I’ve been gardening for many years and until this year, never had a decent system to organize my seeds. I always used to keep all my seed packets in one big bag or box. What a mess! I had to empty out the whole box and dig through the pile of seed packets when searching for one specific one. When it came time for planting, there was no rhyme or reason to my seed stash so every year I found myself digging through a big pile and sorting seed packets according to my planting schedule.
Last week I pulled out my box of seed packets to figure out what seeds I had and what I needed to order for our spring garden. The box was such a big, disorganized mess that I was inspired to reorganize it. I can’t believe I waited this long!
I’ve been thinking about organizing garden seeds for a little while now. What I came up with was using an old photo album to organize them. The photo album I had on hand that was empty and not in use is a smaller size one with two individual pockets per one side of the page. I have so many seeds that a larger photo album would probably work better for me (I’m going to keep an eye out for a photo album like this at yard sales next summer) but for now this is much better than a big messy pile in a box!
I started my seed organizing project by first sorting all our garden seed packets into specific category piles:
- cool season crops
- warm season crops
- herbs
- flowers
Then I matched up similar seed packets. Since I’ve had a huge, disorganized pile of seeds for a number of years I really didn’t know what all I had. I love buying seeds (those of you who also love seeds know that it is a bit of an addiction!) So I just kept buying more seeds which means I often ended up with multiple packs of the same type of seeds.
Next I started placing the seed packets into the little clear pocket in the photo album where a picture would go. Since I always start planting cool season crops first in the gardening season, I decided to start with filing all the cool season crops. When I had more than one seed packet that was the exact same variety of seed, I placed them all in the same clear pocket.
Then I filed the warm season crops, the herbs and finally flower seeds. I also have a growing collection of heirloom seeds that I’ve been saving. These seeds are in labeled bags that are also filed accordingly in the album.
Each year I sketch out a garden planting plan on a piece of paper that I keep with my garden seeds. This paper stays with me when I’m planting the garden so I can keep track of what I planted where. I like to keep these records to reference for future gardens so I can rotate crops. I also make a few notes on my garden plan to record if something did or didn’t grow well and any ideas I had to why that may have happened. I filed my garden plans in a clear pocket at the end of the photo album so I don’t lose them and can continue to reference them.
I love how organized this seed album is! I can’t believe I waited this long to organize my garden seeds. Earlier this week I bought some new varieties of heirloom seeds from one of my favorite seed companies, Botanical Interests, so I think I’m going to need a bigger photo album soon!
How do you organize your garden seeds?
MM
January 14, 2015 at 4:54 pmWhat a great idea! I’ve got a binder with photo pages that would be perfect for this! I definitely want to give this idea a try and see if it works better than the basket I carried around with seeds for the last two years, lol!
Pat
February 14, 2015 at 8:15 pmI used the 3 ring binder and picture sleeves, that way I could move them or add as needed and still keep them alphabetized, and easier to keep the packets with the info with the seeds.
Janet
January 15, 2015 at 8:18 amWhat a wonderful idea! Seriously! I have my seed packets all stuffed into a recipe box. And because that recipe box is so full, I occasionally find seed packets around my house.
Definitely going to be doing this, this weekend.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Blessings,
Janet….. countrylivingmama
Kim
January 15, 2015 at 7:22 pmI too have a lot of seeds so I finally put them in an excel spreadsheet so I could arrange it alphabetically. I put in seed type, qty, company name, and a place for notes. I will see this season if it works for me. I was able to see easily what I need and the quantities of what I have. it will also come in handy when I go to the store. The seeds I sort and store in 4 categories herbs, flowers, fruit, vegetables.
Karen Brown
January 17, 2015 at 1:28 pmGreat idea.
Danielle
January 17, 2015 at 3:13 pmAwesome idea!
Love hitting the yard sales for items like photo albums, they can get pretty pricey!
I just picked up a couple small ones at the goodwill, going to have to start organizing!
I make a “planting plan” every year, even though it is with me, things are always changing. 😉
Richard cook
January 20, 2015 at 10:06 pmHelp
Tara
January 24, 2015 at 3:15 pmI use a huge binder with baseball card sleeves. Folded in half, they fit perfect. I also use color dividers. Red for warm season, blue for cold, etc.
Loodean
February 17, 2015 at 7:30 amI use a larger card file with index tabs with the actual date I’m going to sow the seed.
Janet Garman
January 11, 2016 at 8:21 pmThis is so simple and yet pure genius! I have them in a basket and they are all spilling out with no organization. This would be great thanks for sharing
Linda
January 13, 2016 at 10:08 amI did this also but the album got too bulky…I do like the cold weather, warm weather, herbs and flower catagories….will try using separate albums accordingly. Thanks for sharing.
Suzy
August 3, 2016 at 5:19 amI love this idea. Currently all of our seeds are stuffed in boxes in no specific order. We missed out on the spring and summer growing season this year due to a move, but I have already started mapping out the new yard and have been studying the lay of the sun. I found a couple of old unused albums while unpacking that I think would work great for this. I am so glad I came across your Pinterest. Thank you for sharing. ~SuzyJCinColorado~
Tammy H.
October 17, 2016 at 11:27 amWhat a great idea. I have a recipe box and a plastic drawer, and always seeds everywhere. I think I am going to try this with a large notebook binder. Using different sized zipper baggies. that way I can put baggies in baggies. I can write on the baggies and cheaper then the photo sleeves.
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