Oh the horror!

I got my order together, printed it out, and stuck it in the shoe box. I am horrible at keeping track of what variety of vegetable I've planted. I'm hoping keep the years' orders with the seeds will help. I can even keep a few notes on there as to what I liked and didn't like.

Ok, I am organized. My seed order is placed. Now, I am ready for the season. Bring it!